The Gilded Age Season 3: How Larry Russell might be the turning point in Marian's failed relationship arc

The Gilded Age Season 3 was released on June 22, 2025, on HBO and HBO Max, sticking to its Sunday 9 p.m. ET/PT debut schedule. At eight episodes total, the season's series finale will air on August 10, 2025.

While most of the storytelling remains focused on New York City's upper class fighting to achieve social supremacy, one subplot has piqued many viewers' interest: The development, or lack of development, of Marian Brook's love life.

Following two seasons of emotionally shallow relationships, critics and audiences alike are wondering if Larry Russell could finally provide a genuine turning point in Marian's storyline.

So far, The Gilded Age Season 3 has already started setting the stage for bigger character clashes. Marian's love life with Tom Raikes during Season 1 and Dashiell Montgomery during Season 2 failed to push her character beyond shallow feelings.

In the meantime, Larry Russell, once handled as a secondary character in his dominant family, has had more room, background, and inner turmoil. Their understated but growing number of encounters may be the turning point. Romantic or not, this relationship could be the emotional growth that Marian's plot has been missing.

Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's opinion. Readers’ discretion is advised.

Marian's previous relationships lacked emotional depth

Throughout the first two seasons of The Gilded Age, Marian Brook's love story has felt a bit underbaked relative to other character arcs. During the show's first season, her ill-fated engagement with Tom Raikes crashed and burned in betrayal, but the emotional fallout was mercifully low-key.

Season 2 brought Dashiell Montgomery, whose relationship with Marian felt overwhelmingly dutiful; she was included more to continue her plot arc than for enriching her emotional or ideological development. This cyclical pattern has resulted in constant criticism regarding her character, feeling isolated from the otherwise highly developed cast.

Larry Russell's role is becoming increasingly complicated narratively

Larry Russell, George and Bertha Russell's son, became part of the show as a pleasant but insignificant socialite. However, in The Gilded Age Season 2, he had begun developing resistance to his mother's strict social-climbing agenda, particularly regarding marriage.

That string of narrative continuity is carried forward in the third season of The Gilded Age, where Larry continues to spurn shallow relationships for ones centered on architecture and integrity. His trajectory is now thematically echoed by Marian's, a shared rejection of societal pressure, opening up the potential for a deeper narrative between the two.

Mutual disdain for societal pressure could tie them together

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On a television program where social positioning and class structure are the concerns of everyday life, Larry and Marian are notable figures who consistently challenge their assigned roles. Marian rejects her aunt Agnes's insistence on decorum and traditional courtship. Larry openly rebuffs Bertha's aspirations to match him up.

In Season 3 of The Gilded Age, such a similarity could be utilized to set up a more interesting relationship between the two, not as a token romance at the end, but as one built on mutual values. This could provide narrative depth for both characters without undermining their autonomy.

Pundits have pointed to Marian's absence of a turning point

A few reviews, such as those by Newsweek and USA Today, have identified the inequality in Marian's narrative. Though characters like Bertha and Peggy have developing problems, Marian seems to be a stuck character in the same old cycle of love and disappointment.

The Gilded Age Season 3 can break this trend. Even if Larry Russell does not become a love interest, bringing him more into Marian's storyline could give her character arc the kind of richness it is lacking.

Fan speculation ties to a possible change in the show

Television forums and responses to early season episodes of The Gilded Age indicate an increasing interest in Marian and Larry's under-the-radar interactions. Viewers have noted that their scenes, while brief, are more nuanced in tone and suggest a mutual respect that hasn’t been present in Marian’s previous relationships.

As reported by Deadline, creators of the show have been tight-lipped about where this might be headed, but the third season of The Gilded Age keeps putting Larry and Marian together in overlapping narratives, leaving one wondering if the writers are deliberately working toward a turning point in both their arcs.

Emotional development beyond romantic categorization

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It is important to note that The Gilded Age Season 3 has not yet confirmed any romantic connection between Marian and Larry. The idea remains interpretive, based on their shared philosophies and growing narrative focus. Nevertheless, even outside of a romantic scenario, Larry might serve as a narrative reflection for Marian, someone who challenges her to think, question, and maybe redefine herself in society.

Their relationship doesn't have to adhere to the conventions of romance to be meaningful.

Marian's arc requires more than another suitor

In order for The Gilded Age Season 3 to satisfy long-standing complaints regarding Marian's characterization, more than simply providing her with a new suitor will be needed. Whether as a friendship, artistic collaboration, or an intellectual partnership, Larry Russell's character provides a path for development in Marian's narrative.

Unlike manipulating Tom or the emptiness of Dashiell, Larry introduces sincerity, self-reflection, and a desire to upset conventions, the kind of things that might take Marian's growth past the romantic tropes thus far.

As the third season of The Gilded Age gears up for its August 10, 2025, season finale, the possibility of a more life-changing phase in Marian Brook's life is still possible. Larry Russell's progression from affable onlooker to ideologically committed character fits perfectly with Marian's requirement for significant narrative tension.

Although this develops into romance, ideological collaboration, or merely increased character interaction, the confluence of these two narratives could be a long-awaited turning point.

For once, Marian could find herself at the center of a plot motivated not by external forces, but by real internal transformation.