“The Gilded Age” upped the stakes with every passing episode in Season 3, but nothing prepared fans for the intense rescue operation that kicked off this week’s finale.
Episode 8, titled “My Mind Is Made Up,” picked up soon after last week’s cliffhanger in which a delivery man opened fire on George Russell (Morgan Spector) and his associates. The Season 3 finale opened with a chaotic carriage ride back to the Russell mansion on 61st Street, with the household ready to spring into action when their wounded leader arrived. With the Russells’ regular doctor unavailable, they recruited Dr. William Kirkland (Jordan Donica) to help — a task that came with great risk to him being a doctor of color in that era.
That reality did not deter William from getting to work, performing surgery on George in the dining hall to remove the bullet and save his life with the help of Marian (Louisa Jacobson) and the house’s staff.
“In the beginning of the season we had a white doctor who would not touch Peggy (Denée Benton), so we wanted to show that contrast,” series co-writer Sonja Warfield told TheWrap.
“If anything had gone wrong and George had died, there were plenty of people who would have attempted to blame the doctor if he was Black,” series creator Julian Fellowes said.
Fellowes and Warfield consulted with Dr. Stanley Burns, who previously consulted on the HBO series “The Knick” with his expertise in Victorian-era medicine, to ensure the dramatic moment was as historically accurate as possible. Warfield noted that it was common for luminaries like George to retreat to their homes to treat such wounds, so as to prevent prying eyes at the hospital as well as the risk of contracting other diseases.
Jordan Donica, Morgan Spector and Carrie Coon in “The Gilded Age.” (HBO)
Donica said he spent about a month and a half preparing to shoot the surgery scene. Along with on-set consultants, he sought guidance from his sister, a registered nurse at a trauma center in Indiana who has performed the same surgery many times before.
“It was a great opportunity to show Dr. Kirkland in his arena of expertise, which is something our director Salli [Richardson Whitfield] was very keen to show,” Donica told TheWrap. “It’s not until after he’s done that he realizes all the stakes … he just sees a human life that needs saving.”
The episode also made it clear that William’s efforts and proximity to the Russell household were George’s saving grace. He got some begrudging kudos from the Russell family doctor upon his arrival, but the real reward came after George’s recovery, when the mogul gave William a big check for saving his life (though we are not shown the actual number).
As for Spector, he relished the opportunity to play victim in a sequence that “didn’t seem like the kind of thing we do” on “The Gilded Age” — especially since “I knew I wasn’t going to get fired.”
“The Gilded Age” Seasons 1-3 are now streaming on HBO Max.
