Julian Fellowes told TV Line he designed John Adams’s deadly carriage crash in Episode 6 as a purely accidental turn with no political agenda. HBO ordered Season Four on July 28, crediting the series’ midseason viewership surge and hinting at a shift toward Oscar van Rhijn’s experiences. Viewers on X expressed shock and grief, likening Adams’s death to iconic television tragedies as they mourned the rare 19th-century LGBTQ pairing. John Adams, portrayed by Claybourne Elder as a Quincy Adams descendant, had rescued Oscar from financial ruin through critical investments. Fellowes said that none of the forthcoming Oscar-centric storylines would have been possible if John Adams had survived.