'The Gilded Age' Due Back for Season 3 on HBO

Season 2 traced its own well-defined plot lines, starting with the "opera war" waged by high society newcomer Bertha Russell (played by Carrie Coon) against the city's stodgy old guard, as well as the business dealings of Bertha's industrialist husband, George (Morgan Spector), whose season arc focused on his dealings with an emergent union.

Another newcomer to New York's social set is Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), a single young woman whose arrival in the household of her wealthy Aunt Agnes (Christine Baranski) kicked off Season 1. In the show's sophomore season, Marian and a widowed father, Dashiell (David Furr) moved ever closer to a romance – and they were not alone. Ada Brook, Agatha's spinster sister, found a love of her own with a man of the cloth, Rev. Forte (Robert Sean Leonard), while Marian's friend (and Agnes' secretary) Peggy (Denée Benton), an aspiring journalist, flirted with scandal in the form of a married man.

But the most dramatic turn might have been thanks to Agatha's closeted son Oscar (Blake Ritson). No spoilers – except to say that he set in motion major story twists that will reverberate into Season 3 (and, hopefully, beyond).