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One Of The Gilded Age Season 3’s Most Exciting Topics Has Already Come Up In An Unexpected Way

June 25, 2025

Warning: SPOILERS For The Gilded Age Season 3, Episode 1 – “Who Is In Charge Here?”

The Gilded Age season 3, episode 1, was arguably the show’s best premiere yet, and the new season seems set to tackle bigger issues than ever, including several important social causes. Ahead of its premiere, The Gilded Age season 3 debuted to a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, getting viewers excited about what was to come, and episode 1 did not disappoint. The Gilded Age‘s cast of characters is better and more dramatic than ever, and the series has already provided them with several big plot surprises.

With numerous Broadway veterans, delicious soapy plots, and lavish costumes and settings, The Gilded Age is an easy and entertaining watch. In adding several big developments, The Gilded Age season 3, episode 1, expands this even further, giving each of the characters a new love interest, a new cause, or a new quarrel. By the end of The Gilded Age season 3, episode 1, Gladys makes a shocking decision, and members of the van Rhijn-Brook house discuss a new cause that will become even bigger as the season progresses.

Agnes Supporting Women’s Suffrage In The Gilded Age Season 3 Is A Surprise

Agnes’ Vocal Support Is Refreshing For The Traditional Character

Amidst The Gilded Age season 3 premiere’s big reveals and stated themes, it was exciting to see the characters discuss women’s suffrage for the first time. The suffrage movement had already gained quite a bit of steam by that point, with both the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association having been created 15 years earlier. Likewise, women had the right to vote in territories like Wyoming, Utah, and Washington, and women in several other states could vote in school elections.

The Gilded Age can be insular to the upper-class women of New York, but I am glad that season 3 already seems to be adding greater connections to the events of the day, including discussing suffrage and temperance. Even though introducing these big topics in The Gilded Age season 3‘s premiere feels a bit surprising, it is also exciting since the series will have all season to expand on them. For suffrage in particular, I was intrigued to hear Agnes Van Rhijn vocally support the issue and am excited to see where that will lead.

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Especially considering that Agnes is typically such a traditional character and has repeatedly mentioned the importance of doing things as they have always been done, The Gilded Ageseason 3 may see her become a bit more open to change. Though there were certainly anti-suffrage groups that existed in the 1880s, I am glad that The Gilded Age is choosing not to go in that direction for its main characters. Agnes’ support of suffrage also allows the other characters to have a more serious discussion about the movement and gain a new cause.

I Was Expecting Peggy To Be The Center Of The Gilded Age Season 3’s Suffrage Conversation

The Gilded Age Season 3’s Trailer Highlights Peggy’s Views On Suffrage

Agnes’ view on suffrage was surprising, though it ultimately makes sense since she would benefit as an educated, upper-class widow, but I was definitely not expecting her to be the first character to mention the movement. Rather, I was expecting Peggy Scott to be the main The Gilded Age character to be pushing for women’s voting rights. The Gilded Age‘s season 3 trailer even teased Peggy discussing the issue while talking with family friends in Newport.

Peggy has already been involved in several of the show’s biggest causes.

In addition to seeing Peggy bring suffrage up in conversation in the trailer, Miss Scott leading the suffrage conversation in the series makes sense because she has always been the most politically active character. From covering the dorm opening in Tuskegee to the Education Board’s attempts to close schools in The Gilded Age season 2, Peggy has already been involved in several of the show’s biggest causes. While I hope that Agnes and the other members of the Van Rhijn-Brook will continue to discuss suffrage and get involved in the movement, Peggy’s involvement is even more exciting.

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This Real-Life Organization With Dark Impact Throws Controversy Into The Gilded Age Season 3

The Gilded Age season 3 introduces Ada’s new cause, but what is the temperance movement, and why did the widow Mrs. Forte join?

Peggy voicing her support for suffrage gives The Gilded Age a fascinating opportunity to explore Black women’s importance in the movement. Black women often had to fight for their rights even more strenuously than Black men and white women, as they were often excluded from the conversations of both groups. Interestingly, the series is set to introduce suffragist and abolitionist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper as a mentor for Peggy this season, which will give The Gilded Age a great tie to an important historical figure and an avenue to explore the history of suffrage.