Airing on OCS every Monday, The Gilded Age – the new series from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes – brings late 19th century New York to life.
A new gem from Julian Fellowes, The Gilded Age depicts the New York upper middle class of the 1880s. It opposes two clans: the old elite of New York represented by the van Rhijn sisters (Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon) who welcome their now orphaned niece Marian (Louisa Jacobson) and the new rich, represented by the Russell family (Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector) who ostensibly flaunt their opulence.
And the creator of Downton Abbey is already thinking of a possible crossover between the two series. “I learned to never say never. I’ll stick with that as an answer“, Julian Fellowes told Deadline in a smile regarding the crossover.
This smile is not to be taken lightly. Such a crossover is possible and would make perfect sense when it comes to Downton Abbey’s character Cora Crawley née Levinson (Elizabeth McGovern), a wealthy American heiress who marries British aristocrats Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville). Although she was born in Cincinnati, Cora revealed that she had an aunt in New York who was still alive in 1914.
The latter could be the mysterious Sylvia Chamberlain (Jeanne Tripplehorn) or the new Manhattan upstart, Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon).
“The Gilded has a very different energy to Downton Abbey“, explained Julian Fellowes. “Things on Downton are on the decline, whereas they aren’t on The Gilded Age at all. This brand new gang is coming to town with all the money in the world and they want to have a good time. I think it creates a sort of upward energy that pervades the show but also, I think, at the time, it infused the company with a different energy.”
We just have to wait for season 2 to see if this hypothesis comes to fruition. In the meantime, we will be able to see Downton Abbey II: A New Era on May 4 in theaters.
