Two familiar faces will be missing when HBO’s The Gilded Age returns for Season 4 on Sunday, November 1 — a change that reshapes several of the show’s unfinished storylines and raises fresh questions about who will carry them forward. According to Deadline, actors Patrick Page and Sullivan Jones will not appear in the new season, departures that matter because both played figures tied to major plot threads.
Page’s exit is the more consequential. He portrayed Richard Clay, the longtime secretary close to businessman George Russell, and Clay’s absence leaves a key mystery more complicated: who arranged the failed assassination attempt on George that closed Season 3?
At the end of the last season, George survived being shot, and viewers were left with two urgent developments — a violent attempt on his life and a bitter split with Clay after George dismissed him over a botched deal. Clay has since been shown working for one of George’s rivals, and many fans have suggested that his new allegiance could tie him to the attack. With Page not returning, the series may need to resolve that thread without the character who has been central to it.
Sullivan Jones, who played publisher T. Thomas Fortune of the New York Globe, is also reported absent. While Fortune’s role has been smaller in recent episodes, the Globe’s coverage influences public pressure on several families in the show; losing that on-screen presence narrows one channel through which scandals could unfold.
- Patrick Page — Richard Clay: Exit complicates the inquiry into George Russell’s shooting and removes a direct link between George and a rival’s inner circle.
- Sullivan Jones — T. Thomas Fortune: Departure reduces the Globe’s visibility as a plot device for public scrutiny and social fallout.
What this means for Season 4 depends on how the writers choose to fill the gaps. They can either resolve the attempted-murder storyline using other characters and off-screen developments, or pivot to new conflicts while leaving some answers deliberately vague. Either approach will shape what feels urgent for George — his crumbling marriage to Bertha or the search for who nearly killed him.
For viewers, the two absences turn attention to remaining players and to how the show manages continuity when key figures vanish. Expect questions about motive, accountability and shifting alliances to feature prominently when the series returns.
Deadline is the source of the casting updates; HBO will premiere the new season on November 1. Fans tuning in will watch to see whether those open threads are tied up on screen — or rewritten around the changed cast.
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Hello, I’m Beckett. I cover series and show news for you to make your evenings more captivating.