Not Even the Cast of White Lotus Saw That Insane, Literal Sh*t Show of an Ending Coming

The finale of Mike White’s The White Lotus was just as sick and twisted as expected, but not even the cast saw that ending coming.

Warning: Many major ‘White Lotus’ spoilers ahead. 

If you’re reading this, you probably know who ends up in the coffin that has been taunting viewers of the HBO hit since the series’ first episode.

Unfortunately for Murray Barlett’s Armond, the not-so-secretly chaotic manager of The White Lotus resort, he failed to take his own advice and did not remain a “pleasant, interchangeable helper” throughout the show.

No matter how hard he tried to keep on his mask and stay servile, Armond’s growing feud with insufferable guest Shane Patton, portrayed by Jake Lacy, ultimately got him a knife to the chest.

While the killing was an accident, as Armond literally walked into Shane’s knife, he did die just minutes after pooping into Shane’s Ralph Lauren-filled suitcase, marking the final act of the hotel manager’s incredibly destructive fall off the wagon.

Several of the show’s cast members were interviewed in anticipation of the wild, jaw-dropping finale, and they seem just as shocked as we are.

Barlett spoke to Esquire, Vanity Fair, and Vulture, admitting that (just like pretty much everyone else), he thought Rachel, played by Alexandra Daddario, would be the unlucky character after watching the pilot.

“I assumed that it was Jake’s [Shane’s] wife after reading the pilot,” he told Esquire. “Then, I spent a lot of the rest of the scripts confused and wondering who it was, but I think that’s part of the fabric of the show, playing around with that. I feel like it’s great at holding up the suspense and kind of surprising you all the way through.”

While he didn’t expect that he would be the one to die at Shane’s hands, he told Vanity Fair that he found the twist “kind of genius,” as Armond’s relapse was so ruinous there was no other way to “end that character and that story other than this.”

“It just seems so perfect to me because, in a strange, warped way, it’s sort of like he’s released from this hell,” he added. “He’s been so worn down by these obnoxious people displaying the ugliest sides of human nature that it’s like, Fuck it, this sucks; I’m out. Not that he planned it, but in a way it’s like he’s going to take it to an extreme.”

And while Barlett did not know Armond’s demise was imminent, he told Vulture that he believes the character may have known on some level.

“I think Armond knows his downfall is coming, but I don’t necessarily think he sees death coming — not consciously,” he said. “He’s definitely letting go into his unraveling; in his final moments, after the shock and pain, there is some relief in being released from the madness of the situation and the circumstances of his life. But I don’t think his death was intentional. I just think he is out of options and completely fed up and unwilling to continue the madness of his circumstances.”

Lacy, on the other hand, had guessed that his character’s pent-up frustration would lead him to kill, but told The Daily Beast that he had no idea Armond would be the victim.

“It wasn’t until I was reading that Armond comes into the room and defecates on my sweater and then that I enter and that I was like, ‘I’m gonna murder Armond!’” Lacy said.

Lacy also admitted to the New York Times that he continuously asked himself “When do I kill my wife?” while filming the series, but once he read the finale’s script, questioned how he did not see the twist coming four episodes ago.

Shane’s wife, played by Daddario, had a feeling Rachel’s death would be too obvious to be true.

“I don’t even remember what I thought: I think that I was so lost in the story and my relationship with other characters,” she told Time Magazine. “I probably was like, ‘Oh, I wonder who dies—but it’s almost too obvious to be me.’”

While many fans were certain that Rachel would leave Shane after he ruined their honeymoon with grotesque displays of privilege, entitlement, and general asshole-like behavior, Daddario recognized that her character would stand by her new spouse.

“The decision made a lot of sense to me, because she is completely trapped,” Daddario told Time. “I think that she’s probably had some rough stuff happen to her that sort of made her feel unable to leave. And she’s not self-aware enough to admit, until the final episode, why she really got into this relationship.”