S01.E06: Heads Have Rolled for Less

[BabyBella94]

Filming for the second season will start in April.

[Maisiesmom]

I would like to see more about the characters past. It seems to me that George and Bertha have worked very hard to be where they are now. Maybe that's one of the reasons she wants to be accepted into society so badly. When George was talking with Gladys about poor Mr. Baldwin she said something about George's many holdings, oil, coal, real estate, so I think they came up hard and now would like to reap the rewards. I'm glad Gladys made a friend in Miss Astor-they do have things in common. I'm also wondering about Mrs. Morris-she acts like George and Bertha shot her husband themselves! And I thought she is now poor and homeless? Who is feeding and clothing her so she can attend these functions? I liked how Clara Barton blew her off at the meeting-she doesn't care about these rich womens stupid rules-she just needs money for her cause. Loved seeing Agnes storm across the street to the luncheon-I wonder if she will fire Bannister now. I know it had to be Church who wrote the note.  Then Mrs Armstrong spilling the tea about Oscar and that hussy Turner tee hee let's see how that turns out. Still loving the sets and costumes-SO glad I don't have to dress that way.

[Roseanna]

4 minutes ago, Maisiesmom said:

I would like to see more about the characters past. It seems to me that George and Bertha have worked very hard to be where they are now. Maybe that's one of the reasons she wants to be accepted into society so badly. When George was talking with Gladys about poor Mr. Baldwin she said something about George's many holdings, oil, coal, real estate, so I think they came up hard and now would like to reap the rewards. 

From HBO's site:

Quote

Bertha Russell - Bertha comes from the ordinary middle-class. She backed her instincts when she set out to catch her husband George, the son of a merchant family who has proved to be a financial genius. She is determined to use her money and position to break into a society that resists change at every turn.
 
George Russell - A classic robber baron of his own time, Russell is pleasant enough in company. He’s fond of his wife and his children, but utterly ruthless in business. He has already acquired millions and many more will follow. In every challenge, George must win.

So it seems that George was already at least wealthy when they met and Bertha wanted to marry him for that. And she wasn't poor as young (unlike it seemed when she talked about her mother) but middle-class. In any case, although Bertha has no doubt supported him (as we have seen in the show), it's George who has worked hard for success.

About their children:

Quote

Gladys Russell - A classic, innocent and lovely child of the rich who doesn't want a governess or for her mother to treat her as a child anymore—she yearns to be out in society meeting suitable young men. She doesn’t really know how her father made his money, and she doesn’t much care, but she is used to it and wouldn’t know what to do without it. She has an independent streak, but her defiance is no match for her mama. Her mother uses her as a tool for her own ambition and forces her toward socially advantageous situations.

Quote

Larry Russell - Appealing and good natured with an easy charm, Larry is a recent Harvard university graduate eager to make his way in the world. Above all, Larry is his mother's child, her Achilles' heel, the one person she loves without limit and he loves her as well. He is protective of his little sister, Gladys, and like her he is a classic child of the rich. He thinks he doesn't care about money, because he has always had plenty of it.

Gladys and Larry haven't known anything but wealth and privilege in their life and that can cause they may be too soft to succeed to choose their own way.  

[Maisiesmom]

Thanks for the info! I like George and Bertha and how they support each other. I guess he would be quite the catch! I would also like to see Marion and Larry get together-he doesn't seem to have an ulterior motive like Mr. Raikes.

[Roseanna]

10 hours ago, Maisiesmom said:

an ulterior motive like Mr. Raikes.

If you look HBO's description about Raikes (see page 5), he is just smitten with Marian and even respects her boundaries.

Spoiler

HBO's teaser about the next episodes seems to indicate that there will be more scenes about the couple.

 

[Pestilentia]

For all of the other HBO shows discussed in forums the character descriptions on the HBO website are laughingly dismissed as nonsense written by interns that have no clue as to the true qualities and motivations behind our characters.

Are we now granting them weight? There's no source material to refer to to verify what is canon and what is not- in the case of other shows we rely on what we see on the screen to inform us, not blurbs on a website.

Has that changed? HBO character descriptions are now considered canon?

