‘The Gilded Age’ Finale: Carrie Coon on the Huge Price Bertha Pays for Being Right

[This story contains major spoilers from the season three Gilded Age finale.]

George Russell (Morgan Spector) cheats death and survives being shot, thanks to Peggy’s Dr. Kirkland (Jordan Donica), but Team Russell takes a huge hit. Just when everything looks like it might be coming together for Bertha, her whole world falls apart. Gladys [Taissa Farmiga] is a duchess and is now happy with her duke, but the season three cliff-hanger makes it clear that Bertha and George are not OK, leaving both Bertha and the audience shellshocked after Sunday night’s ending.

Since The Gilded Age premiered back in 2022, the Russells have been an aspirational couple. One of the things fans admire most about them is their teamwork. In a time when women had far less agency, especially in marriage, George and Bertha were partners working together to solidify their place in business and society despite not having the required pedigree. As George excelled in business and Bertha in society circles, the power couple looked invincible.

Marriage is a key theme throughout season three, especially with Bertha pushing Gladys to marry for status, not love. Divorce or divorced women, rather, is another key topic that has Bertha right in the middle of it, but this time on the right side. The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Carrie Coon, who portrays Bertha Russell, to discuss her thoughts on the season three finale, revisit Bertha choosing whom Gladys would marry, as well as Bertha backing off of Larry [Harry Richardson] and his choice, and what may be in store for Bertha in the already renewed fourth season.

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At the very end of the season three finale, Bertha is looking out the window as George is carried away to spend more time away from her. He has told her that he doesn’t know if he wants to be with her. In that moment, has she gained the world but lost everything that matters?

Yes, yes, I think she has. I think she’s been very myopic, and she didn’t feel the seismic shift that was happening under her feet with her husband and her son in particular. And even though she’s right, she’s feeling righteous. It has come at a tremendous cost. It was sad for us, very heartbreaking to act out for me and Morgan.

Yes, because one of the highlights of The Gilded Age has been The Russells’ solid foundation.

I know, I know. It’s so sexy, so egalitarian, so respectful, and then here it goes. I know it’s really exhausting. I hope we get a chance to make a repair.

It’s ironic to see the end because Bertha has put her neck on the line to make sure divorced women are respected, not suspecting that she could join them.

At least not consciously. Yes, she’s always thinking ahead, that Bertha. I love that she’s always willing to challenge what she finds silly. I mean she’s playing the game and, at the same time, she’s questioning the rules. And I’ve always loved that about her.

Let’s revisit the cataclysmic event that creates this whole divide, which is Gladys marrying. Take us into Bertha’s ideology. In the end, even Gladys sees that her mother was right, and perhaps the audience does, too, but talk about the lack of power in that era and how women marshaled that?

Well, let’s remember that women couldn’t even get their own credit card in the United States until the 1970s. They’re women of wealth, but they still are limited in what they’re able to accomplish in the world. So a person of such cognitive ability and force as Bertha is relegated to a single sphere, and that is the social one. That is the marriage of her children and philanthropy. Period. End of story. With nowhere else to put that energy. So you have got to be darn sure Bertha’s going to make sure her daughter makes a good marriage. And what Bertha observes in Gladys’s early relationships are relationships she doesn’t think are going to sustain Gladys for a 30-, 40-year marriage. She doesn’t think puppy love is a foundation on which to build a marriage.

Now it’s hypocrisy. Yes, because did Bertha marry for love? Absolutely, she did. She had that joy and possibility in her life, but you know, Gladys is in a much higher social position, and therefore Bertha’s not willing to give her that freedom, knowing what she knows about what it takes to maintain a marriage, and how unsatisfying it can be to be a woman in the world with no purpose. So Bertha wants to give her daughter the possibility of having a life that is meaningful and purposeful, and she knows that if she can elevate her socially, she will have tremendous influence in fashion, in social issues, in philanthropy; she will maximize Gladys’ power in the world. Now whether or not Gladys cares about that is another matter. Bertha just knows if she were Gladys, this is what she would want. And aren’t we all guilty of projecting onto our children our dreams?

Was Bertha truly ever unsure that Gladys would walk down the aisle?

I think there was a kernel of doubt. And, you know, she wouldn’t have allowed it. She would have found a way to get around it. Gladys certainly gave her a scare when she ran away. I feel like there’s also a story in real life with Alva [Belmont Vanderbilt] and [her daughter] Consuelo. And of course, we’re not following that story exactly, but I think Alva maybe even faked a heart attack at one point. There’s something so dramatic that Alva did to get Consuelo to do what she wanted. She would stop at nothing to make sure that marriage happened. And of course, you know, Taissa’s performance is heartbreaking. She’s weeping down the aisle, which I can understand would cause some ire directly toward Bertha from the fans. 

Yes, it did feel a bit punishing.

Bertha’s really confident in what she’s doing for Gladys. She is doing it out of love. I know people find her methods distasteful, but it is ultimately because she loves her so much and she wants her to have a fulfilling life.

