Max
(Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Gilded Age Season 2, Episode 5.)
If there’s one thing you don’t want to do in The Gilded Age, lore has it, it’s step on Bertha Russell’s bustle. The calculating, social-climbing wife of a thriving robber baron, Carrie Coon’s character is as indomitable as they come. See, for example, her recent efforts to squash her nemesis, Miss Turner (Kelley Curran), like a bug under her gloved thumb. This week, the pair’s long-simmering feud hit full boil when Turner (now crowned Mrs. Winterton, thanks to her quick marriage to a New York aristocrat) tried to sabotage Bertha’s first dinner with her new houseguest, the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb).
The plan was simple: As seen in this week’s episode, Bertha hired some new chefs to cater the meal. Among them was Mr. Schneider, who it turns out also works part-time for the Wintertons. Turner links up with Bertha’s servant Peter Barnes (Michael Burrell) who is still working for Bertha and sends him and Sebastian on a mission: Spoil the dinner, and especially the Duke’s plate.