The Gilded Age review – what did we do to deserve such a terrible stinker?
Julian Fellowes’ high-society period drama has, somehow, picked up Emmys and reached its fourth series. Poor Meryl Streep must feel so awkward watching her daughter Louisa Jacobson in such a uniformly awful show A doctor with a fully qualified moustache races up a carriageway towards an immaculate stately home. “I fear we should have sent for you sooner!” says the lady who greets him on the doorstep as the screams…
Key points
- The Gilded Age returns for a fourth season, with Gladys giving birth in England and Oscar marrying Enid.
- The Guardian review calls the Julian Fellowes drama uniformly terrible despite its Emmy wins.
- The review says the show's dialogue and plot remain as cliched as in earlier seasons.
The Gilded Age has returned for a fourth season, and The Guardian's review describes the Julian Fellowes period drama as a "uniformly awful show." The review notes the series has picked up Emmys and reached its fourth series despite the criticism.
The season opens with Gladys, daughter of the Russell family, giving birth in England after marrying Hector, described as the 5th Duke of Englandshire. Back in America, Oscar Van Rhijn marries Enid, a wealthy widow and former lady's maid to Bertha Russell.
What the review says
The review criticises the dialogue as full of cliches, citing a doctor who announces that Gladys is "haemorraghing" after a maid says she is bleeding. It also describes Cynthia Nixon's Ada as wearing a constant pained expression.
The review mentions Louisa Jacobson, daughter of Meryl Streep, playing Marian, and says Streep must feel awkward watching her daughter in the show. It concludes that the series is "uniformly terrible and likely to outlive us all."
uniformly awful show
— The Guardian review
Other plotlines this season
Marian still yearns for Larry Russell, and the two are forced to stay in a hotel overnight after a coach accident. Peggy is engaged to William, apart from his interfering mother, and George Russell is trying to find who shot him before the Newport ball.
The maid Bridget still struggles with her accent, and Jack the inventor is seeking investors for an electric mixer after his alarm-clock success. The review says the show has won an Emmy and calls America "a failed state."
