No, your eyes do not deceive you. WARNING: Spoilers for the Season 4 premiere of “The Gilded Age” below.
The golden age The season 4 premiere has plenty of delightful twists and turns. But the most surprising development is one you may not have even noticed.
Amid the joyous wedding festivities, traumatic work scenes, and a long-awaited relationship, the two anonymous men crossing from one side of 61st Street to the other might make you do a double take. No, your eyes do not deceive you.
Yes, that really is David Letterman and Matt Damon decked out like 19th century gentlemen in their finery.
Now of all a lot unexpected events over the course of four seasons of Julian Fellowes’ glitzy HBO period drama, this double appearance isn’t as shocking as the runaway horse-drawn carriage that killed John Adams, the attempt on the life of George Russell (Morgan Spector), or even a story of woke invention that became an audience obsession.
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Yet this duet is among the most confusing, albeit super stylish, moments because there’s no obvious connection between The golden age and the former late-night talk show host and one of the world’s biggest movie stars. Why are they here?
Letterman and Damon appear early on, just after a heartbreaking interaction in which Gladys Russell’s (Taissa Farmiga) life hangs in the balance in England and her husband is asked to make a crucial choice. Gladys is in labor and the baby is in the breech position.
The doctor asks Hector, Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb), who he should prioritize: Gladys or the baby? Hector tells the doctor to try to save the two, but if it comes down to it, his wife comes first. Fellowes is no stranger to character assassinations at a lavish English estate, as Downton Abbey turned out, increasing the tension of this already busy sequence.
Returning to Manhattan, the camera focuses on the two well-dressed men crossing the street in a way that makes them seem important or as if they would appear in the next scene, so take note. Did they just come from Oscar van Rhijn’s (Blake Ritson) wedding reception? They’re not heading to the Russell mansion, so it’s unlikely they have anything to do with George’s latest tantrum about business not going his way.
Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton, Cynthia Nixon
Given what’s going on in England with Gladys, you’ll be forgiven for missing the uncredited A-list cameo during what seemed like a simple transition. Plus, this truly is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. Even if you pay attention, you might not recognize the man with the bushy white beard and his impressive mustachioed companion, because they don’t really shout. The golden age.
Or, if you notice the resemblance, you might think you’ve hallucinated this curious couple. There is no reason to make this connection, as the only famous people who appear are dramatized figures from that era, like Oscar Wilde and John Singer Sargent.
In terms of casting, The golden age usually favors a wide range of stage actors, but Damon said he still wants to make his Broadway debut. Maybe this is his way of entering.
There’s no obvious explanation for how they ended up in Bertha Russell’s (Carrie Coon) New York, so we’re left to speculate. My number one theory is that it was some sort of auction prize at a charity fundraiser. But why this duo?
Morgan Spector, Carrie Coon
Their only apparent connection is that Damon will appear on season 7 of Letterman’s intimate talk show on Netflix. My next guest needs no introduction with David Lettermanscheduled for an unspecified date at the end of this year. This may be a rare Netflix-HBO Max crossover event.
Other projects generate no obvious link. Damon doesn’t dress up in fancy period costumes to do a favor for a Odyssey co-star. Nor does it seem like a stealth campaign to curry favor with Academy voters who are big fans of the Golden Age. Sure, his walk looks authentic, and he pulls off the top hat, sideburns, and stain, but he doesn’t have any lines either.
Digging further back, I found a few interviews with Damon in which he talks about his wife Luciana Barroso’s love for Downton Abbey. One was during a 2014 appearance on The Graham Norton Show while promoting The men of the monuments with co-star Hugh Bonneville (who played Downton Abbey Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham), in which he discusses Barroso’s habits.
Louisa Jacobson, Blake Ritson, Kelley Curran
In another interview during that same press tour, Damon said he would be happy to play a guest role in the British period drama if asked. Even if it never happened, it Golden Age the appearance could scratch that itch without committing to an entire episode (or season).
Looking at the pair upon rewatching the first, I wondered if they would reappear as a less striped character. Where’s Waldo?. Unfortunately, neither Damon nor Letterman show up to the wedding afterparty at Webster Hall to dance the night away with Marion (Louisa Jacobson) and Larry (Harry Richardson). They are also not at the hotel where Marion and Larry find themselves because of the raging storm, where they then go to bed.
Nor are they hanging around 61st Street when Marion arrives home the next morning, still wearing the same dress from the night before. For Marion, this is definitely a shame when it should actually be a point of pride (thanks, Liz Lemon). They’re also not working with the Pinkertons, hot on the trail of the man who shot George last season.
This is not an odyssey through Manhattan; there is no runaway horse or confrontation with George. Instead, The golden age showed its ability to surprise, even crossing the street without incident after a storm. All you need is the right double act to make it happen.
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