Clear your Sunday nights. The Gilded Age returns for its fourth season on Sunday, November 1st, at 9 p.m. Eastern and 8 p.m. Central on HBO, with new episodes streaming weekly on HBO Max. If you have been missing the gowns and the gossip of old New York, your wait is almost over.

The storyline I am watching most closely belongs to Peggy Scott. Last season ended with William Kirkland, played by Jordan Donica, proposing to Peggy in a ballroom, and Denée Benton made that moment unforgettable. This season, Peggy is preparing to join William’s family, and that means facing his mother, Elizabeth, played by none other than Phylicia Rashad. HBO says the two women will clash, and I already know I will be watching every scene between them twice. Audra McDonald and John Douglas Thompson are back as Peggy’s parents, Dorothy and Arthur Scott, so you know the Scott household will have plenty to say.

The rest of New York society has its own troubles. Agnes van Rhijn, played by Christine Baranski, is fretting over a presidential dinner party. Carrie Coon’s Bertha Russell is working hard to cover up the truth about her failing marriage to George after last season’s separation, and Oscar may be in over his head with Enid. New faces are arriving too, including Dennis Haysbert as Dr. Reginald Harris, William’s mentor, and Neal Huff as John D. Rockefeller.

I would be lying if I said the fashion was not part of the draw for me. This show understands that the way a woman carries herself says something about the way she sees herself. The gloves and pearls are the kind of timeless elegance I grew up admiring, and Peggy has always dressed with a quiet dignity that never needed to shout.

What I love about Peggy’s story is that it shows a side of history we rarely see on screen: Black families of means and faith building their lives with grace in a world that did not make room for them. Watching a Black woman in that era step into love and marriage on her own terms is worth celebrating, and I cannot wait to see where her story goes.

Season 4 of The Gilded Age premieres Sunday, November 1, on HBO. Grab your tea, and I will see you in the parlor.