The Rick and Chelsea of it all

Thoughts from the White Lotus Season 3 Finale

Apr 07, 2025

“He has this sadness, it really touches me. I want to heal him. It’s like we’re in this yin and yang battle, and I’m hope and Rick is pain, and eventually, one of us will win.”

Warning: The below contains spoilers for White Lotus Season 3

Rick and Chelsea. One of my favorite TV couples of all time. And for some of us, one of the most relatable.

I understood Rick’s appeal instantly. He’s a bit of a curmudgeon, but in a way that’s entertaining—his bad mood won’t be ruining my day! He’s stylish, but in a devastatingly sexy “I don’t give a fuck” type of way. He’s older. Successful. And broken. Deeply, deeply broken.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce: my type.

His counterpart of course is Chelsea, a youthful spirit who’s full of life, love and unconditional care and loyalty. Upon first glance you think she’s just in it for the perks, that she puts up with a grumpy old man in exchange for the five star vacations and designer handbags. But midway through the season you realize that her love for him is unwavering. You realize, oh fuck—she might even take a bullet for this man.

Throughout the season, Rick pulls away from Chelsea. Consumed by his childhood trauma and a trip to Bangkok to avenge the man who killed his father, Rick’s unresolved trauma not only puts a wall between him and Chelsea, but the childhood event has become his entire identity.

It’s not until midway through the season finale, when Rick returns from the monumental Bangkok trip, that he is finally able to see Chelsea for the first time. “I’ve got the monkey off my back,” he tells her. And when Chelsea says that she thinks they will be together forever, a sentiment that Rick has dismissed throughout the season, this time he has a different answer. He says, “That’s the plan.”

If you’ve ever been a Chelsea, you understand what it’s like to love someone who is broken. Not only do you want to save them, but you become instrumental to their saving. The string that ties you together tightens. Rick wouldn’t have survived without Chelsea. Even though he dismissed her, stonewaller her, and pushed her away, they both knew he needed her.

This ending, before the part where they both get killed, is the conclusion that we all hope for when we take on a Rick of our own. For us to heal them. And then, for them to choose us. To grab us by the hand and say, it’s you and me.

In a recent NY Times Interview Walton Goggins, who plays Rick, answers the interviewer’s question:

“Does Rick deserve Chelsea, that angel?”

“Do they deserve each other? Of course they do. They’re soul mates. Anyone [who disagrees], you’re in an arrested state of development, or you’re incapable of seeing the nuance in this story.”

Are they soulmates? Perhaps. Maybe that’s why it’s so tragic.

Chelsea, so full of life and with so much love to give, is so divinely intertwined with this man. And perhaps that truth is the hardest part. The yin and yang. The hope and the pain.

Or maybe, alternatively, the season finale acts as a cautionary tale of what happens when our souls tie with the wrong people—when we try to save the one’s who can’t save themselves.