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"The White Lotus" Finale: Who's In The Casket?!

Written by Gabbi Wiesehan. Published: August 14 2021
(HBO)

 

The first season of HBO’s “The White Lotus” is sadly coming to an end, and we still have yet to find out who exactly left the Hawaiian resort in a casket. The wild ride of a series has left us guessing each episode which character has turned cadaver, and honestly, it could be anyone at this point (well, anyone except Shane and his entitled, punchable face). Before the season finale (it just got picked up for a second season), let’s visit some plausible theories about who the dead guest at The White Lotus could be!

 

 

 

[WARNING: Spoilers if you're not caught up on "The White Lotus"!]

 

1. Paula

We’ve known that tagalong friend Paula (Brittany O’Grady) has a long list of varying allergies that keeps growing with every episode. More importantly, Olivia (Sydney Sweeney) seems to be well aware of Paula’s ailments. The blonde half of this toxic duo is always scheming to one-up Paula, whether it’s stealing boyfriends or spying on her. Maybe Paula and Kai’s heist-gone-wrong was the tipping point for the two’s tumultuous friendship, and Olivia poisoned Paula with an allergen to off her for good. No matter what, we know that Olivia always has a way of finding anything out. Olivia always knows everything.

 

2. Armond

Poor Armond (Murray Bartlett) was five years sober before he got a hold of Paula’s misplaced illegal pharmacy-in-a-backpack. The stressed resort manager went on a days-long bender while on the clock, and it wouldn’t be too far-fetched if the drug use and drinking took a tragic turn.

 

3. Quinn

Quinn (Fred Hechinger) isn’t much of the athletic, outdoorsy type. It wasn’t until this vacation that he started becoming aware of the beauty of nature that surrounds him. We learned he often has trouble breathing (asthma, maybe?) after he was exiled to the hotel room’s closet-sized kitchen and after arriving at the restaurant out of breath after training with the local islanders. Could he have possibly drowned in the ocean? Or maybe during a freak scuba accident?

 

4. Kai

After his and Paula’s planned robbery royally backfired when Nicole (Connie Britton) and Mark (Steve Zahn) returned to the hotel room, Kai (Kekoa Scott Kekumano) is now on the run with Nicole’s two $75,000 bracelets. He’d need more than just a lawyer if he gets caught, but maybe someone else gets to him first before law enforcement.

 

5. Rachel

We notice right away in Episode 1 that Shane (Jake Lacy) and his aforementioned punchable face are alone at the airport and clearly distraught. His incredibly likable and just overall sweetheart wife Rachel (Alexandra Daddario) is nowhere to be seen. Is she the one in the casket, or did she simply leave him after their rocky honeymoon showed his true colors? If -- God forbid -- it is Rachel, my money’s on Kitty (Molly Shannon) being her murderer. It’s always the mother-in-law.

 

Find out the real answer this Sunday night, August 15, on HBO!