Gilded Age star explains how her character Agnes really feels about son Oscar’s sexuality
Oscar and Agnes in The Gilded Age. (Barbara Nitke/HBO)
Oscar and Agnes in The Gilded Age. (Barbara Nitke/HBO)
Spoilers ahead for The Gilded Age season three episode 7.
Star of The Gilded Age Christine Baranski has opened up about the most recent episode, and whether her character will be able to accept her son coming out as gay.
HBO’s Emmy-Award-winning period drama is about the boom years of the 1880s in New York, and Sunday night’s (August 3) episode took things to a new level.
After the series was accused of queerbaiting, then featuring fleeting drag cameos, episode 7 of season three featured a fiery coming-out scene as Agnes, played by Baranski, had to confront the fact that son Oscar was gay.
As part of the upper class, Oscar (Blake Ritson) has had to keep his sexuality a secret. However, after the death of his lover and employer, John, he’s unable to cope with his grief. Attending the funeral, he sits at the back instead of in his “rightful place” a the front.
He then meets John’s sister, Nancy, who reveals that her brother kept a photo of Oscar in his drawer.
She clearly understands the forbidden relationship between the two men and tells Oscar that John has left him the summer house. Homosexuality was met with fear in 19th-century America and same-sex sexual activity was considered deviant and often criminalised.
‘It’s heart-breaking’
Oscar returns home, where his mother is baffled by why John would leave her son such a generous gift. Not knowing the true depth of their relationship, she believes Oscar “can’t be too sad” about the loss.
“How should I be, Mama?” Oscar lashes out.
Ada (Cynthia Nixon) tries to calm Agnes down, saying: “Oscar is mourning the loss of his saviour.”
Agnes doesn’t get the hint and asks: “What’s wrong with you, Oscar?” He replies: “Do you really want to know, mama?”
Oscar then sarcastically says he and John were friends and screams: “I’m sure you don’t want to hear that I miss him.”
This is the first time Oscar has declared his sexuality, even if it is subtly. But it cracks the facade and, as he leaves the room, the camera turns to Agnes, who looks pensive, suggesting the penny may have finally dropped.
Baranski told Entertainment Weekly: “[Agnes] finally has to admit something that she never wanted to even consider because it’s taboo. It would be horrifying to her.
“And yet, when he plays out that scene and goes up the stairs a broken man, it’s heart-breaking to realise that he can’t speak to me about it. She’s so far from her own child in terms of understanding and empathising.”
Trans representation in The Gilded Age
As well as the gay storyline, fans have also been treated to transgender representation in the series with trans actress Sandra Caldwell playing the Scott family’s maid Ellen.
Caldwell, who has also appeared in The Cheetah Girls, came out in 2017, and although she may not be portraying an explicitly trans character in the show, her presence is a reminder that transgender men and women have existed across the ages.
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