#071: The great tragedy of Rick + Chelsea

This isn't just about Rich & Chelsea from the White Lotus

This contains spoilers to the final episode of The White Lotus Season 3.

I can’t stop thinking about the ending of The White Lotus Season 3. I can’t stop thinking about Rick and Chelsea. I can’t stop reading every Reddit thread on the relationship or watching every TikTok that the moral of the story is you can’t fix a broken man or else you’ll die trying.

I saw so much of myself in Chelsea: this happy-go-lucky sunshine girl who feels it is her duty to cheer up the self-destructive and emotionally turbulent people (man) in her life. My sun and Venus are in Cancer, which, if you dabble in astrology, already paints a vivid picture on how I love and the intensity I bring to my relationships. Me even mentioning this further confirms my alignment with Chelsea, who, throughout the show, can’t help but plug astrology in whenever appropriate.

Rick, on the other hand, is a man who holds deep psychological and emotional pain from the childhood trauma of his father being murdered. He moves through the world carrying this pain and targets an enemy to avenge his father, thinking it will bring him the peace he so seeks. His inability to respond to the overwhelming love and support that Chelsea showers him with is a product of his deep sadness and not so much his disinterest in their relationship. He loves her, but he can’t battle his own demons and probably even hates himself so he instead comes across as closed off, cold, and dismissive. It’s not a healthy relationship by any means… but there (unfortunately) is real love there. They are, perhaps, even soulmates. It’s sad yet deeply relatable and all too common.

"It's like we're in this ying and yang battle, and I'm hope, and Rick's pain, and eventually one of us will win.”