Who shot George Russell? It’s the biggest mystery left unsolved from the third season of “The Gilded Age,” and Sunday’s episode of the HBO drama finally gives us our answer.
The would-be assassin turns out to be Will Morris, the son of Patrick Morris, who took his own life back in Season 1 after a bad deal with George put him in dire financial straits. George’s thugs pull Will kicking and screaming from his home at the top of the hour, though his mother Anne does her fair share of screaming as well.
This reveal puts all fan theories about George’s shooter to rest; many viewers speculated that it was organized by his former business partner Richard Clay, but considering Patrick Page isn’t set to appear in Season 4, that wouldn’t have made for a very interesting reveal.
“I didn’t see all of the theories, but when we first conceived of it, we looked at the research and saw all of the different business stories that we could do,” executive producer Sonja Warfield tells TVLine. “We created a narrative with a lot of open questions and suspects, because a lot of people were not happy with George. He was causing a lot of problems.”
It turns out we have George himself, Morgan Spector, to thank for the conclusion to this storyline. According to Warfield, it was Spector’s suggestion to make Will the shooter, an idea he had on set while filming the assassination attempt last season.
“It was Morgan who said, ‘What if it was the son of the man who killed himself?'” Watfield recalls. “And I loved that, so I talked to [series creator] Julian [Fellowes] about it, and that’s why we decided to do that.”
What is laudanum, and why is George ‘disintegrating’?
Though George comes very close to killing Will at the end of the episode, he ultimately decides to spare the boy’s life, a decision that shouldn’t be entirely surprising to longtime viewers of “The Gilded Age,” says Sonja Warfield.
“In Season 2, there were people who were urging George to shoot upon his workers, but because he had that interaction with the one worker and his family, and he had gone to his house, that humanized him, so he didn’t do it,” the executive producer reminds TVLine. “Despite the laudanum, despite the rage, despite the fact that this person intended to kill him, there’s a part of George that could not take a life.”
Yes, let’s talk about that laudanum for a minute. More simply, it’s a combination of opium and alcohol historically used to treat a variety of ailments. Too much of it can really mess with you, and that’s what we’re beginning to see with George. Speaking with TVLine, Morgan Spector says his character is “disintegrating somewhat” this season, or more bluntly, “George is a mess.”
We see the beginnings of this when he returns home to Bertha at the end of the hour, collapsing into her arms and admitting that he has “no sense of direction.” (Spoiler alert: he’s going to get a whole lot more lost before he ever finds his way.)
Elsewhere on The Gilded Age Season 4, Episode 2…
- In romance (or lack thereof) news, Marian still refuses to speak with Larry after their night together, saying that she feels “disgraced.” Even though no one else knows what happened between them, the self-imposed guilt is eating her alive. Fortunately, she has her volunteer work at the settlement house to distract her — if that’s even possible.
- The van Rhijn household has finally replaced Jack (not that he could ever really be replaced) with a new footman, a charming young man named Oliver… who is totally unqualified for the job. Bannister tells Ada as much, but she finds herself strangely enamored with Oliver, suggesting that Bannister can always show him the ropes.
- Elizabeth continues to test Peggy’s patience in the lead-up to her wedding with William. This week, Peggy’s future monster-in-law brings up the fact that Peggy is a widow in front of her new society friends, which makes both Peggy and Dorothy very uncomfortable. When they call Elizabeth out for it, she claims she was only trying to give Peggy a “smoother” transition into her world, promising to be more thoughtful in the future. Sure, Jan.
- William is furious after taking one of his patients, believed to have tuberculosis, to Bellevue for further treatment, only to be told that Black doctors aren’t allowed to work there, so his patient is taken from him. Even worse, the patient ends up dying, leaving William feeling even both helpless and hopeless.
OK, let’s talk: Were you surprised by the reveal of George’s shooter, or was Will Morris on your list of suspects? How do you feel about Marian’s ongoing reaction to her night with Larry? And do you think you have room in your heart for a new van Rhijn footman? Drop a comment with your thoughts on this week’s episode of “The Gilded Age” below.