Talk about Bertha’s trip to England because it changes things for Gladys and appears to be a huge turning point.

Yeah, it’s really interesting, isn’t it? What I love about that episode is that I think Gladys starts to understand that her mother actually does have wisdom, [that she] does have some useful tips to offer when it comes to a marriage and running a household. And hopefully this creates a new possibility for their alliance going forward, that she will now be able to share her experiences in a way that will be useful to Gladys. When Gladys was a young woman, they weren’t necessarily applicable, but now they get to share this experience of being these influential women in the world, and [Bertha] is teaching her how to step into her power.

That moment with Lady Sarah is so subtle, but so powerful.

And isn’t Hattie Morahan just amazing as Lady Sarah?

Everyone in this show is spectacular.

It’s such a joy to do. We really have a wonderful time making it. Just the most amazing people. I maintain you only hear about the bad actors, the bad people who have bad reputations, but, honestly, most actors that I ever work with are just the most deeply curious and generous people in the world. We just have the most magnificent time.

Everyone in The Gilded Age seems to be there because they want to be. You’re in The White Lotus and everybody has a lot going on, but they make time for the show.

We really love it, and our crew is very special. They’ve all worked together in New York for decades. The best crew in New York City. They all know each other, and it really feels like a family. And so I do think you feel that energy in the show. There’s a lot of love in it.

Speaking of love, why is Bertha so willing to back off her son Larry’s choice in marriage? And why does she warm to Marian [Louisa Jacobson]?

Well, I do think Bertha respects Marian. I think Bertha sees in Marian a good fashion sense, her ambition, right? She’s ambitious for more than just making a good marriage. I think Bertha respects Marian, but she doesn’t come with the wealth and pedigree that Bertha would have hoped for her son. However, what Bertha knows is she’s going to have to give this one up if she wants George to be on her side again because she figures out she’s messed up royally when it comes to Gladys by not giving him more say. So she’s going to give him this one. So it’s about marriage, and then she also knows her son is a rich white man and he’s going to be fine. And we’ve seen Larry be fine. Everything Larry touches turns to gold. He’s going to be fine. So she’s willing to give that one up, reluctantly maybe, but you know he could have chosen worse; he’s not with the divorcée.

Talk about the aftermath of George is shot. What are Bertha’s emotions then? Especially since this season there was no indication that she could lose George.

I think that’s the stark reality that she’s faced with, in that she really does almost lose him, and she starts to understand that there are some priorities maybe more important to her than she thought. She didn’t think she’d ever lose him. But she comes close to losing him anyway, not only physically, but then their emotional life is in peril as well. And I think she feels like once he goes through that experience, they will be closer than ever, only to discover that this near-death experience for George has created a shift in him that she can’t really access, which feels very truthful to me. When one person goes through something really dramatic and unsettling as that that they can’t necessarily see eye to eye for a while and they’re going to have to figure that out if they’re given the chance. And so I think she underestimates what that experience has done for him in terms of his perspective on his life and his choices.

Bertha tells George that she knows what she wants. So what is it that Bertha wants?

Bertha wants everyone to keep moving forward. She wants to stay married to George. She wants her children to be settled and to start to take their rightful place in society as influencers, so to speak. And she’s ready to kind of conquer whatever the next challenge is. But she underestimated this impact. It feels out of the blue for her. Of course, the audience knows it’s not out of the blue. She just wasn’t paying attention.

Bertha had tremendous triumphs even before making her daughter Gladys a duchess. She bested Mrs. Astor [Donna Murphy] to become the belle of the ball in the opera wars. Her staff figured out how to get rid of the gossiper.

Yeah, that’s right.

So she should be on cloud nine.

And why can’t her family just celebrate her victories? Why can’tthey recognize how hard she’s working?

And to be honest George is being a little hypocritical.

Exactly!

When George asked to bring Mr. Morgan and others to the table, she did. And through those society connections George now dislikes.

That’s right, and those are parallel tracks. He cannot accomplish the things he needs to accomplish in business without that social piece in place. They are partners, and to have him disregard her sphere of influence is very dismissive. And he doesn’t really understand it.

And the audience is like “this horrible Bertha,” but now it seems that Bertha may have been right about what’s best for Gladys.

I mean Gladys is happy. She’s having a baby. Larry gets what he wants. So why can’t George just get on board with the program?

Let’s go back to the very end as George’s carriage is leaving, and Bertha can’t tell him he’s going to be a grandfather. What kind of possibilities do you think that opens up for Bertha going forward?

Oh, it’s heartbreaking, of course. But, at the same time, her wheels are already turning about how she’s going to fix it. You know she’s not going to give up on it. She’s indefatigable, of course. So I think she’s looking out that window and she’ll have a moment of grief, and then she’s going to get to work on some kind of plan.

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All three seasons of The Gilded Age are streaming on HBO Max.