My fond hopes for storylines in The Gilded Age’s second season

HBO’s hit, The Gilded Age announced series regulars for the second season, including Kelli O’Hara (Aurora Fane), Donna Murphy (Mrs. Astor), Kristine Nielsen (Mrs. Bauer), Taylor Richardson (Bridget), Ben Ahlers (Jack Trotter), Douglas Sills (Baudin/Borden), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Mrs. Bruce), Erin Wilhelmi (Adelheid Weber), Patrick Page (Richard Clay), and Sullivan Jones (T. Thomas Fortune), as per Deadline.

Additionally, three downstairs characters have also joined as regulars: Debra Monk (Armstrong), Kelley Curran (Turner), and Michael Cerveris (Watson). Hopefully, this is a trend in the right direction and something to get excited about as the next chapter develops. All three have particularly strong storylines that could inject some much-needed drama into the second iteration of the Julian Fellowes series.

They will be joining Gilded Age regulars Christine Baranski (Agnes Van Rhijn), Cynthia Nixon (Ada Brook), Carrie Coon (Bertha Russell), Morgan Spector (George Russell), Louisa Jacobson (Marian Brook), Denée Benton (Peggy Scott), Blake Ritson (Oscar Van Rhijn), Taissa Farmiga (Gladys Russell), Simon Jones (Bannister), Harry Richardson (Larry Russell), and Jack Gilpin (Church) for Season 2.

Nathan Lane (Ward McAllister), Audra McDonald (Dorothy Scott), John Douglas Thompson (Arthur Scott), Ashlie Atkinson (Mamie Fish), Claybourne Elder (John Adams), and Ward Horton (Charles Fane) will continue to guest appear. Still not announced are cast members Katie Finneran (Anne Morris), Amy Forsyth (Carrie Astor), John Sanders (Stanford White), and Linda Emond (Clara Barton).

More of Sylvia, please, in S2

I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that Jeanne Tripplehorn (Sylvia Chamberlain), who served as one of the more captivating characters during the first season, will continue into S2. It would be interesting to see Marian show some gumption—perhaps with the help of Peggy (once she’s sorted out her own very serious subplot)—to help Sylvia integrate back into society, with a campaign that shows Marian’s empathetic, but bold character, which we only got a small glimpse of. There’s so much potential for Marian to become someone that we love to cheer on, but she needs a strong cause to rally behind in The Gilded Age and helping Sylvia—who is clearly lonely (I mean, her house is amazing, with all that incredible art, but it’s like a mausoleum!), could be just the right call to action.

The servants had the best narratives so far

Much of the focus of The Gilded Age’s initial season centered around the Russells, George, and Bertha. Although Marian Brooks was intended as the lynchpin of the series, more of the dramatic strength was drawn to Bertha’s journey to join the old money 400, with Mrs. Astor’s social approval. However much screen time was dedicated to this rather shallow narrative, three servants work downstairs whose stories shined through and offer a glimmer of dramatic hope for the series going forward.

Who is Flora to Watson?

One such storyline on The Gilded Age involves Watson and the mysterious woman he has been watching (when he’s going for those walks), Flora McNeil (Rebecca Haden), who he finally goes up to at the end of the last season, asking, “You don’t know me?” To which she cryptically answers, “Should I?” Watson looks genuinely hurt but tells her his name is ‘Collier,’ which rings a bell to her.

So who are they to each other?

Several fans have surmised that Watson is Flora’s father, a natural inference, and honestly my guess as well. While others have hypothesized that he might be an old lover, based upon his look of disappointment (and subsequent avoidance of her) when she arrives at the Russells’ ball with her husband, Robert.

However, I find that unlikely, judging how perplexed she seems when he first approaches her, surely, she would have remembered her old lover more clearly, but perhaps not a father who was separated from her but might know the name (hence, Collier). Suffice it to say, it will make a fascinating subplot to explore going forward. Plus, Michael Cerveris does such an exceptional job balancing his role downstairs with his long-suffering side story.

Turner the schemer

One twist I was surprised by was the firing of Turner before she had a chance to unleash some fireworks. Sure, she tried to seduce George Russell—and failed—but she struck me as an effective schemer who was going to lay a foundation of corruption in the Russell household.

Frankly, a good, old-fashioned schemer is always fun and the Russells just didn’t suffer much after the suicide of Patrick Morris (the always excellent Michael Gill, who is sorely missed in this series) and the scandal over the railroad deaths in Gilded Age. Both plots were tied up rather neatly and it would be nice for the Russells to suffer some genuine hardship so we can root for their efforts to pull themselves back up from their bootstraps (think Lord Grantham’s admission of financial ruin to Lady Grantham in Downton Abbey, who assures him she loves him anyway and they face things together. Who was moved by that?).

Turner’s plan to align herself with Oscar Van Rhijn seemed like a genius game-changer, but then this fun duo of manipulators puttered out with the convenient firing of Russell for the wrong reason. I’m particularly excited that Kelley Curran will now be a regular and I’m hoping she will get a chance to enact a formidable revenge scheme upon the Russells, which should confidently spice things up for the upcoming season.

The complexity of Mrs. Armstrong

From the start of the Gilded Age’s S1, Mrs. Armstrong’s prejudices made her a truly unlikeable character. However, some of that was chipped away towards the end of the season, which illustrated some of the best multi-layered writing of the series so far.

The scene of utter human misery that welcomed her to her mother’s apartment and the dark underpinnings of a toxic relationship with a miserable mother was a revelation in S1. Armstrong’s mother not only doesn’t appreciate that her daughter is spending her only time off taking care of her in squalor but worse when she brings her a freshly baked pie among other food items, her mother demonstrates her displeasure by tossing it on the floor. After that day of agony, Mrs. Armstrong is back at the Van Rhijns, assuring her co-workers she enjoyed her day off. You understand her misery and the show manages to infuse a bit of sympathy for an unsympathetic role.

The development of Mrs. Armstrong is the kind of complex writing that intelligent audiences appreciate. It’s a nice surprise in a show that sometimes telegraphs its intentions and plot twists a mile away. Since Julian Fellowes’ other series, Downton Abbey and Belgravia on EPIX (if you haven’t seen it, please check it out!) rolled out its dramatic points in dimensional layers full of enticing surprises, let’s hope we get more storylines such as Mrs. Armstrong’s in the next season, when the show can find its groove.

My fond hope for The Gilded Age’s second season is that it gets to the heart of these three characters and lets them shine in the next go-around. It will be fun to watch their storylines unfold and I’m curious how they will be resolved, if at all. Quite frankly, the show needs to narrow in on the downstairs lives, which have much greater story-enriching potential.

The Gilded Age’s first season is available on HBO MAX. Season 2 has been greenlit and is actively filming, which will feature even more Broadway alums (a genuine highlight is to spot who I know from which show).