‘The Gilded Age’ Star Taissa Farmiga Explains Why Gladys Agrees to Marry the Duke of Buckingham: “She Was Just Sick of Feeling Sh*tty”

The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 3 “Love is Never Easy” ends in turmoil for young Gladys Russell (Taissa Farmiga). Sure, the latest episode of the HBO hit ends with the reveal of the heiress’s gorgeous portrait by real life painter John Singer Sargent (Bobby Steggert), but it also ends with Gladys sadly accepting her fate.

**Spoilers for The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 3 “Love is Never Easy,” now streaming on MAX**

At the end of The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 3, Gladys Russell agrees to marry the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb).

After years of watching Gladys chafe against her mother Bertha’s (Carrie Coon) schemes, pining after sweet boys like Billy Carlton (Matt Walker), and even securing the support of her father (Morgan Spector) to ensure she’ll get a love match, our girl finally folds. But why?

“I think, at the end of the day, it was just the pressure of everybody,” The Gilded Age star Taissa Farmiga told DECIDER.

“I think she was dealing with the heartbreak of Billy. She’s dealing with the fear of the future because she feels like she’s being forced into a future she’s not choosing,” she added. “There’s a numbness that comes with that and you can’t make a decision when you’re in such an emotionally depleted place, I think. Because there was so much pressure. You have to choose.”

“She just sort of doesn’t want the stress anymore?” Farmiga wondered aloud.

Of course, for much of The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 3 “Love is Never Easy,” it seems as though Gladys has actually avoided the Duke. The episode picks up where last week’s left off, with the Duke’s lawyer hashing out a marriage contract with George Russell. Bertha has apparently promised the English noble a huge chuck of her robber baron husband’s fortune and George is not happy about that. Eventually, the Duke leaves, hoping to find an heiress elsewhere. Gladys hopes that maybe she will be reunited with Billy Carlton, but it’s not to be.

Ultimately, no one in New York City has the kind of money George Russell has. That means the Duke circles back to 61st Street, willing to compromise with the railroad tycoon.

In an interesting twist, Gladys ultimately gets a chance to agree to the match herself. She gets a small, private audience with Hector, as the Duke is actually named. While it’s hardly the stuff of romance novels or happily ever afters, Farmiga still called it a “beautiful moment.”

“There’s a brief moment of connection with her and the Duke. You know, she thinks him for not being fake,” Farmiga said. “So I think maybe it’s like a tiny little sparkle of a lightning bug in the dark. It’s kind of like a light guiding you.”

“But I really think that she was just sick of feeling shitty. So she’s like, ‘Let’s just move on.’”

The Gilded Age Season 3 Episode 3 “Love is Never Easy” ends with the Duke and Gladys announcing their engagement in front of all the society heads assembled to view the new painting. Bertha gets her victory lap, but the moment of triumph is undercut by a perfect moment of soap opera drama.

Feeling the pressure close in on her, Gladys begins fiddling with her long string of pearls. The necklace snaps and soon white beads are scattering like marbles on the floor.

This ominous ending teases that although Gladys has agreed to the engagement, getting her down the aisle to the actual marriage ceremony might be a different battle for Bertha.

The Gilded Age returns next Sunday, July 13 at 9 PM ET on HBO and MAX.