Tonight was the finale of the first season of THE GILDED AGE. And I was really struck by the choice --
--and spoilers ahoy here--
--to give Mrs. Russell and her daughter Gladys everything that they wanted.
The two of them have been at odds the entire season, mostly because Mrs. Russell treats Gladys as just a pawn in her great enterprise, and that, you know, sucks. But at the same time their aspirations have been two of the show's great engines, with Mrs. Russell continuing to risk everything, even her relationship with Mr. Russell, in pursuit of a seat at the rich lady table, and Gladys desperate for someone to please just let be a human being.
On one level Gladys' story looks a lot like Marion's. She, too, has spent the season chafing against the rules of New York society, wanting to say and do what she pleases. But unlike Gladys, Marion is active. She takes risks. She pursues her desires. And she does other stuff, too. Gladys is never allowed any of that. Even in the finale, when Mrs. Russell decides her new BFF Caroline Astor can't come to the ball, Gladys does nothing and honestly probably can do nothing.
So on the one hand we've got a character in Mrs. Russell who has been pursuing an impossible goal, and even as she makes inroads she is constantly being shown the door, as well. Having episode 108 end with her having to sneak out of Mrs. Astor's Newport home through the servant's quarters is the perfect encapsulation of her situation. Even after she seems to have made it in, she's actually still social riff raff. Going into 109 we wonder if she can somehow still manage to succeed with Mrs. Astor and the Ladies who Lunch, but also we fear given her take no prisoners attitude that she might be more deserving of a fall.
Meanwhile in Gladys we have a character who has unable to pursue anything, and who has spent the entire season desperately trying to pound her way out of that box. And given who and how her mother is, it seems likely that the whole thing is going to end up a disaster.
So two women with strong desires who have been fighting like hell but in very different ways, and who seem destined to fail. But writer Julian Fellowes instead finally gives them what they want. And I found it unexpectedly very emotional, first and foremost to let Gladys have a moment of her own. But also to watch Mrs. Russell stick to her guns and not just win but also be (for the first time, really) gracious. Her offer of friendship to Mrs. Astor is the warmest and gentlest we've ever seen her. (What a brilliant move on Fellowes' and Carrie Coon's parts to save that color the whole season for this one moment in the finale. That in itself is such a great lesson about season finales: Give them something they haven't yet seen.)
But for me the bigger storytelling idea here is this: The more your characters fight and fail, the greater the tension you build within the audience for their success--and also the less sure they become as to whether that's even possible. You create both mystery and tension at the same time. And then paying that off provides incredible catharsis and satisfaction.
I wonder if it would have been just as thrilling had they failed. There definitely was a certain amount of relish in having Aunt Agnes vindicated with Marion; it's not that I didn't want Marion to succeed, but in a sense her failure with Mr. Raikes casts Agnes in a wiser and kinder light.) And if Mrs. Russell were on the hook by herself, I think it's possible that a negative resolution would have still worked, precisely because it was a resolution and she had had so many bold acts and successes along the way.
But with Gladys also in the lion's mouth, no, I don't think a failure would have felt like catharsis of any kind, but just a continuation of her cage.
Mostly in my posts I write about techniques within an episode or film. But when it comes to TV there are also the techniques of the season, the ways you build character and tension and interest across episodes. And THE GILDED AGE's finale is a great example to turn to for some of that. So much so, in fact, that I'm going to write about a couple other elements of the finale and broader story over the next few days.
