Max
From petty quarrels to micromanaging who her adult children date, Bertha Russell’s (Carrie Coon) desire to rule the New York high society playground is at the heart of HBO’s The Gilded Age. However, Bertha is far from the only character striving for something better in a country guarded by old money gatekeepers. Another plot ticking along in the background of Season 2 has me equally rapt. Somehow, I am now as invested in the van Rhijn footman Jack Treacher’s (Ben Ahlers) alarm clock-making fate as I am in Bertha’s quest for dominance.
It turns out I am not alone.
What seemed like little more than a comedic “Oops, I slept in” storyline in the second episode has developed into a season-long arc, which is getting more screen time than Jack’s ongoing flirtation with the Russell lady’s maid, Adelheid (Erin Wilhelmi). It would have been easy for the series to do the whole “star-crossed lovers from rival 61st Street households” thing, particularly as floppy-haired Ahlers has a strong touch of Timothée Chalamet about his wide eyes and slender frame. Instead of delivering a speech worthy of Laurie from Little Women, Jack’s free time is consumed by the mechanisms in a standard 19th-century alarm clock.