Aimee Lou Wood, the astrologer

There’s been a breakout star every season on The White Lotus. In season one it was Murray Bartlett, season two Simona Tabasco, and season three, Aimee Lou Wood, who plays the endearing Chelsea. And the internet is obsessed with everything from her teeth to her hilarious reactions to her great line deliveries. “I don’t think there’s a drug in the world that could make me get with my brother.” Aimee’s Chelsea is a meme queen, she’s all over social media, and yesterday, ahead of the season finale on Sunday, she was in New York for an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. 

Of course, she and her character aren’t the same person. But there are similarities. First of all, Aimee is a great conversationalist, the energy is exactly what you want on a talk show. She’s also quirky, and self-awarely woo-woo. Which I know isn’t a real word, self-awarely, but it’s how I want to describe her vibe where the astrology thing is concerned because half the interview with Seth involves her reading his chart. And she is f-cking into it, she’s deep into the sun and the moon and the rising, but not in a way where you’re like, this person takes it seriously to the point where it borders on exploitation and/or ignorance. There’s an undercurrent of self-mockery to the way she delivers her astrological expertise, like she knows it’s a little silly but at the same time she’s not about to apologise for being into it and this actually grounds her. She is just as delightful IRL (at least as real as it gets during a talk show performance) as she is onscreen. 

 

The other similarity between Aimee and Chelsea is they way she is with Walton Goggins/Rick. This comes from an anecdote that Walton shares about her in the White Lotus season three oral history that The Hollywood Reporter published this week. Basically at the beginning of production, Walton got so into his character that he isolated himself from everyone. And for the most part the other cast members stayed away – except for Aimee, who would be the one to get in his face, try to draw him out, not unlike how Chelsea is with Rick. And Walton is grateful to her for it. 

Will Rick be grateful though? Rick was not f-cking thinking about Chelsea in the closing moments of episode seven. Chelsea, though, was trying to think about Rick, even though Saxon had just unsettled her. Spoiler alerts… 

There’s a fan theory that Chelsea will be the one to die. She keeps saying “bad things come in threes” and she was at the burglary and bitten by a snake so the bad third thing might still be coming for her. And you know the henchman will be coming for Rick. Like he and Frank got away and went partying but, um, Sritala and Jim Hollinger know he’s staying at the resort, it’s not like they won’t be able to find him – or find his partner, he’s an idiot for getting rid of that gun. 

Then there’s the necklace she’s been wearing. 

@taramariagonzalez

I don’t even want to speak this into existence but had to share #whitelotus #chelsea #hbo #thailand #theory #fashion #costumedesign #greenscreen

♬ original sound - Tara Gonzalez

Alex Bovaird is the costume designer for The White Lotus. And costume designers aren’t just in the business of pulling cool sh-t for the characters to wear. They know the story, there is intention in the details. In season two, it was already confirmed that the floral dress that Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya wore in the season finale was foreshadowing her death because it’s similar to the one worn by Appollonia in The Godfather when she gets bombed in the car that was meant for Michael Corleone – which had shown up earlier in the season during a sightseeing scene. 

It would not be a stretch, then, if the pendant on Chelsea is a clue. Or…a red herring, given that Mike White by now should be familiar with fan theories and internet obsession over his show, and as a proven sh-t disturber, he is 100% capable of this kind of diversion. 

Can we go back to Chelsea and Saxon, though? One read of her recoil during the meditation scene is that she was disgusted by his come-on. But then again, Chelsea throughout the season has had no problem telling Saxon about himself – that he’s soulless and full of sh-t. She’s maybe one of the few people he’s ever encountered in his life who has been real with him, which might be why he’s responded to her the way he has. 

But instead of rebuffing Saxon’s advances with her trademark truth-telling, Chelsea gets awkward, throwing books at him, covering up her feelings, and kicking him out…suggesting that, well, she might be feeling something. And this would track. Because she is drawn to losers and wants to save them. And Saxon is a loser who probably can’t be saved. There’s a reason these two have had so many scenes together this season. I’m anxious (and repulsed) about how this might play out on Sunday. 

I don’t think it’ll be Chelsea who dies. Right now, my money is on Rick. Only because he was so content at the end of the last episode, smiling because he thought he’d found closure. And contentment like that on a show like this can only be chased by punishment. 

Here's Aimee at The Drew Barrymore Show in New York yesterday. 

We're Squawking Aimee today (App link here) and will be live-chatting The White Lotus season three finale on Sunday night at The Squawk. Hope you can join us!