The recent casting announcement for Sheriff Country season 1 casts a potential shadow over HBO’s hit show The Gilded Age. Outlet Deadline revealed that actress Kelli O’Hara has joined the cast of Sheriff Country in a recurring role. O’Hara will reportedly play Miranda, the sharp-tongued ex-sister-in-law of sheriff Mickey Fox (Morena Baccarin).
Miranda doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Mickey, and as the wealthiest woman in Edgewater, Miranda could pose a problem. Considering Mickey’s recent divorce from her ex-husband, Travis (Christopher Gorham), looks to be a significant dramatic storyline throughout the season, O’Hara may play a more significant role than the “recurring” title indicates. If she does, it could spell trouble for her other big show.
O’Hara’s New Sheriff Country Gig Could Conflict With The Gilded Age Season 4 Filming
Currently, O’Hara plays the wealthy socialite Aurora Fane in HBO Max’s hit show The Gilded Age. While The Gilded Age season 4 will not start filming until early next year, Sheriff Country season 1 will also still be filming well into 2026. If O’Hara’s storyline is one that doesn’t wrap up quickly – and, with her being Mickey’s ex-sister-in-law in a very small town, it’s unlikely that she’ll suddenly stop being in Mickey’s orbit – then O’Hara will likely have to film at least a few episodes for the network TV show next year.
Though short, each season of The Gilded Age still takes months to film. With Sheriff Country being filmed in and around Ontario, and The Gilded Age filming in Newport, Rhode Island, any trips back and forth aren’t exactly as easy as crossing a studio lot to another TV set. Aurora is a major character in The Gilded Age, so even with her recurring status in Sheriff Country, it still sets up potential scheduling conflicts between the two shows.
Of course, there’s a way to solve the problem of this conflict narratively. Considering the trajectory of Aurora in The Gilded Age season 3, it could hint at a dark fate for O’Hara’s character in season 4.
Aurora Fane Could Be Killed Off In The Gilded Age Season 4
Aurora and Charles Fane speaking to each other in front of a bookcase in The Gilded Age
Even though it would tragic, it wouldn’t be entirely shocking if The Gilded Age season 4 were to kill off Aurora Fane. Aurora had an rough storyline in season 3. Her husband, Charles Fane (Ward Horton), left Aurora in an unbelievably cruel way, revealing that he’d been having an affair and wants a divorce. To add insult to injury, as the victim in the marriage, it’s Aurora who has to initiate divorce proceedings from Charles, the adulterer.
Today, divorce isn’t necessarily a life-ruining event. But during the 1880s, divorce, for a woman, could be a fate worse than death. No-fault divorce didn’t exist in the Gilded Age, and, even if the man was the adulterer, the blame fell on the woman – because it always does. When Charles Fane, now a full-blown villain, made the decision to bring his mistress to a party, he further destroyed her reputation in high society.
Despite being the one who was betrayed, the elite circles of New York City, predictably judge and ostracize Aurora after the affair instead of Charles. Her decision to maintain her integrity and divorce Charles in The Gilded Age rather than allow him to flaunt his mistress in her face seals her fate, and she becomes an outcast of society, ostracized by the very same people who once called her a dear acquaintance.
While she wasn’t quite so isolated by the season 3 finale, Aurora still has an incredibly difficult future ahead of her in season 4. Being a divorcee in the late 1800s was a damning experience, even for a wealthy woman. With no income, no husband, and the stigma of scandal, some women just quietly faded from society, while others felt they were left with no other option than to make a tragic, more permanent exit.
While that would be a horribly sad end for the sweet, unproblematic Aurora, it wouldn’t be unrealistic of the writers to choose that darker path for O’Hara’s character. Hopefully, though, we will just see Aurora pull back from the series, perhaps leave New York for a while to heal. It’s the best way to give O’Hara more freedom to appear in Sheriff Country while allowing her to return to The Gilded Age rather than her character meeting a tragic end.
Release Date
January 24, 2022
Network
HBO Max
Showrunner
Julian Fellowes
Directors
Deborah Kampmeier, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Writers
Julian Fellowes
-
Morgan Spector
George Russell
