Carrie Coon’s Mrs. Russell triumphs as The Gilded Age throws the season’s finale ball

Agnes: I feel like I’ve been watching a play in a foreign language

After ending last week’s episode with Mrs. Russell being unceremoniously shoved out of the Astor home, the season finale, “Let the Tournament Begin,” opens back in NYC and Marian’s determination to run away with Raikes. Mrs. Chamberlain is as dubious about this course of action as everyone else, but she’s willing to let the girl make her own mistakes, unlike Agnes. At this point, with Peggy smuggling Marian’s bag out as part of her move-out, the only hope to stop this farce is either Agnes and Ada stepping in or the gentleman in question being exposed.

Blessedly, Ada catches on quickly to what Peggy’s suggesting when she sees Miss Scott carrying one of Marian’s bags. When confronted, Marian folds like a house of cards, especially when Ada warns her that the one way to make sure Agnes never accepts any of this is to do something precisely this stupid. But it’s Aurora seeing Raikes at the opera doing his “Golly gee, aren’t you swell” act on Sissy Bingham may be the key to halting all this nonsense. One can only hope she finally sets Marian straight before it’s too late.

In what feels like a moment where these final episodes were condensed down from the originally planned ten to nine, Mrs. Russell is also back in New York and deep in planning the coming-out party. She is also trying to smash through that Astor glass ceiling, using Carrie’s continued hanging out in her home as an excuse to visit dear Mama Astor. It fails utterly, though the expression on Astor’s Butler when she tries to bring up her unscheduled unapproved visit in Newport is worth the price of non-admission.

Realizing she has miscalculated and having the children of the Four Hundred come to her home for a party does not guarantee their parent’s attendance, Bertha pushes the only lever she has left. She announces she’s disinviting Carrie and the others if their parents won’t come. If you think Gladys doesn’t take that well, Carrie’s not having a bit of it. She’s not blaming Mrs. Russell either; she’s blaming Mama. Mrs. Astor is forced to consider how much this rift is worth. She thinks she can win this if she holds out, but Carrie—who has gotten to know Bertha in a way her mother hasn’t—disagrees. Mama thinks she can make Bertha bend the knee, but she’s wrong.

But just when the cancellation of Gladys’ friends seems like it will be the biggest disaster, Bertha comes face to face with another one. Monsieur Baudin isn’t who he pretends to be; he’s not even French! His name is Josh Bordin, from Witchataw, who studied in France but couldn’t get hired at the level of his training unless he put on the accent. His estranged wife, who he left to go to France, has tracked him down and wants reconciliation, and by that, we mean “money.”

Bertha panics. This is the worst kind of scandal, which plays directly into confirmation bias. The Russells are new money with no taste. They’re so uneducated and trumped-up they can’t even tell a fake French chef from the real deal. However, the new French chef she secures, Monsieur Chevron, is a complete ass, worse than Turner. He’s not five minutes on screen before Church and Watson (and the rest of us) start laying bets on how long he lasts.

Of course, since this is the season finale, the ball and Marian’s elopement are happening simultaneously. With Mrs. Astor not budging and none of the parents of the other children willing to move if she won’t, George starts taking matters into his open hands and pressuring husbands who need his money to force their wives to go. But Bertha betting on mother-daughter relations has been the correct gamble. Even as George exerts his pressure, Mrs. Astor is already in the Russells’ hall. Bertha lays out the bargain. Astor has to come, she has to bring the whole crowd, AND she has to get Mrs. van Rhijn to go as well. It is a tall order.

Speaking of the Van Rhijns, Peggy, Mrs. Chamberlain, and Marian are all waiting for the elopement, but Aurora arrives instead. It is evident by this time that Raikes is not on his way, and Marian has been made a fool. She and Peggy head out to Raikes’ office to find him working. (Yes, he stood her up and didn’t even leave town!) Agnes was always right about him, the money has won, and there will (blessedly) be no wedding today. Even better, with Marian suddenly back again and in need of showing off at a society function (and a pick me up), even the Van Rhijns’ attendance at The Russell Ball is suddenly possible. By the way, Larry Russell is still across the street, and apparently, he waltzes very well…

And now we come to the moment you’ve all been waiting for: The red carpet! The carriages! The dresses! Of course, the new French chef didn’t last an entire episode, and Monsieur Boudin rides to the rescue. Raikes shows up with Sissy Bingham, proving himself the Head Fuckboi of 1882, despite the competition from Oscar, who is officially going full open season on Gladys. As for Larry, he and Marian are BFFs now, and he knows all about Raikes. Let’s hope there’s more to come from that quarter in season two.

• It took all season for Fellowes to finally lean back into his comfort zone of the pastoral servants who wish only to please their betters upstairs, but we got there.
• As suspected, Peggy’s son is alive. In a surprise twist, her dad’s known about it the whole time. I’m sorry to have smushed this into the Stray Thoughts, but it’s such a left-field soap opera twist. I’m going to need much more of the Scotts come Season 2.
• Everything about the Quadrille was FABULOUS. Bring me the wigmaker, and ask why this person isn’t fixing the travesties on the Targaryen heads over on House of the Dragon.
• “Couldn’t we just call it the middle-west?” What’s the matter with Kansas?
• After eight long weeks, Dress of the Week finally doesn’t go to Carrie Coon. (I’m sorry, I know it’s from Paris, but I wasn’t a fan of the final gown.) Instead, the finale’s best-dressed award goes to Mrs. Astor, who knows how to look smashing in defeat.