The Gilded Age lets you see a different New York City. No yellow cabs, no steel giants scraping the sky. Just neoclassical mansions lining Fifth Avenue; women in bustles, carrying parasols; and men in top hats navigating unspoken social codes with practiced poise. And still there are themes that ring eternal. Louisa Jacobson as Marian Brook, the small-town girl adjusting to the city’s often sinister rhythms: she’s every bit the “new girl in New York” we’ve all encountered. (Her mother, by the way, is Meryl Streep.) Marian’s aunts—Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon—one rich, the other poor, have seen their fortunes suddenly reversed. And the nouveau riche upstarts, the Russells, are just one of an endless stream who’ve bought their way into society. The series is finally back with Season Three. —Elena Clavarino