The Gilded Age introduced Ward McAllister, Mrs. Astor's real-life lackey. Do Ward's genteel charms belie an ulterior motive against Bertha Russell?
Warning: SPOILERS for The Gilded Age Season 1, Episode 5 - "Charity Has Two Functions"
Ward McAllister (Nathan Lane) was introduced in The Gilded Age episode 5 but is the smooth-talking tastemaker setting Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) up for an epic betrayal? The Gilded Age's conflict between Old New York's elite families and the New Money Russells is finally starting to go Bertha's way, especially after the suicide of Patrick Morris (Michel Gill) struck fear in high society that George Russell (Morgan Spector) is not someone to be trifled with. Doors that were previously closed to Bertha are now starting to open but the gatekeeper to the echelon of New York society, Ward McAllister, may not be someone Bertha should trust.
In The Gilded Age (and in real-life history), Ward McAllister was the right-hand of Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy), who was the ultimate arbiter of which old New York families were the cream of the crop. McAllister was the index of the private club dubbed the Four Hundred, i.e. the 400 people considered by Mrs. Astor to comprise high society. Entry into the Four Hundred was barred to New Money families, i.e. anyone who wasn't descended from the old merchant and landowning clans who trace their ancestry back to when New York was still New Amsterdam in the 17th century. While Mrs. Astor held New Money families at bay, in real-life, she finally had to allow Alva Vanderbilt into the Four Hundred, which led to the eventual collapse of Old New York's grip on high society. The Gilded Age may be setting up a similar storyline between Bertha Russell and Mrs. Astor but it could also go a different way, depending on what Ward does next.
Bertha was finally introduced to Ward during a luncheon at Aurora Fane's (Kelli O'Hara) home in The Gilded Age episode 5, "Charity Has Two Functions." Considering how much resistance and outright rudeness Mrs. Russell's attempts to ingratiate herself into society have met, Bertha's meal with McAllister went smoothly. Perhaps too smoothly. Ward worked his genteel Southern charm on Bertha and promised to be her "protector" when the doors of society are opened for the Russells. But Ward also oozed opportunism and he may have ulterior motives for being so welcoming to Mrs. Russell. At the very least, McAllister wants to go inside Bertha's palatial home and see for himself just how rich George Russell really is. The fortune the railroad tycoon has amassed makes every other family's wealth in The Gilded Age pale in comparison, and Ward may be hedging his bets when he considers the future of high society.
McAllister's curious comment to Bertha that, "Fairly soon, you may be protecting me," hints that the tastemaker is reading the tea leaves and realizes that there's ultimately no stopping New Money like the Russells from eventually taking over. Ward's attempts to charm Bertha could be self-preservation for him down the line. Yet, as Aurora described him, McAllister is Mrs. Astor's lackey, at the end of the day. Ward's interest at this point in The Gilded Age is to preserve the closed society of the Four Hundred. Therefore, McAllister may simply be getting to know Bertha in a bit of intelligence-gathering and espionage before he reports back to Mrs. Astor since she, herself, won't deign to set foot in the Russells' home according to her own rules. Meanwhile, Bertha is too delighted by Ward's acceptance to sense something may be awry.
After two displays of George Russell's wealth and power in The Gilded Age, the latter of which led to the ruination of the Morris family and nearly bankrupted New York's aldermen, Mrs. Astor may have sent Ward McAllister to ingratiate himself to get Bertha to get her measure and lower her guard. Mrs. Astor herself realized George Russell is someone "to be reckoned with" after he bought out Aurora's charity bazaar as revenge for Bertha being snubbed. Yet the powerful Mrs. Astor stopped short of considering the Russells as potential friends. Bertha may be making a huge mistake if she thinks Ward McAllister is going to be a real friend to her and he may be setting Mrs. Russell up for the ultimate humiliation in The Gilded Age, perhaps on the orders of Mrs. Astor.
The Gilded Age airs Mondays @ 9pm on HBO and streams on HBO Max.
