Warning! This article contains spoilers for The White Lotus season 3, episode 8.
A big death has been teased throughout every episode ofThe White Lotusseason 3, but I still cannot believe it was THAT character who suffered. Theending ofThe White Lotusseason 3came in the form of a feature-length episode, which was arguably needed to wrap up everything the story had set up. With every piece on the board firmly in place after theending ofThe White Lotusseason 3, episode 7, episode 8 included many shocking resolutions and repercussions for the show’s varied characters.
After being actively hinted at in the cold open to the season, thedeaths ofThe White Lotusseason 3’s finalewere expected. However, what was not expected was just who suffered a gruesome ending. Death has been teased as an endpoint for many members ofThe White Lotus' cast of charactersthus far, yet these teases were made much more permanent in the finale. Although characters like Timothy and his fellow Ratliff family members were seemingly closest to meeting an untimely fate, I cannot believe whoThe White Lotusseason 3 actually killed off.
One Of The Show’s Few Genuinely Likable People
Image via Max
The character in question is Chelsea, played by Aimee Lou Wood. Chelsea was one of the few victims ofThe White Lotusseason 3’s finale, with the character dying after catching a stray bullet during Rick’s shootout with Sritala’s bodyguards. This came after Rick shot Jim Hollinger to death, reversing his newfound closure after episode 7’s ending. Although Rick tried to protect Chelsea, she was caught in the crossfire and died, begging the question of whyThe White Lotusseason 3’s writer-director chose this outcome.
The writer and director of every single episode ofThe White Lotus' three seasons is Mike White.
Mike White has since commented on this decision, saying that Chelsea’s death was supposed to emulateThe White Lotusseason 3’s “Greek tragedy” story. White stated that Chelsea being killed as a repercussion of Rick’s revenge quest typifies this style of tragedy. This makes sense given the events of the finale, with Chelsea’s phrase of “amor fati” lending itself to episode 8’s title.
Amor fati means that people need to embrace their fate, good or bad. Chelsea states that this means that whatever happens to one person happens to another;Rick lost his life by focusing on his revenge for decades, with Chelsea losing her life as a result of that too. Moreover,The White Lotusseason 3 has focused a lot on embracing death as an inescapable part of life, be it the conversation Timothy had with the guru at the monastery or the former’s own brushes with death. In a way, Chelsea’s fate sums this up as she could not escape death.
Because She Was Truly Good
Despite the somewhat sound reasoning for killing Chelsea - at least from an emotionally impactful narrative perspective - her fate is one of the most shocking and upsetting inThe White Lotus' entire run. The primary reason for this is that Chelsea has rarely been shown as anything other than good. ThroughoutThe White Lotusseason 3, Chelsea is shown as a morally righteous, innocent, inherently good person who only wishes to help those around her, be it Saxon or Rick himself.
Chelsea did not really have any character flaws, only making her fate more tragic…
AlthoughThe White Lotus' other deaths have never been limited to solely bad people, rarely are the victims as good as Chelsea. Even Rick himself has his issues, as did the likes of Tanya and Armond fromThe White Lotus' prior seasons. None of these characters were outright terrible humans, but they had their less attractive flaws, from Tanya’s self-absorbed ways to Armond’s spitefulness in ruining Shane and Rachel’s honeymoon. Of course, they did not deserve to die which made their deaths suitably sad, but Chelsea did not really have any character flaws, only making her fate more tragic.
Clues To Chelsea’s Death In The White Lotus Season 3
It Cannot Be Denied That Chelsea’s Death Was Teased
Despite the overall tragedy of Chelsea’s death inThe White Lotusseason 3, it was certainly teased. The earlier episodes of the season showed Chelsea being part of two particularly dangerous experiences. One was the robbery of the titular hotel, with Chelsea being present during the assault, while the other was her being bitten by a venomous snake. She came through both of these scenarios relatively unscathed, butThe White Lotuspointed out that bad omens usually come in threes.
Chelsea herself worried that death would come for her after these moments, prompting many theories about such an outcome throughoutThe White Lotusseason 3. Finally, Chelsea also wore a “Stay Gold” necklace, a reference to the same piece of jewelry worn by a character fromThe Outsiders.This character dies while giving a speech about being golden, innocent, and true to yourself, which comes from a poem by Robert Frost. Overall,The White Lotusclearly did set up Chelsea’s death, but this does not make it any easier to bear.
