The Gilded Age

This show works as a fantastic fantasy where you imagine yourself as one of the rich and noble of Gilded Age New York.

It's beautifully written, full of colorful characters that each feel as motivated and purposeful as all the others. Their lives are fleshed out and their potential for stories is always taken to its limit.

Even though my own circumstances are about as far from the lives of these people as is possible, the show still managed to get me to feel for and understand the mentality and feelings of all the characters.

Not every sub plot is a knockout and not every interaction is engaging, but it's one of the more consistent writing jobs done in this genre.

Beyond the exceptional writing, it's a beautifully produced show. The costumes on particular are fantastic! Every episode brings a new set of special dresses to admire. And the sets.... Absolutely gorgeous. This is arguably the best show of it's kind in terms of production design.

All around, I wasn't expecting much when I initially turned it on but I was very pleasantly surprised. It's fantastic.

The Gilded Age is a phenomenal drama with a wonderful cast. The setting of NYC in the Gilded Age touches on a bygone era that is well portrayed for all social classes during that time. The cast are all superb. The characters are rich and interesting from the upper class to the working class. I love the interactions between sisters, Ada and Agnes. The injection of historical events of the time into the show allows for viewers to see what the world around these characters was like during this time period. The attention to detail in architecture and the clothing is one of the best things about the show. The season 2 season finale was phenomenal and I was smiling the entire time I watched it! Hoping for a season 3!

Reading some of these reviews is almost as entertaining as the show itself. Some proclaim to love Downton Abbey (which by the way also raised sensitive issues such as class, heritage and sexuality) but when it makes a small subplot in an American show - the trolls emerge proclaiming "no, no 'woke' stuff."

Anyway: The first episode is long but it does a good job of setting the stage. Love Baranski, Nixon did a fine job, Farmiga was not the right choice. Although I adore Coon as an actress (I'll never forget her performance in Leftovers), she didn't get to really flex in this role, yet.

I eagerly await the continuation and will update my rating as the season moves on. Which it will as I am sure irritates quite a few but gives the majority of us no reason for concern.

I'm really enjoying this show. Don't know what took me so long to start watching it, but here it is December 2023 and I've started watching season one. I love period dramas and this one is no exception. Most of the period pieces are British which is great but a New York point of view is refreshing, The best part about this show is that it's not a slow burn. Something happens in every episode. I am so tired of Netflix slow burns where nothing happens and an 8 episode series could boil down to one or two episodes.. This one keeps me interested. I really enjoy the costumes. Wow the dresses are just gorgeous and the homes and furnishings are beautiful. I mean could you imagine having money and living in a time like that.

I've been waiting this for a while, especially since Fellowes mentioned it, I knew the premise could deliver a good show, and so it is. I'm giving it a 7* for the time being for I know it could be an 8 but I will reserve judgement until the end of the season.

Plus, all Fellowes' dramas are slow burners, even Downton Abbey was a bit much at first, there were dozens of characters presented at once, nothing made much sense until episode 3 so I knew what to expect on that regard but I want to make a defense, should that be the word, of this series. Aside of minor mistakes, façades not being the right stone, streets missing small details, the show presents the age rightly, especially one that was written a lot about, and mostly from a women's feud views. The men offer the backside of this, they didn't care about their wives' issues, they make business in between each other and let them manage the social side of their lives.

The show is heavily inspired from Alva Vanderbilt's takedown on Old New York, her bid on becoming socially acceptable agains Mrs Astor's 400, the Knickerbockers. Old ways vs the new way, Americans, especially Newyorkers, finding their footing in the new order where the US was beginning to be a power in its own right, and so, then, of course, the Buccaners, the most famous 3: Minnie Stevens, Jennie Jerome, and Consuelo Vanderbilt, the first 2 ones ran away from NY due to the lack of acceptance their families had, Alva was of a sterner material, first she won at home, and then she placed Consuelo as a duchess in England. Shortly after she divorced her husband, marry the love of her life, and then became an activism for women rights, vote, etc. What a woman, ha!

I also disagree with those who refer to this as woke, luckily is not, Fellowes loves to introduce these "downstairs" stories, and it is going to be one of the lines to go, so I like that, he is also usually thorough when it comes to details, I mean, don't expect seeing Peggy marrying a Vanderbilt or an Astor, he does not play with history on that regard but there will some surprise there for sure.

I hope this one follows its course, it could run for 4 season easily, and more.