The Gilded Age is Julian Fellowes’s HBO period drama about competing households in New York society. The supplied artwork refers to season four, which HBO describes as eight episodes following the consequences of Bertha Russell’s rise. The opening episode is Ring the Bells.
The same households at two points in the story
Season one opens in 1882. Marian Brook, played by Louisa Jacobson, moves to New York to live with her aunts Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook. Peggy Scott, played by Denée Benton, is an aspiring writer starting over. Carrie Coon’s Bertha Russell wants her household to find a place in the city’s established society.
Season four starts from the consequences of that rise. Christine Baranski’s Agnes sees a chance to recover her standing. Marian pursues her own plans, and Peggy faces expectations from her future in-laws. The relationships help identify the continuing series. What each person is trying to do helps distinguish the fourth-season setup from the beginning.
Find the early fourth-season episode
HBO’s episode metadata separates these two instalments even when a recap only names Peggy or Agnes.
| Fourth-season episode | Clue from the official episode description |
|---|---|
| 1 · Ring the Bells | Agnes plans a dinner and Bertha is concerned with Gladys’s childbirth |
| 2 · You Won’t Hear Me Beg | Agnes gives an interview and Peggy encounters resistance to her career plans in Newport |
Use both the season and the episode number
A search for the first episode can take you back to Marian’s arrival in season one. Use season four, episode one, Ring the Bells when you mean the opening attached to this poster. If you remember Peggy’s work and the Newport setting, try season four, episode two before searching through the earlier episodes.
Sources and review
- New HBO Drama Series The Gilded Age Debuts January 24 — HBO Pressroom
- What’s New on HBO Max This November — Warner Bros. Discovery Pressroom
- The Gilded Age Season 4, Episode 2 — HBO Max