Belgravia Season 3 Premiere: Fellowes & Cast Insights
Dive into the “Gilded Age” Season 3 premiere, where News Directory 3 reveals the evolving power dynamics and dramatic marital shifts. Bertha Russell’s ambition clashes with George’s desires, setting the stage for conflict, while Ada finds newfound influence amidst critically importent changes in the van Rhijn household. Explore the challenges facing Peggy Scott,the rising fortunes of some characters,and the shocking revelation that unsettles Aurora Fain‘s life. This season, Julian Fellowes masterfully destabilizes relationships, examining societal shifts amid the backdrop of the late 1880s in America. Discover what’s next in the opulent narrative.
Gilded Age season 3 Premiere: Power Shifts and Marital Strife Unfold
Updated June 23, 2025
Spoiler Alert: This story contains spoilers from the Season 3 premiere of “The Gilded Age,” now streaming on HBO Max.
“Don’t you know a bad marriage is a prison?” Bertha Russell asks her daughter Gladys in the season 3 premiere of “The gilded Age.”
For the first two seasons, the Russells’ marriage seemed ideal, a union of ambition. George Russell built their wealth, outmaneuvering the old money elite, while Bertha used their riches to conquer high society. Though, their united front is cracking. Bertha wants Gladys to marry the Duke of Buckingham, but Gladys loves Billy Carlton. George wants Gladys’s happiness, creating conflict and Gladys fleeing the house.
Across 61st St., Ada Forte is changing the van Rhijn household. After inheriting a fortune, Ada supports settlement houses and the temperance movement, much to Agnes’s dismay. Agnes is also grappling with being penniless after her son Oscar’s bad investment, making her dependent on Ada. Agnes continues to give orders, confusing the staff.
While “The Gilded Age” isn’t action-packed,the season three opener has twists.Peggy Scott is working on a novel, Jack and Larry Russell are attracting backers for Jack’s alarm clock, and Aurora Fain is shocked when her husband reveals his affair.
To discuss the season, variety spoke with creator Julian Fellowes, co-writer Sonja Warfield, and stars Morgan Spector (George Russell), Carrie Coon (Bertha Russell), Cynthia Nixon (Ada Forte), and Christine Baranski (Agnes van Rhijn).
The first episode is entitled “Who Is in Charge Hear?.” How did you land on that?
Julian Fellowes: I must confess, the moment I learned the first episode was called “Who Is in Charge Here?” was about 20 minutes ago. But I’ll take credit for it. I have no shame.
Sonja Warfield: Thematically, it demonstrates what we’re doing for the whole season. We’re examining the power shifts in the Brook house and in the Russell house. This season, power dynamics change for all our characters across the world we’re creating.
Whether its Ada discovering she’s rich and Agnes accepting she’s penniless or George and Bertha seeing their marriage strained over their divergent ideas about what’s best for their daughter, a lot of the relationships in this episode are being tested, even destabilized. Was that something you were keen to explore?
Fellowes: You have to keep destabilizing relationships, otherwise you’re just watching a lot of people being happy. You must keep changing the game, as you must keep having the characters thinking that new possibilities are being opened up for them or doors are being shut to them. Once you have no change,then you have no television.
Warfield: When I do character work, there’s a book I refer to called “The Birth Order Book.” It argues that birth order plays a big role in how people show up in life. And so what I wanted to examine with cynthia and Christine was to reverse that relationship.She’s the older sister, but what happens when you give the younger one all the power?
Fellowes: I remember when I was quite young going to Glamis Castle.The late queen mother grew up there, and she was the youngest daughter. And you saw when you got to the house that a special sitting room had been set apart for her and her husband, and all these rooms had been added to an apartment that had been designed for her to stay in when she chose to visit her parents. None of her older brothers and sisters had that arrangement. It was her’s because she was a special one now,and I remember thinking at the time,I wonder how this whent down at breakfast when they explained it to her siblings. I’ve always been rather fascinated by how things can change the dynamic of a family. maybe someone was the younger brother and they were bullied by their older brother, but they have the power now. Or maybe the older brother is furious that the young one has become a film star or head of industry, or whatever it is.I love all that. That’s my meat and drink.
This season doesn’t open in Newport or New York. It starts in the Old West. Why the change in locale?
fellowes: I’ve always been very interested in the fact that all of America’s history was happening at once. And you know, the Wild West, wich we’ve all grown up on, and the East Coast, where people are trying to make their daughters marry English peers and building palaces on Fifth avenue, existed together. We wanted to remind the audience that we haven’t forgotten about the Wild west – we certainly know it was going on.
What’s next
The season promises further exploration of power dynamics, societal shifts, and personal struggles within the opulent world of “The Gilded age.”