The Gilded Age Fans Should Mind Their Business About Marian And Larry

Larry and Marian looking at each other and smiling in The Gilded Age. — (Image credit: Photograph by Karolina Wojtasik/HBO)

Spoilers for the Season 4 premiere of The Gilded Age are ahead! You can stream it now with an HBO Max subscription, and then catch new episodes every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.

Of all the characters who could shake things up in Season 4 of The Gilded Age, Marian and Larry weren’t on my list. While I figured their relationship would be a point of drama, I did not expect them to hook up during the premiere. Now, Marian is in a panic, Larry is confused, and some fans of this highly talked-about HBO show are freaking out over the way Marian acted in the wake of all this. However, I’m here to explain why everyone needs to calm down about Marian’s extreme reaction and understand why she was so quick to shun Larry after their night of passion.

People Are Upset About What Happened After Marian And Larry Slept Together

While many people do understand what’s at stake for Marian, there’s a camp that is seemingly thinking about this whole situation like it’s happening in 2026, leaving comments like:

Why Marian Had Every Right To Be Upset And Deeply Concerned After Her Night With Larry

I knew from the jump that Marian’s reaction to sleeping with Larry was warranted. This is the Victorian Era, and premarital sex was very frowned upon, especially among the upper crust. Marian has had so many relationship ups and downs that adding something like this to her plate could be catastrophic for her, socially speaking. While sleeping with someone you like in modern times is no biggie, it was a very big deal back then.

To use Louisa Jacobson’s words, it “was not the vibe back then.” The Marian actress further explained why, too, on The Gilded Age's podcast (which you can watch on HBO Max), saying:

Your entire reputation was at stake if you had premarital sex. Not only is it scary that someone in society could find out, and they could find you, you know, it’s a small town. But then there’s the internalized shame of being a ‘fallen woman’ or a ‘ruined woman.’ That was very, very real.

She went on to say that during that time, Marian wouldn’t have been allowed to get information on sex education, either. Plus, she’s a religious woman, and people’s feelings about purity were very important in the era. Sincerely, the cards are so stacked against her, just generally speaking. So, as Jacobson said, what happened between her and Larry could lead to her “complete ruin.”

Then, when you add in everything Marian has personally been through, she really is not in a good place to have information like this come to light. Explaining that, Jacobson said:

And her reputation is already sort of on the line if you think about the Tom Raikes elopement thing - barely got away with that. Dashiell, the public engagement, and her deciding, ‘No, I’m not gonna do it,’ that already sets her back, and then everything that happened with Larry. So, she’s on thin ice in society, and she knows that. So, I think after this happens, it’s just really, really, really scary.

Overall, Marian is not in a good place after all this, despite her pure and genuine adoration of Larry. And Larry doesn’t fully realize that. So, yeah, her reaction was warranted, and people need to understand that. This was not a casual hookup in 2026 that she can just move on from; this was a night of passion that could easily change and/or ruin her life forever.

So, everyone, mind your business and send good thoughts to Marian and Larry as they navigate the murky waters of premarital sex in the 1800s.

Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to Fire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.