If at all you paid any attention to Julian Fellowes and Sonja Warfield, listened and read materials about season 3 you would understand that George and Bertha are an amalgam of robber barons from the Gilded Age and Bertha is loosely based on Alaba Vanderbilt.
William Vanderbilt controlled the New York Central Railroad and wasn't involved in the transcontinental plan. Also George gets his wealth from steel which was Andrew Carnegie’s thing.
You would also understand why the main themes for the season are divorce, marriage(the institution being a gamble and it’s complex and sometimes problematic history), women’s rights, arranged marriages, social mobility and reputation and colourism in the Black community and the gilded cage.
You would also understand the motivation for each character instead of most you are just letting your emotions run wild without applying nuance to your critique. You are also letting historical context and modern sensibility blind you and denying immersing yourself in the show.
Most importantly this season centres on women and what’s at stake for them in relation to marriage, not wanting to be put in a gilded cage, divorce and widowhood.
The result is a season that feels modern without losing its period identity. The gowns are still exquisite. The mansions still glitter. But now, every flourish hides a fracture. This is no longer a series about how things look. It’s about how easily they can break.