[Hiyo]

I think when it comes to how people are related to one another as family, sure. Other stuff? Up for discussion, I suppose.

[JenE4]

3 hours ago, Pestilentia said:

For all of the other HBO shows discussed in forums the character descriptions on the HBO website are laughingly dismissed as nonsense written by interns that have no clue as to the true qualities and motivations behind our characters.

Are we now granting them weight? There's no source material to refer to to verify what is canon and what is not- in the case of other shows we rely on what we see on the screen to inform us, not blurbs on a website.

Has that changed? HBO character descriptions are now considered canon?

Agreed. And no blurb is going to give away the full character and story arc. It would certainly take away the entertainment factor if TV/movie blurbs we’re like: The butler kills the heiress to gain her fortune in this thrilling whodunnit.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 2/28/2022 at 11:24 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I didn't love this episode, but I do like the show, if that makes sense.  I definitely missed some nuances and had to come here to read them.  I'm still confused about who some people are.  Some of the men look the same to me and sigh, it's hard for me to know who is related to who and how.

Quoting myself.  Look at how similar Larry and Tom look!  LOL!  I'm trying to read about every character now so I can understand better.  LOL

[Hiyo]

Quote

HBO character descriptions are now considered canon?

Why not? There is nothing here that is that contradictory to what we have seen.

[RachelKM]

21 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Look at how similar Larry and Tom look!  LOL!  I'm trying to read about every character now so I can understand better.

I actually don't have an issue with this in this show because I'm familiar with Harry Richardson and Blake Ritson enough to distinguish the men.  But I get it. I had this problem through most of Bridgerton and found myself referring to them and Sideburns, Hair, and the other one when trying to sort them.

Edited March 9, 2022 by RachelKM

[chaifan]

I'm hoping someone here is a "downstairs" history buff and can answer this question, which I haven't yet seen addressed:  Why would Church be so absolutely ignorant as to the "English" way of setting a table?  Given his age and the fact that he had to have considerable experience as a butler/house manager before Bertha would even consider to employ him, how could he not know the English settings?  It seems that the French settings are much newer to society.  We don't know how long he's been employed by the Russell's, but they're "new" money and relatively young, so he had to have been working for well-to-do families before he was hired by them.  (Bertha would never hire a novice in that position.)  It's unclear if he was with the Russell's in their prior home, but I do get that impression - that none of the main staff was hired in new with the new house.  There seems to be history there that predates the move-in. 

Also, has the show ever definitively established Gladys's age?  I'm so confused as to that.

[Tango64]

4 hours ago, chaifan said:

I'm hoping someone here is a "downstairs" history buff and can answer this question, which I haven't yet seen addressed:  Why would Church be so absolutely ignorant as to the "English" way of setting a table?  Given his age and the fact that he had to have considerable experience as a butler/house manager before Bertha would even consider to employ him, how could he not know the English settings?

You make a good point. It's amusing to see him befuddled, but it doesn't seem realistic. Even though the Russells are new money and doing some things the new way, Church would know the English way or else he wouldn't have the experience that Bertha demanded when hiring him. 

The only explanation might be that Bertha had a hard time finding a good butler because the Russells are new money. Seems a stretch. The experienced guy across the street was happy to take Bertha's new money.

[AZChristian]

32 minutes ago, Tango64 said:

The only explanation might be that Bertha had a hard time finding a good butler because the Russells are new money. 

It's not like Bertha could Google the guy or call his references.  I suspect he was a middle-aged footman somewhere else (Mr. Molesley-ish) and was able to talk his way into a butler's position (with a family that probably didn't know everything a butler needs to know).  

[Trillian]

9 hours ago, chaifan said:

I'm hoping someone here is a "downstairs" history buff and can answer this question, which I haven't yet seen addressed:  Why would Church be so absolutely ignorant as to the "English" way of setting a table?not

Not a downstairs buff, but I just assumed it was because he was schooled in the new American ways of the nouveau riche rather than the traditional British ways of the old money. 

[Pestilentia]

On 3/8/2022 at 12:57 AM, Hiyo said:

Quote

HBO character descriptions are now considered canon?

