The Gilded Age Season 2: Everything We Want to Know!

By Jaslin Last updated Dec 26, 2022

The Gilded Age, HBO’s period drama set in late nineteenth-century New York, will return for the second season of grandeur and overindulgence. “[Series creator] Julian Fellowes and the entire Gilded Age family have totally captivated us with their tale of late 19th century New York City excess,” said Francesca Orsi, executive VP of programming at HBO Max, in a statement announcing the renewal.

We couldn’t be more excited to go on a season two journey with this exceptionally talented crew alongside our partners at Universal Television.” The first season centered on tensions between socially established “old money” families, as represented by matriarch Agnes Van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) and her sister Ada (Cynthia Nixon), and “new money” entrepreneurs, as represented by George Russell (MorganSpencer) and his socially ambitious wife, Bertha (CarrieCoon).

Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), a young and innocent woman who comes to live with her aunts, Agnes and Ada, following her father’s death and is later romantically pursued by her father’s lawyer, Tom Raikes, sees their opposing views mostly through her eyes (ThomasCocquerel).

Another engrossing plotline has Peggy Scott (Denee Benton) forging a career in journalism as a Black woman while negotiating the obstacles thrown in her path due to race and gender. As the first season of The Gilded Age concludes on Monday, March 21, keep reading to learn everything we know about The Gilded Age Season 2.

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When Will Season 2 Of The Gilded Age Premiere?

The Gilded Age writers began thinking out tales for Season 2 well before the show’s renewal was announced on February 14, 2022. “We’re usually working on the second season well before we know if it’s going to happen or not,” executive producer Gareth Neame told RadioTimes.com in January 2022.

“Because, you know, the instant we know we’re moving ahead, we have to start—the cameras have to start rolling. So you’ll have to plan ahead of time.” Having said that, there is no information on when the second season will return, but our best bet is that it will be in early 2023.

Is Season 2 Of The Gilded Age Going To Be Based On A Genuine Story?

While The Gilded Age is a fictional plot, it is historically based around 1882; the first season featured several real-life figures, including Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross, and T. Thomas Fortune, creator of the African-American newspaper New York Age (renamed The Globe for the show, where Peggy gets her big break as a writer). The storyline in Season 1 also included certain true occurrences, such as the culminating social gathering in Episode 7 when Thomas Edison presented a fully illuminated New York Times building.

Who Was Gilded Age Season 2 Ingenue Louisa Jacobson?

Season 2’s potential narrative aspects have yet to be announced, but we can make one prediction: Bertha was unsuccessful in her quest to purchase a seat at the Academy of Music, the classic opera venue where just a dozen private boxes are held by old money families.

According to social historian Carl Raymond, going to the opera “was a social battleground… it was about where you sat, what you were wearing—and, most significantly, who saw you do it.” New money families pooled their resources to build a larger theatre, and the Metropolitan Opera House opened in 1883 at Broadway and 39th Street. Could we see Marian Brook and/or the Russells at the premiere of Faust in Season 2?

What Happened At The End Of Season 1 Of The Gilded Age?

Going into the season finale, The Gilded Age had mostly resolved the train crash scandal in favor of George Russell, who (surprisingly?) had nothing to do with the poor and inexpensive equipment that caused the crash. Peggy told Marian and the van Rhijn sisters about her past: She had been married and had a child who had died.

This is also the source of her conflict with her father, who compelled Peggy’s marriage to be annulled. Peggy has fled the house to escape further complications with the cunning Mrs. Armstrong.

There’s also Marian and Tom Raikes’ potential elopement, Oscar van Rhijn’s (BlakeRitson) manipulations to secure the fortune of Miss Gladys Russell (TaissaFarmiga) and continue with his lover John Adams (ClaybourneElder), and various other servant stories (the most compelling of which is how Watson knows Flora), not to mention Bertha Russell’s humiliating back door escape from Mrs. Astor’s Newport mansion.

Is There Going To Be A Downton Abbey/Gilded Age Season 2 Crossover?

Given that Fellowes is central to both Downton Abbey and The Gilded Age, and that both programs are set in the nineteenth century, it’s not unrealistic to expect a Downton Abbey cameo or two on The Gilded Age. However, the answer is that we should not expect to see it.

“I never saw the series as connected because The Gilded Age starts 30 years before Downton Abbey,” Fellowes told The Hollywood Reporter. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have a Downton Abbey character in the future, but these are two entirely different series.”

Who Will Appear In The Gilded Age Season 2?

There’s no indication of who from the main cast will return for a second season, but barring any season finale shocks or scheduling difficulties, we can fairly assume the show’s key characters to return. Baranski has expressed a strong desire to reprise her role as Agnes van Rhijn.

“We’re all praying that it carries on,” Baranski told Town & Country before Season 2 was officially announced. If it doesn’t, it’s a fantastic ten episodes. It concludes in a great way, as we shall see. But I could happily keep working on this show, with these actors, and with this wonderful writer, Julian.” Baranski may have to juggle filming The Gilded Age with the sixth season of her Paramount+ courtroom drama The Good Fight.

Where Can I get The Gilded Age Season 2 To Watch?

The first eight episodes of HBO Max’s The Gilded Age Season 1 are now available to watch. Season 1’s ninth and final episode will be available to stream on Monday, March 21, at 9 p.m. ET.