One of the most exquisite period dramas to grace screens since Downton Abbey left us, not by chance created by the same Julian Fellowes, is back! The Gilded Age, a masterful exploration of the intricate class system and the clash between old money and new wealth in late 19th-century New York, at the height of the so‑called “Gilded Age,” resumes tomorrow, November 2, with its highly anticipated fourth season, on Sky and streaming on NOW every Monday with a new episode. “Highly anticipated” because we left the characters at a crucial moment, with social and family balances increasingly fragile, ambitions ready to collide, and destinies still to be written. The new season brings us back to the heart of a city undergoing transformation, where wealth remains, as ever, a matter of power, prestige is won through alliances and scandals, and the line separating traditional aristocracy from new magnates grows ever thinner. Amid intrigue, marriages, rivalries, and desires for emancipation, The Gilded Age continues to tell with elegance and acuity the contradictions of an era in which everyone seems to be chasing a place in the sun, but not everyone is willing to pay the same price to obtain it.
The Gilded Age 4: what awaits us in the new season
The finale of season three left several storylines suspended, poised to reshape New York society’s balance. After being wounded by a gunshot, George Russell (played by Morgan Spector) managed to recover and attend the ball organized by Bertha (Carrie Coon) in Newport. The marital crisis that had driven them apart, however, was far from resolved: frustrated by his wife’s manipulations, especially on matters concerning their children, George decided to leave, declaring that he would not return home until they both understood what they truly desired. Bertha found herself alone, unaware that daughter Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) was pregnant.
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On the romantic front, the future seemed to smile on Peggy (Denée Benton), who had received a marriage proposal from Dr. William Kirkland (Jordan Donica). Marian and Larry (Louisa Jacobson and Harry Richardson) had also taken a first step toward reconciliation, rediscovering a certain complicity during a ball. Meanwhile, Oscar van Rhijn (Blake Ritson), after losing his fortune and effectively being left with little by way of his ambitions, asked Enid Winterton (Kelley Curran) to marry him. At the van Rhijn household, finally, Agnes (Christine Baranski) agreed to relinquish control of the family and domestic affairs to her sister Ada (Cynthia Nixon), marking a significant shift in power dynamics. Amid tentative marriages, secret pregnancies, new alliances and old rivalries, season three closed by laying the groundwork for a new phase of transformations.
Two years later, The Gilded Age returns in its fourth season to recount the ambitions, rivalries, and power struggles that animate New York’s late‑19th‑century elite. Bertha must reckon with the consequences of her choices: the unwavering push to secure a top spot in high society now risks irreparably damaging her marriage to George, potentially fracturing the entire family. The futures of the children also become entangled with their parents’ expectations and strategies, in a world where personal relationships are often subordinated to prestige and convenience.
Meanwhile, as the old aristocracy tries to reassert its influence and defend privileges increasingly under threat, someone must confront these forces starting in a household of their own. A new generation of millionaires is preparing to redefine the rules of the game. To deepen the portrait of an era in which money is the primary engine of change, the series introduces new figures inspired by America’s great industrial and political powers, such as oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (Neal Huff), emblematic of economic clout capable of transforming entire sectors of society, and President Grover Cleveland (Jim Gaffigan), who has come to the city to win over the elite. Their entry broadens the series’ lens on the dynamics linking wealth, influence, and prestige, bringing to the fore new ambitions and rivalries. In a New York undergoing profound economic and cultural transformations, their arrival promises to further complicate the balance between old and new money, giving rise to new alliances and clashes where securing a place in the elite depends as much on the solidity of wealth as on the ability to wield power.
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