The Gilded Age Beats Downton Abbey To The Modern World By 28 Years

Published Nov 11, 2026, 8:30 AM EST

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Warning: SPOILERS for The Gilded Age Season 4, Episode 2 - "You Won't Hear Me Beg"

If Ada Forte (Cynthia Nixon) makes good on her idea, The Gilded Age will beat Downton Abbey to the modern world by 28 years. Academy Award winner Julian Fellowes created both Downton Abbey and The Gilded Age, the latter of which is now growing into the kind of ratings and cultural phenomenon on HBO that Downton was for six seasons on PBS Masterpiece before spawning three feature films.

The Gilded Age season 4, episode 2 ended with George Russell (Morgan Spector) confronting the man who shot him, Will Morris (Will Pullen). Russell spared Morris' life after a dramatic confrontation. Will blamed Mr. Russell for the suicide of his father, Patrick Morris (Michel Gill), in The Gilded Age season 1 after George ruined Patrick financially when Morris reneged on their business deal.

Across East 61st Street, Agnes Van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) is jumping through hoops from The Heritage Society as she prepares to host a dinner for President Grover Cleveland (Jim Gaffigan). Meanwhile, Aunt Agnes bristles as Ada pulls her financial support for the President's dinner. Instead, Ada is redecorating their home and hiring a new footman.

Aunt Ada also has another plan to inject a symbol of modernity into the Van Rhijn and Forte house.

The Gilded Age Will Install A Telephone 28 Years Before Downton Abbey

Ada suggests that she will have a telephone installed in her home with Agnes. Naturally, Agnes is appalled by the idea and questions who would even call Ada. Her sister responds that someone eventually will. The matter was left there, but Ada is likely to follow through on her desire for a telephone. When she has it installed, The Gilded Age will beat Downton Abbey to owning a telephone by 28 years.

The Gilded Age season 4 is set in 1886, four years after the series began with Ada and Agnes' niece, Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), arriving in New York as George and Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) move into their newly completed East 61st Street palace. Downton Abbey began with the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912, and season 1 ended in August 1914, when England entered World War I.

Downton Abbey's season 1 finale saw two telephones installed in 1914, one upstairs in the main house, and one downstairs in Mr. Carson's (Jim Carter) office. The telephone in Downton Abbey changed the life of Gwen (Rose Leslie), one of the maids. Thanks to Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay), Gwen was hired by Mr. Bromidge (Sean McKenzie) to work for the telephone company. This lifted Gwen out of service, and she eventually married and became Mrs. Harding.

A telephone in The Gilded Age's Van Rhijn home would truly one-up Downton Abbey, which takes place in the early 20th century. One of Downton's themes is how slowly and begrudgingly the Crawleys let go of Edwardian tradition and embrace the modern world. Meanwhile, Ada is remarkably progressive for a woman in 19th-century New York society, and it fits her character to embrace something as modern as a telephone.

Downton Abbey Beats The Gilded Age In One Major Way

The Gilded Age season 3 garnered record ratings on HBO, and it became the most-watched streaming show in the world with The Gilded Age season 4's premiere on November 1st. The Gilded Age has captured the hearts of audiences, many of whom originally sampled Julian Fellowes' HBO series because they were already Downton Abbey fanatics.

After four seasons, many servants in The Gilded Age remain underdeveloped.

While The Gilded Age has come into its own narratively and is as addictive as Downton Abbey was at its peak, the predecessor series is still superior at balancing its lords and ladies with the servants who toil for them. After four seasons, many servants in The Gilded Age remain underdeveloped, like butlers Church (Jack Gilpin) and Bannister (Simon Jones),

In Downton Abbey, the servants were equally important as the Crawley family, and their stories carried the same weight. Indeed, the Crawleys and their servants' lives were inextricable. This is much harder to achieve in The Gilded Age, with two households, the Van Rhijns and the Russells, having two sets of servants. There isn't enough screen time in an hour-long episode to service everyone.

As a tale set in America, The Gilded Age also feels more immediately relevant than Downton Abbey, despite its posh 19th century trappings. The haves and have-nots in The Gilded Age, with its greedy millionaire tycoons, feels like a mirror to today.

Aunt Ada installing a telephone is just one step closer to The Gilded Age embracing the 20th century, which Downton Abbey tried to avoid for as long as possible.

New episodes of The Gilded Age season 4 premiere Sundays @ 9pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.