“The Gilded Age” season 4 premiere puts Gladys Russell through a life-threatening childbirth at Sidmouth Castle in England, then ends on a secret she doesn’t know yet. The episode, titled “Ring the Bells,” aired Nov. 1 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max and picks up nine months after the season 3 finale.
The baby is breech, and the doctor warns Gladys’ husband, Hector, the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb), that he may have to choose between saving his wife or their child. Gladys delivers a healthy son, but her lady’s maid, Adelheid Weber (Erin Wilhelmi), finds that she is still bleeding and alerts Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) and Dr. Thomas. He stops the hemorrhage by removing Gladys’ uterus, leaving her unable to have more children.
The doctor leaves it to Hector to share the news with his wife, and Bertha advises him to wait until Gladys is stronger. The episode ends with bells ringing for the new Buckingham heir while Gladys remains unaware of the surgery.
What Taissa Farmiga and Carrie Coon said about the birth
Taissa Farmiga, who plays Gladys, said she felt for her character when she read the premiere script.
“I was thinking ‘This poor girl does not get a break,'” Farmiga said, according to Deadline. “She has a very privileged life, but honestly, all of Season 3 was clearly an emotional roller coaster with being forced into this arranged marriage that she thought was going to be a hellish nightmare.”
Bertha arranged the marriage, but it grew into a love match, which makes the season’s opening turn harder on Gladys.
“In the end, she did find a loving partner, a human who chooses her and [whom] she has a connection with,” Farmiga said. “So she was starting in a place of what I thought would be happiness and contentment, but of course, the first moment you see Gladys’s face in Season 4 is a bit intense.”
Bertha later tells Gladys that Hector would have chosen her over the baby if the doctor had been forced to save only one. Coon, who plays Bertha, praised her co-star’s work.
“The thing about Taissa Farmiga is that she’s great. She’s great on her take, but she’s also great on your take,” Coon said, according to Deadline. “And Taissa has the stamina and the capacity to bring that all day long, which makes it easier for the other actors who are interacting with her. That’s always a joy, and she makes it really scary and easy to do that work.”
Coon also pointed to the period’s treatment of women in the decision to route the news through Hector.
“It’s wild, the gatekeeping of information, how a woman wouldn’t be entitled to information about her own body [and it] has to be delivered through her husband,” Coon told TVLine.
Matt Damon and David Letterman slip into the background
The premiere also hides two famous faces. Matt Damon and David Letterman cross a New York street in period costume 8 minutes and 33 seconds into the episode, according to TV Insider. They appear as uncredited background actors, have no lines and are on screen for about six seconds.
The cameo was built for Damon’s upcoming episode of Letterman’s Netflix series, “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman.” The show’s team learned that Damon started out as a background actor alongside Ben Affleck, which gave Letterman a partner for a long-running goal.
“We thought, ‘OK, this could be the perfect opportunity,'” showrunner Isabel Richardson told Vulture. “It’d be really fun for Dave to do this with Academy Award winner Matt Damon, and it tied into his origin story really well.”
Richardson said Letterman has been trying to land background work for around 50 years, ever since he spotted his friend, comedian Gary Mule Deer, in the background of “Annie Hall.”
Larry and Marian cross a line
Back in New York, Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) and Larry Russell (Harry Richardson) reunite at the party for Oscar van Rhijn and Enid Winterton’s wedding. A storm strands them at a hotel on the way home, and although they book separate rooms, they spend the night together, TVLine reported.
Marian panics the next morning over what the night could do to her reputation, and the two end the episode without renewing their engagement.
“It’s like a cardinal sin. You could be ruined if someone found out that this happened,” Jacobson told TVLine. “Marian’s life and reputation would be ruined.”
What’s next for ‘The Gilded Age’ season 4
Season 4 runs eight episodes. New installments air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max through the Dec. 20 finale, with Episode 2 arriving Nov. 8.
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