“The Gilded Age” killed off Claybourne Elder’s beloved character on Sunday night’s episode. John, who was a descendant of President John Adams, was fatally struck by a speeding horse carriage on the streets of New York City, moments after sharing a romantic exchange with his former lover Oscar van Rhijn (Blake Ritson).

Just one week after we witnessed the shocking death of John Adams on The Gilded Age, his body decimated by a runaway horse (Sidebar: We haven’t heard a word about that horse being brought to justice!),

The penultimate episode of the third season of The Gilded Age ended not with the clang of a champagne glass, but with a bang (quite literally) when the Russell family patriarch found himself on the receiving end of a gun moments before the credits rolled.