Warning: SPOILERS for The Gilded Age Episode 7 - "Irresistible Change"
Turner (Kelley Curran) being fired in The Gilded Age puts George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) in danger because her former lady's maid has the means to get revenge on them. As Bertha's dreams of her family being accepted by New York's high society edge closer, thanks to Mrs. Russell's friendship with Ward McAllister (Nathan Lane), George faces financial ruin and possible prison time because he's being personally blamed for a tragic train crash. Bertha firing Turner at this inopportune time puts her family in jeopardy because of her maid's potential acts of vengeance.
Despite her lofty position in the Russells' household, Turner has openly disparaged Bertha to the other servants, and she's made no bones about her ambition to leave service and climb to a higher rank in society. Turner's original scheme was to seduce George and become his mistress, but she was shocked when Mr. Russell was impervious to her feminine wiles. Even though George and Bertha are now quarreling over her priorities when the Russells' business and fortune are in crisis, Mr. Russell still adores Bertha, to Turner's chagrin. The lady's maid then formed a business arrangement with Oscar van Rhijn (Blake Ritson) to spy on her employers so that Oscar can ingratiate himself as a suitor to their daughter, Gladys (Taissa Farmiga). Meanwhile, Turner has made no friends among the Russells' other servants and she's especially alienated Church (Jack Gilpin), the butler. Still, Turner thought she was untouchable until Bertha suddenly fired her because Armstrong (Debra Monk), Agnes van Rhijn's (Christine Baranski), mistook Turner's friendship with Oscar for a romantic tryst and ratted them out to Aunt Agnes. Using Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) as her go-between, Agnes got Bertha to fire Turner after Mrs. Russell caught her maid flirting with her son, Larry (Harry Richardson).
The problem Bertha and George now have is that Turner has nothing to lose and is free to get revenge on the Russells. Turner never had any loyalty to her employers and they foolishly didn't take steps to ensure that Turner left their Fifth Avenue and 61st Street palace immediately upon dismissal. Instead, the Russells took pity on Turner and even gave her a good reference. Yet Turner took advantage once more and she again let herself into George's bedroom in one last attempt to convince him to make her his mistress. Of course, George held fast because he still isn't interested. This means Turner has no reason left to attempt to protect any member of the Russell family and is free to take revenge.
Since Turner still retained access to the Russells' home, she could easily break into George's private office and gather the information pertaining to his legal problems. One of George's employees claims he has a letter signed by Mr. Russell ordering him to use substandard equipment on the company's trains, which caused the Russells' crash. This is just the ammunition Turner would need to bring down the Russell family. It's unclear how much Turner already knows about the Russells' legal jeopardy but it could potentially be quite a bit. As a servant, Turner is often in the presence of her employers, remaining silent, as they discuss their lives and problems. Downstairs, the servants are also endlessly gossiping and sharing info about their employers.
Turner wouldn't have much trouble acquiring any damning info she needs to use against George and Bertha. After all, she already sent a note to Bannister telling him it was Church who betrayed him to Aunt Agnes. Turner is also fully-aware of Bertha's precarious situation as she tries to use Ward McAllister to ingratiate herself into Mrs. Astor's (Donna Murphy) elite circle of The Four Hundred. Nor does Turner seem to be concerned about Larry and Gladys, so she has no stake in protecting any member of the Russells. Firing Turner might turn out to be the biggest mistake George and Bertha Russell make in The Gilded Age if her former lady's maid decides to take revenge on them.
The Gilded Age airs Mondays @ 9pm on HBO and streams on HBO Max.
