Forging ahead: HBO illustrates economics, culture of ‘The Gilded Age’

Nothing quite compares to the glitz, glamour and gore of American robber barons — rich industrialists who used wealth, political connections and violence to secure their empires. The Gilded Age was for the elite and rapidly growing, and if you weren’t elite, chances are you were working for someone who was.

HBO’s new drama “The Gilded Age” takes a closer look at the titular time period that helped shape the nation. Premiering Monday, Jan. 24, the series stars Carrie Coon (“Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” 2021), Morgan Spector (“The Plot Against America”), Louisa Jacobson (“Gone Hollywood,” 2019) and

Denée Benton (“Our Friend,” 2019).

Networks and streaming services have explored much of the British upper class across the Victorian era, Regency period and just about everything else pre1920s — they’ve even dabbled in Viking- and Roman-era Europe, but they haven’t done much with the great Gilded Age of the United States — until now.

HBO’s new series kicks off in 1882 (about a decade into the titular age), when a young woman named Marian Brooke (Jacobson) moves from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father. Now living with her two wealthy aunts, Agnes van Rihjn (Christine Baranski, “The Big Bang Theory”) and Ada Brooke (Cynthia Nixon, “Sex and the City”), she lives off the “old money” they represent in a society that’s quickly and consistently pushing forward.

When a social war erupts between Marian, one of her aunts, a railroad tycoon (Sector) and the tycoon’s wife (Coon), the tension embodies the shift from old money to new power: a Gilded Age of transformation. Fortunately, Marian isn’t alone in the fight. She’s joined by Peggy Scott (Benton), an aspiring writer looking for a fresh start after finishing her education.

The New York City setting makes the Victorian dress, upperclass glamour, rich and full-bearded men and flawlessly dressed women pop off the screen in a truly unique way — not to mention it makes the Gilded Age look like a whirlwind of exhilaration. Though, considering the show’s writer, this comes as no surprise.