HBO
It doesn’t matter if it is 19th-century or 21st-century New York: No one likes to be called a social climber—whether there is any truth in the statement. And while the outfits are equally attention-grabbing, the women of The Real Housewives of New York reboot could learn a thing or two about how to throw barbs at each other from rivals Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) and Mrs. Winterton (Kelley Curran) on The Gilded Age.
Whereas today’s reality stars have confessionals, Instagram, and reunions to fire off passive-aggressive missives, in Julian Fellowes’s gloriously melodramatic HBO series, nothing says making a splash quite like appearing in the society pages. Bertha hasn’t kept her ambition to headline New York society a secret, but the return of a former servant has rocked her world. That Bertha’s subsequent triumph is so public makes the side order of vengeance all the more delicious, demonstrating why The Gilded Age’s ongoing spat is this season’s must-see event.
Bertha’s grudge against Mrs. Winterton is much deeper than her other quarrels this season, as the hot new young wife is better known to the audience as Bertha’s former lady’s maid, Turner—her first name is Enid, but to me, she will always be Turner. Both have a rags-to-riches narrative, though only one woman has tried to seduce the other’s husband.