Tucked Up in Newport
- Episode aired Mar 14, 2022
- TV-MA
- 50m
A wide-eyed young scion of a conservative family embarks on a mission to infiltrate the wealthy neighboring clan dominated by ruthless railroad tycoon George Russell, his rakish son, Larry, ... Read allA wide-eyed young scion of a conservative family embarks on a mission to infiltrate the wealthy neighboring clan dominated by ruthless railroad tycoon George Russell, his rakish son, Larry, and his ambitious wife, Bertha.A wide-eyed young scion of a conservative family embarks on a mission to infiltrate the wealthy neighboring clan dominated by ruthless railroad tycoon George Russell, his rakish son, Larry, and his ambitious wife, Bertha.
Photos
- Sarah Taintor Gibbons
- (as Nancy Anderson)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJack Treacher tells Bridget that his mother died in the Peshtigo fire of 1871. Peshtigo, Wisconsin, is in in Marinette County in the northeast part of the state (above what is called the 'junction of the hand', or where your thumb and pointer finger join together - Pestigo (pronounced Pesh' tih- go) would close to the tip of the pointer finger) just shy of the Upper Michigan Peninsula border. The 1871 fire is considered the most deadly wildfires in American history, and probably in all recorded history, even through 2022, burning 1.2 million acres of land, and estimating deaths between 1500 and 2000 people. It occurred the same day as the Chicago Fire, which though much more famous, only resulted in about 300 deaths overall and just over 2100 acres of land burned - though, Chicago's fire burned mostly urban buildings verses Peshtigo's mostly forested land areas. The remains of hundreds of Peshtigo residents are buried in the city's cemetery, so it is not unreasonably that Jack's father would have not been able to bring his wife's body back to New York and thus why he buried an empty casket full of her personal belongings and stones for weight.
- Quotes
Ada Brook: Has Mrs. Russell accepted?
Agnes Van Rhijn: Can you doubt it? She's muscling into New York. She was bound to jam her foot in the door of Newport.
George is convinced a foreman Mr Dixon at one of his rail yards is responsible for the substandard axles and was stealing funds for quality ones, installing the bad ones, and pocketing the difference. However his secretary Mr Clay, his lawyers, and his investigators (much to his chagrin) can find no evidence that this is the case, and things proceed to a judge who will decide if the case shall go forward to a jury trial.
But wait! A chance encounter by Marion Brook with George's stenographer at Bloomingdale quickly leads to proof that Mr Dixon is the culprit.
George is not only exonerated - but the judge declares he (George and to us viewers Bertha also) leaves the courtroom with "his reputation intact". Off the hook, how convenient! And quite a clipped end of this part of the story to this reviewer.
Now to Newport. Again, per past episodes, it is clear Aunt Ada's son Oscar Van Rhijn is a closeted homosexual. A dandy-like social gadfly, Mr MacCallister OK, but Oscar openly having a male lover in the 1880s, c'mon on!
And as was the case during The Gilded Age, old money accounts/assets were trending down, and new money accounts/assets up up and away!
So in addition to wanting to hold onto his place in high society, Oscar desires a wife for financial reasons, as it seems the Van Rhijn's family riches are not what they used to be. So Oscar has set his sights on the Russell family's wealth, by hopefully marrying their daughter, Gladys. Oscar's boyfriend, John Adams, is aware of all this and accepts it, but he is none too happy about it either.
Up to this point Oscar and John have been great party pals, hanging around socially together as "friends", both enjoying the life of the idle rich. Now though Oscar is concerned of possible gossip about their relationship and tells John to stay home and not to come along with him to the upcoming festivities in Newport. But John has other contacts in The 400 and ends up in Newport anyway, to Oscar's surprise(discomfort too probably), but Oscar is nothing if not pokerfaced.
At the Newport Casino(more a country club than gambling house) John impresses Mrs Fish, who invites him to dinner with Oscar, Mr MacCallister, and what she calls "The New People"(The Russells except George still in New York). At the dinner, Oscar is charming/ingratiating himself with Bertha, seeming to believe the path to marrying Gladys runs through her mom. Bertha, though, is actually more interested in saying the proper things to Mrs Fish and does not pay much attention to Oscar. Meanwhile polite, well mannered, and handsome, John is hitting it off quite well with Gladys! Hmmm... how will this all play out? I guess we must wait and see in Season Two.
OK, I have covered what to me are the most significant goings-on in this episode, the rest I will summarize. Aunt Ada's snobbery about new money continues unabated, but seems to be having less and less impact on those around her. Housekeeper Miss Armstrong's disdain for Miss Scott comes to a head, and it is not pretty. The Van Rhijn house footman, young Jack Treacher, shows his sensitive side to housegirl, sweet Bridget. Can she overcome her past traumas and will anything come of his desire for romance? Let us hope so! Mrs Fane tries to warn Marion off of Mr Raikes, but does not seem to make any headway with her.
Finally there is the interesting ending scene where on the sly, Mr MacCallister engineers an unauthorized tour of the Astors' just renovated Newport Mansion for Bertha. There is a disruption though and the way it ends seems to be saying loud and clear, "you have a ways to go to join the 400 Bertha Russell"!
- ChrisMoore-2315
- Apr 7, 2022
Details
- Runtime50 minutes