With all due respect to the actress Carrie Coon, who I have enjoyed since THE LEFTOVERS, I am getting really tired of Bertha Russell. Yeah, real tired, especially after this episode. I might be one of the few who are exhausted with her incessant rants and her own interests. I mean, I get it, she was one of the empowered people of the Gilded Age, and must be represented in this story, but her character is officially grating on me. Shut the fuck up! But, at least, there are plenty of other characters and B-plots to keep me interested.
In “What the Papers Say,” we are reminded that all eyes are on what is printed in the newspapers, and we are not talking on the financial page or national news page, but what it says on the society page that matters. And what the page will say of the Gladys Russell gossip and what is going on at the Van Rhijn household 
could surely start the city buzzing. First, to Gladys. Hating the notion of an arranged marriage only to strengthen her mother’s status appalls her. The fear is that in the night, she has eloped with the one she does love, Billy Carlton. Bertha will do her worst regarding that relationship. George arrives home from the West with urgent business to attend to as financier J. P. Morgan (guest actor Bill Camp) is to arrive for a chat on affairs. You can be assured that both Bertha & Gladys will find the time to each have an audience with George as well. However, first, it is George’s opportunity to pitch his idea of the intercontinental rail line, of course. In time, George, of course, hears Gladys’ words and agrees with her to hear Carlton’s words too. It seems there will be an opportunity at Mrs. Fane’s party later in the week. As for that little side plot, the lady is still trying to save face and save her marriage, but it doesn’t seem likely.
The other main story happens across the street. While working at the Van Rhijn’s, Peggy Scott feels under the weather, but her illness proves much worse. Enough so to call upon her parents, Arthur and Dorothy Scott, to visit. No white doctor would treat her, so a doctor of their ethnicity is also called in. He is Dr. William Kirkland. Of course, the talk of coloreds in the house and using the main door to boot should cause a ruffle. And, what of Peggy’s health? She seems to improve as the kind doctor dotes over her. Well, at least one new relationship seems to be sparking. The light-hearted plot of the week is that Ada, who is the one now paying the staff, assembles them and asks them to consider signing her Temperance Pledge. Below-stairs debates on whether to sign or not ensue.
But the show has finally dropped. It is declared, upon insistence from Mr. Bannister, that Mrs. Ada Forte is the head of the household! Wait til that gets out to the Society page! One other couple still needs to be addressed. Marian and Larry. She witnesses him crossing the street and going downstairs to talk to Jack Trotter about their upcoming meeting with an investor in Jack’s clock design. Marian, all smiles, is eager to catch a moment and interrupts them. He whisks her away to try to get a few quick kisses in. They are quite smitten.
At the Fane benefit party, Bertha just gloats and struts as word gets out, via those Society pages, that the Duke of Buckingham will be guesting in their home and courting Gladys. She, of course, planted that news in the paper herself. She also informs Billy’s mother that her son will be financially ruined and Gladys disinherited if they marry. Mrs. Carton is shocked that Mrs. Russell would do that to her daughter. But Billy didn’t get the MO, he strides in to talk to George about his intent, but gets cold feet. Mr.Fane also stirs the pot when he arrives at the benefit with his mistress on his arm, thus shaming Mrs. Fane. Larry has Jack fitted for a suit; John Adams offers Oscar an investment opportunity to help revive his career, and chef Borden’s estranged wife has died, thus making it possible to pursue Mrs. Bruce.
All kinds of relationships are building as clearly as Julian Fellows’ intended them to. But alas, poor Gladys. Her mother’s meddling has truly dashed her. George is equally dismayed at his wife, who went as far as to withhold truths from her husband regarding the Duke and his intentions. Did I mention she was starting to grate on me?
