Gilded Age EPs Break Down Phylicia Rashad’s Polarizing Arrival — Plus, ‘The Wedding of the Century’ Is On!

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We knew we could count on Phylicia Rashad to shake things up in her first episode of The Gilded Age, but we definitely didn’t see it playing it out like this.

Sunday’s hour introduces the six-time Emmy nominee (and two-time Tony winner) as Elizabeth Kirkland, the tough-to-please mother of Jordan Donica’s Dr. William Kirkland, whose status with Peggy has now been elevated from flirting to courting. Unfortunately, for a few very surprising reasons, Elizabeth isn’t nearly as excited about this budding romance as we are.

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Though Elizabeth appears (somewhat) impressed with Peggy’s level of education, she’s less impressed by Peggy’s father’s pharmaceutical business — and that he was a former slave, news she meets with an ice-cold “…I see.” That bit of instant judgment, combined with Elizabeth keeping her grandchildren covered outside because “the last thing they need is more sun,” tells us everything we need to know about her.

“From the beginning, we’ve wanted to include storylines about the Black elite and Black middle class, because those stories have always been left out of television and film about this time period,” co-showrunner Sonja Warfield tells TVLine. “Usually the stories depicted are in relation to slavery, enslavement and sharecropping. These people did exist, so we wanted to put them on the screen. There’s a lot of internalized racism and colorism. It’s very real in the Black community and Latino community, and I haven’t seen it depicted on screen that much.”

While “not everyone thinks this way,” Rashad’s character is her own person, and she happens to represent those that do. “It was sort of inspired by my grandmothers,” Warfield explains. “One of my grandmothers, her father was biracial, and the other grandmother had native indigenous people’s background, and they were both very concerned about me being in the sun. I’m not saying my grandmothers were discriminating against me, but they had concerns about my color.”

Adds series creator Julian Fellowes, “It’s important to remember that every community has its own snobberies, its own separations, its own divisions. It’s a myth to eulogize one community as not having any of this and another other community as full of it, because it’s just not true. Human beings are rivals from the moment they leave their mother’s womb.”

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Despite stirring up trouble in front of the camera, Rashad has been a dream to work with, much to the delight of her millennial co-stars. “We all have our relationship with Miss Huxtable,” Jordan Donica (William) tells TVLine, to which Denée Benton (Peggy) adds, “I feel like it should be studied in the science of brains, why when [The Cosby Show] opening comes on, I feel like I’m seeing my mom. She’s not your mom, but you feel it!”

“But she holds it with a lot of grace, the fact that everyone sort of reacts to her that way,” Donica adds. “And then you just sit in it, you learn, and you explore. She’s so open and accessible, and kind and gracious.”

Also worth discussing from Episode 3…

* Despite George shutting down initial talks of marriage between Gladys and the Duke of Buckingham, Billy still doesn’t see a way forward for himself and Gladys, officially ending any chances they had of reuniting. The Duke allows his own eye to wander, but Bertha once again works behind the scenes to get him back at the Russells’ home for another uncomfortable meeting. This time, she convinces him to take George’s best offer, while George also attempts to convince Gladys that this is all in her best interest. The engagement is eventually confirmed, with poor Gladys nervously clutching her pearls as Bertha announces “the wedding of the century.”

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* Marian freaks out when a maid catches her canoodling with Larry, certain that word will spread and she’ll be ruined. But why are these two even still sneaking around? It’s time to go public.

* Shocker: Agnes is still having difficulty adjusting to the idea of Ada calling the shots at home, especially when Ada’s new passion project is to literally eliminate all shots. “Perhaps I will find my place in Newport with Aurora, and I’ll spend the rest of my days with society’s cast-offs and women of ill-repute,” Agnes tells her. “At least they’ll have wine!” But not everyone feels like making wisecracks; Ada confesses to missing her late husband more than anyone realizes, prompting Mrs. Bauer to suggest that there may be a way to speak with him one last time…

* In other downstairs news, “Monsieur” Baudin feels guilty about not divorcing his wife before she died, and Jack is crushing his meetings with investors. Some of them still need a bit more convincing, but we’re proud of our boy Jack.

What did you think of Rashad’s dramatic Gilded Age debut? Do you foresee Gladys and the Duke’s wedding going off without a hitch? And will Larry and Marian just go public already?! Drop a comment with your thoughts on Season 3, Episode 3 below.

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