If you've been craving the rich troubles, ego wars, and the entire Downton Abbey universe, now's the time to subscribe to OCS . From January 24, The Gilded Age ( L'Âge Doré ), the brand new long-awaited series from its creator Julian Fellowes , will be broadcast there . We bet you'll soon be addicted to this costume saga in 1880's New York?
Downton Abbey on a grand scale
While Downton Abbey mainly followed the post-WWI fate of the Crawley family and its slew of servants in England, The Gilded Age's story arcs prove to be much more extensive. At the end of the 19th century, the United States transited towards a new industrial era, marking the advent of these “ new rich people ” who succeeded in everything, despised by aging bourgeois families.
In this social context already promising good crisp dramas, in 1882, we follow the initiatory journey of Marian Brook , who hastily left her rural Pennsylvania after the death of her father. Head to bustling New York with Agnes and Ada, his old-school aunts, deliciously quick to bicker and who make it their mission to introduce him to good society.
Scandal: opposite their home, the Russell family have just moved into a real palace, having made their fortune in the railways and whose infinite ambition of the husband is only equaled by the cruel sufficiency of the wife. . Take out the popcorn: obviously, the old families of the charity club categorically refuse to integrate the Russells and decide to snub them. But beware of the reverse side of the coin when your enemy holds you by the money...
At the same time, and it is also the novelty of The Gilded Age to take an interest in racial issues, the sweet Marian befriends Peggy, a young black writer who is struggling to get published and becomes the ultra- gifted to Agnes. She accepts him under her roof in the middle of segregationist America.
An exceptional cast
Obviously, as for Downton Abbey , Julian Fellowes called upon a crazy team for an extremely well-filmed rendering and with perfect costumes. But the added value of The Gilded Age also lies in the exceptional cast that lives up to this ambitious project.
We should name them all, but to sum up: Louisa Jacobson (daughter of Meryl Streep ) plays the ingenuous Marian, Christine Baranski ( Mamma Mia! ) and Cynthia Nixon ( Sex And The City ) for the pair of already legendary aunties (the one is as intractable as Maggie Smith of Downton, the other did not invent warm water, and let you guess which is which), but also the relentless torque Russell formed by Morgan Spector (Homeland, Pearson) and the awesome Carrie Coon ( The Sinner, Fargo ). With all these beautiful people, a licked decor and a scenario promised to rewards, impossible to let go of this first season.
Available January 25 (in US+24) on OCS
Also discover our review of Spencer by Pablo Larraín and The Lost Daughter with Olivia Colman.
