The Gilded Age’s shocking season 3, episode 6 death has been defended by the show’s creatives. The episode ended with a stunning revelation which saw John Adams struck by a horse and carriage as he crossed the street in New York, after sharing one final tender moment with his former love interest, Oscar van Rhijn.
The Gilded Ageseason 3, episode 6would mark a shock for the show, with John Adams' death being the show’s first real death since Ada’s husband Luke, and the first death of a prominent character. While episode seven has not yet aired, it seems pretty clear that John’s death is legitimate, and the show’s creatives have spoken up to defend the decision.
In an interview withScreenrant, director Deborah Kampmeier discussed how the scene was beautiful to shoot, and how it brought strong emotional impact for the audience. She spoke of her shock and surprise when reading the script for the first time, and how honored she was at being able to film the scene.
Deborah Kampmeier:There’s a very witty and fun resolution to why that had to occur. There will be a payoff, but I do understand the pain. I remember reading the script, getting to that, and literally gasping. I was jumping in my seat; I couldn’t believe it. But I was thrilled that I got to film that scene.
We had an incredible stunt coordinator and a beautiful stuntman who helped set it up, but actually Claybourne [Elder] did the stunt himself. And because of that, I had this idea that I wanted it to feel as real to the audience as possible. I wanted the audience to have the same jump I had reading it, so there’s a crane we used called The Bolt, and essentially it moves very fast, and it’s programmable to repeat itself. I wanted it to be that, the moment he gets hit, we see the hit and swing around as his head lands on the ground in the foreground. That was just this idea I had.
I was able to get our amazing visual effects artist to create a pre-vis that I could show to my producer and team, and I begged them to let me do it this way and begged them to spend the money on The Bolt and all of that to get the stunt going. We had Clay in the harness and all the wires, and our stunt coordinator has been rehearsing for weeks with both the stunt performer and with Clay. It was a very complicated shot to get the emotional impact for the audience, and hopefully all the shock and surprise and devastation that we felt from the script.
PerTV Line, executive producers Julian Fellowes and Sonja Warfield also weighed in on John’s death, stating that sometimes the most shocking outcomes are true to life. They seem to have few regrets about the decision, and understand its importance to the narrative, and to Oscar’s arc.
Fellowes praised the fact that the show chose to off John in a way that was not wrapped in political machinations.
“[The show was] quite careful to kill him with a straight accident, not with anything with political overtones. He’s just killed in an accident, like anyone could be at any time.”
Warfield noted how tragedies like this are true to life.
“Those shocking things are true in life. I’ve certainly experienced those traumas. They change you, and we wanted to bring about that change in Oscar.”
Fellowes concluded by commenting on how well the show handled John’s death.
“Quite well. I jumped out of my skin when I watched it for the first time.”
What This Means For John’s The Gilded Age Death
Oscar’s Journey Will Be Shaped By This Event
The Gilded Ageis a show that has excelled with strong character dynamics, and the chemistry between John and Oscar was palpable. With the former’s death, Oscar will now be changed irrevocably, and his character arc could take him to new and exciting places. The show is set to explore this once the initial shock from John’s death subsides.
The Gilded Agehas a strong cast of characters, and John’s death will allow the show to explore these characters in a deeper and more impactful way. Trauma changes people, and it seems clear this is what the showrunners want to be able to achieve with Oscar, which was one of the decisions that led to John’s death.
Our Take On John’s Death & How It Will Impact Oscar
It Should Be A Difficult But Interesting Journey For Oscar
The defense of the decision does make some sense, and sometimes it is true to life that people unexpectedly die. It can happen to anyone at any time. However, killing off John to further Oscar’s story feels like an injustice to the character of John Adams, and his place inThe Gilded Ageuniverse.
What’s more, there are echoes of the dreaded “bury your gays” trope that I’m hopeful was not a factor in this. It will be interesting to see how the rest ofThe Gilded Ageseason 3unfolds, and how Oscar’s story is impacted by this. He is likely to be a broken man full of inner turmoil, and this could lead to an interesting character study if handled properly.
