I LOVED THIS . heres some ramblings 

at first i didnt like the direction of marians story line as much bc im not much of a romantic but i started framing this as her trying to escape her place in society. upon arrival she feels out of place and begins realizing she cannot survive as a central member of society. the people she gets along with most sit close to the margins as they have either broken or been rejected by these social rules. marian doesn't care that working with them will endanger her social role, because she already is unhappy where she is. she cannot fathom living the rest of her life refusing to take a donation from someone because they made a mistake and deciding who to quarrel with. im unsure if this is a subconscious choice, but eventually she realizes she needs to push herself out. this only exemplifies the amount of privelege that she has as well; as other people are struggling to gain ranks to survive, she is purposefully trying to lower hers. 

i found the relationship with mr. raikes to be one sided for a long time. it seems to me that she found a suitable man to make her escape with, he was kind, he loved her, and he is also from another world like she is. she thought he would be okay with this too, not realizing that they are not the same and he is perfectly happy playing in high society. she's crushed as she loses not only her love but her way out of this trap she has found herself in. 

this last episode was just fantastic with how they frame Mrs Russel vs Mrs Astor. the way they talk like wartime generals especially the shots of them talking to their daughters was 👌. it was delectable to see Mrs Russels plan come to fruition. Especially with the recap from s2, I didnt realize how much of this was planned from the start. Mr. Russel targeting Mr. Fane, who asks Aurora to bring in Mrs. Russel. Aurora introduces Mr. Mcallister, and he is the one who is able to get Mrs. Astor to give Mrs. Russel her dream of a glittering ball. 

Of course this is all at the expense of Gladys, who my heart aches for. It's not really her debut, is it? It's Bertha's debut into society as well, proving her place and showing that she has made Mrs. Astor an ally. Mrs. Russel has used Gladys as a pawn for the whole series, she knew from the start that her debut would need to be extravagant, and she continued to put it off for Gladys and cut her off from society. She finally accepts the debut when she sees that she finally has a path to Mrs. Astor, her daughter. She never cared about Gladys' happiness of course, as she makes a huge bet that she can get the parents to come by preventing the children from performing unless they do, while knowing that if she loses Gladys will be crushed 

The culmination of battle here is tantilizing. Realizing Mrs. Astor has sent this request to everyone, and now they all must pick attend or risk their status being ruined. It really showcases the power Mrs. Astor holds, and it explains why Mrs. Russel has been so focused on her. They treat their social lives like a military post because to them it is one, and it is so fascinating to me. 