The Gilded Age review – what did we do to deserve such a terrible stinker? — SkimNews
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- The Gilded Age returns for a fourth season, although the review says a final season has neither been announced nor promised; its opening pile-up of clichés and explanatory dialogue receives a “uniformly terrible” verdict despite the show’s Emmy win.
- Oscar marries Enid, but both know she is not the right woman for him: he is gay and their union is one of convenience; Agnes is nevertheless fooled into thinking Enid a suitable wife.
- Agnes announces plans to entertain the president of the United States, identified as Grover Cleveland, at Brownstone Abbey, which the review frames as a season-four version of the season-one opera-house wars.
- George Russell remains financially squeezed, saying a deal means he must pay most of the oil’s transportation costs while the business is needed for his railroad to survive; he is also still seeking whoever shot him before last season’s Newport ball.
- Bridget still cannot master her accent and continues to pine for Jack, who is following his alarm-clock success with an electric mixer that he says will take the world by storm.
- Gladys is in labour at the start and later loses her uterus, with the script first announcing that “she’s bleeding” and then making the word “uterus” the comic payoff.
- Peggy is engaged to William, with the review presenting her professional success and imminently increasing domestic duties as a conflict; the Kirklands remain a conduit for Julian Fellowes and Sonja Warfield’s treatment of race relations.
Why it matters: For prospective viewers deciding whether to continue, the fourth season is the evidence: The Gilded Age has won an Emmy, yet this review calls the run uniformly terrible, and no final season has been announced or promised. That leaves any viewing commitment without a confirmed endpoint.
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