Why not? There is nothing here that is that contradictory to what we have seen.

Here in this show? No. But none of the other HBO shows that ever aired worked that way- sooner or later that intern-written character description is shown to be untrue. So we've long since learned that they have no relevance to either the source material or the writers- it's just something HBO cooked up to appear on the website.

[Hiyo]

That's fine, but I don't really care about other HBO shows. I care about this one.

[phoenics]

On 2/28/2022 at 11:51 PM, Toodleoo said:

May I pull up a seat? I unabashedly love it. Christine Baranski is amazing, just the expressions on her face were a work of art as she took in the Russell palace and tried to figure out what to do once she’d crossed that last threshold into the luncheon.

Loved the scene with Audra McDonald and Denée Benton as well, just fantastic work by both of them.

I LOVE this show too - can I come hang with y'all?

SUCH a good episode.  Bannister's shocked "aaaaahhh! sh!t" expression when Agnes showed up was SO funny!

And I LOVE the decadence of the show - the gifts Bertha had made for the guests - drooling!  That was just the perfect little touch for her Czarina aspiring self.  Loved it.  Were those cigar cases for the men?  Can you imagine how much that must have cost?  Loved it.  Loved the flowers and candles (kept worrying the flowers would catch on fire)... loved the decor.  Loved the linens.  Loved the gowns.

Loved Agnes dragging her skirt in the dirt and nearly getting run over lmao.

Classic.

Marian continues to be dumb AF. Can they just recast her?

[Scarlett45]

I want to see Peggy get more time with her family and with that handsome young editor of the globe. Does Peggy remind anyone else of Mary Chruch Terrell?

 

I doubt Agnes cares of Oscar fools around with Ms Turner, (men can do what they want), but touching publicly on the street where all can see, is an entirely DIFFERENT matter. I always assumed Oscar had a room at a luxury boarding house where single men could go and have their privacy away from their family- that’s where he hangs out with his boyfriend. 

[J-Man]

On 3/7/2022 at 10:02 PM, RachelKM said:

On 3/7/2022 at 8:21 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Look at how similar Larry and Tom look!  LOL!  I'm trying to read about every character now so I can understand better.

I actually don't have an issue with this in this show because I'm familiar with Harry Richardson and Blake Ritson enough to distinguish the men.  But I get it. I had this problem through most of Bridgerton and found myself referring to them and Sideburns, Hair, and the other one when trying to sort them.

Blake Ritson is playing Oscar, not Tom or Larry.

[RachelKM]

2 minutes ago, J-Man said:

Blake Ritson is playing Oscar, not Tom or Larry.

I'm aware.  My point is that I'm familiar with him and with Harry Richardson, so I am able to distinguish all the men (Oscar, Larry, and Tom) since the third one is not either of them and that is sufficient to know who he is.

[retired watcher]

On 3/1/2022 at 2:56 PM, KarenX said:

I mean… if Peggy can do it…

I don’t think George cares if Larry doesn’t want to enter the family business but going into architecture kind of seems tied up in serving at “society’s” whim. Needing clientele is not the same kind of career at all. But George loves his children and so maybe the compromise will be something like yes, but non-residential. Maybe skyscrapers! When did those start showing up?

At that time being an architect was not as prestigious a job. It was to close to working with your hands or being an artist. Also, at that time there were no schools for it in the US. You needed to go the France to study at a school. Here you became an apprentice and worked along side an already established one.

[Camera One]

This episode was sort of entertaining, though the writing was rather clunky.

Once again, they wrote Mrs. Morris as quite a villain.  So were all the random voting women originally going to support her?  Does Aurora care about her friendship with her, or no longer?

Likewise, the luncheon was humorous but ridiculous.

Marian had to sneak out to go to the Russell's party a few episodes ago, but now she just announces to Agnes she's going over for luncheon?  What was the special occasion?  At least have it be related to the Red Cross, so there would be a reason for it.  

Why did Ada suddenly ask if Mr. Raikes would be at luncheon in front of Agnes?  Did she want to put Marian on the spot?

I thought Ms. Astor's daughter had a thing for Larry, but I guess not?