HBO has officially revealed when its opulent period drama hit The Gilded Age will be returning to our screens. The Gilded Age Season 3 will premiere on Sunday, June 22 at 9 PM ET on HBO and MAX. Not only that, but HBO has unveiled a juicy teaser trailer that hints that romance will be the main focus of this upcoming season. Can true love conquer all, as the show’s sweet heroine Marion Brook (Louisa Jacobson) hopes? Or will the schemes of Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) position her beloved daughter Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) at the top of the social food chain?
The Gilded Age is a lavish soap opera set in the late 19th century in New York City and Rhode Island. “The Gilded Age” is a coin termed by none other than Mark Twain to describe the turbulent time period. For the super wealthy it was a “golden age,” where the rich were richer than ever before, and the poor all the poorer. Because of the rot and corruption lurking beneath the success of Industrial Revolution, Twain was basically sniping that this so-called “golden age” was just gilt.
The Gilded Age Season 2 focused on the historic “opera wars” that played out in elite New York City society. When new money families like the fictitious Russells were kept out of membership to the illustrious Academy of Music, they joined forces to create the rival Metropolitan Opera. The season ends with Bertha’s victory over real life socialite Caroline “Lina” Astor (Donna Murphy). The Met’s opening is such a success, it draws the attention of the English Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb).
The new teaser trailer for The Gilded Age Season 3 leans heavily into Bertha’s plans for her daughter Gladys to marry well. Since the Russells are inspired by the Vanderbilts, it seems showrunner Julian Fellowes is poised to put his own spin on the story of heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt’s disastrous first marriage to the 9th Duke of Marlborough.
Elsewhere in the teaser, we see that Marion Brook’s romance with Larry Russell (Harry Richardson) is still in full bloom. There are swoon-worthy shots of them kissing in carriages, holding hands under dinner tables, and frolicking under pretty foliage. Marion wants to marry for true love, but with Larry’s mother being the ambitious Bertha, will that happen?
We also get a look at Peggy Scott (Denée Benton) and her new beau, a “handsome doctor from Newport,” more petty drama brewing in the Brook/Van Rhijn household, and even the return of everyone’s favorite alarm clock inventor, Jack Trotter (Ben Ahlers).
The Gilded Age Season 3 will be on HBO and MAX on Sunday, June 22. Mark your calendars and ready yourself for the revelry.