WARNING! The following contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of The Gilded Age.
At the end of Episode 7 of The Gilded Age, George Russell (Morgan Spector) was shot by gunman posing as a messenger. In his office, the man knocked on the door and said he had a delivery for the robber baron before firing off multiple shots into the room, one of which seemed to have hit George.
While The Gilded Age (from Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey) has seen numerous characters die over the course of the show, it has yet to see a death of a main cast member. The shooting of Mr. Russell is potentially the first real threat to that trend. While we’ve seen John Adams (Claybourne Elder) be killed this season and Luke Fortes (Robert Sean Leonard) in Season 2, the death of George would certainly be a monumental shift for the show.
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Did George die on The Gilded Age?
Fortunately for us, no! Mr. Russell did survive the assassination attempt. After the shooting, he is taken to a dining room where he is placed on a table. Bertha (Carrie Coon) cries for someone to get a doctor. Luckily, Dr. William Kirkland (Jordan Donica) was across the street and is able to attend to him, removing the bullet and treating the wound. Bertha thanks him for being there and asks for his discretion in the matter.
The next morning, he is treated by Dr. Logan (Dylan Baker) who says his odds of surviving are better than they might have been. “All we can do now is pray,” he says. Meanwhile, Bertha continues to prepare for the ball.
George begins to recover in bed. He wants to know who shot him and says that while investigating, his men can be “as rough as they like”. Dr. Logan calls his recovery a miracle. He insists that Bertha hold the ball, primarily so that it keeps appearances and doesn’t jeopardize the railroad.
George makes great progress and thanks Dr. Kirkland, stating that if he hadn’t been there, he would have died. He thanks him a check, stating that it’s not worth more than his life. George also says that Dr. Kirkland has a tremendous amount of courage. “If things had gone badly and I had died, there would be people who would have tried to persecute you,” he tells him.
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Do George and Bertha separate in The Gilded Age finale?
The ball is successful, furthering establishing the Russells as prominent members of New York’s wealthy. Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) attends with the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb), Dr. Kirkland proposes to Peggy (Denée Benton) and Aurora Fane (Kelli O’Hara) attends the party, despite her husband divorcing her. Meanwhile, Marian (Louisa Jacobson) and Larry (Harry Richardson) seem to make amends and dance with each other.
Bertha and George watch the party and see Gladys dancing. “She’s not unhappy, George,” she tells him. “You’ve managed another triumph,” he says in return. The two seem to be in a good place, but that’s actually not the case.
Bertha finds George packing his things. “I thought we settled this last night,” she says. But George only attended the ball to protect the business. He is still upset that Bertha forced Gladys to marry the Duke instead of letting her marry for love. While he admires her ruthlessness, he is only that way in business, not with the people he loves. He leaves. Gladys then runs to her mother and gives her the news. “I’m going to have a baby,” she tells her. She insists they tell Father, but he’s already gone.
George’s departure signals a potential shift in The Gilded Age’s central power dynamic. Up until now, the Russell marriage has been the show’s most formidable alliance, with Bertha’s social cunning and George’s financial might making them an unshakable force in the world of the New York elite. But with their relationship fractured, Bertha must navigate society alone, opening the door for a more vulnerable, perhaps even more dangerous, version of Mrs. Russell.
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