This article contains spoilers for Season 3,contrapoints the inherent eroticism of the sea Episode 3 of Hulu's Harlots.
Looking back, it shouldn't have been that surprising. All of the meta-clues were there.
Jessica Brown Findlay, best known for playing Lady Sybil on Downton Abbey, was an inspired casting choice for the dashing, daring lead role on Harlots, but Sybil's most memorable Downtonstory arc was her surprising and untimely death in Season 3. The second clue was Alfie Allen's appearance as an antagonist in this season of Harlots, fresh off his final episodes as Theon Greyjoy in notorious character-culler Game of Thrones.
What happens when you add a dash of Thronesto the already deadly underworld of Georgian London? A shocking early season twist that leaves Findlay's Charlotte Wells dead in the foyer in Golden Square, helplessly bleeding out after a horrifying semi-accident involving Allen's Isaac Pincher at the top of the stairs. At least Lady Sybil made it to Episode 5 of DowntonSeason 3. Charlotte only made it to HarlotsEpisode 3.
Killing off Charlotte is the most daring twist Harlotscould have pulled at this point in its run, and its finality is especially jarring considering the show had just pulled the rug out from under its Season 2 bait-and-switch regarding Charlotte's mother Margaret Wells. After Margaret was saved from the gallows and transported to America in the Season 2 finale, the big mystery of Season 3 appeared to be whether or not she'd make it back to London to see her family again, but that mystery was resolved early on in this very episode when Margaret returned with a new husband and a comfortable financial situation.
In fact, it's Margaret's reintroduction that leads to Charlotte's death. The real estate deal she's there to broker sparks off a complicated plot involving a secret boxing match, sex trafficking, the return of an evil nobleman, and a dead creditor (wow, this show rocks). Episode 3's complex and slow build to Charlotte's death is a master class in trusting each character to act precisely as expected, while still managing to surprise the audience with what is, in retrospect, something they absolutely should have seen coming.
SEE ALSO: EP of new Hulu show says 'Harlots' were like 'the Kardashians of their day'It's that reaction, pure shock followed by the realization that of courseCharlotte's life was in danger, that makes the Harlotstwist so darn good. Upon a rewatch, the episode makes a clear case that moving Margaret back onto the game board was too strong a move for any of the pieces to play effectively, by showing how uncomfortable Charlotte and her sister Lucy were with her arrival. Their mother's return to London wasn't simply a family reunion, it was the surest way to dig up the danger and mob-style drama that plagued Margaret's actions through the first two seasons of the show.
It's the kind of twist that feels tragic while opening up its story to a world of new and violent possibilities.
The Game of Thronesdeath that feels most like a spiritual analogue to Charlotte's is not Ned Stark, who was executed on a whim by an evil little boy, or even Robb, who was the victim of a long-stewing plot. Charlotte's surprise death is most like that of Renly Baratheon, who was cut down on the cusp of potential victory merely because he was one king too many in a war overpopulated with royal claims. Like Renly, Charlotte was not perfect and made decisions that jeopardized her safety in favor of following her heart. Had Charlotte or Renly ultimately prevailed, they might not have made the best rulers of their worlds but it was difficult not to root for them. They also both loved fancy outfits, money, and banging members of their same sex, but that's neither here nor there.
Charlotte's death, like Renly's, portends a seismic shift in the politics and futures of her loved ones. With her death, the war for self determination in the Georgian sex trade is officially back on, having claimed its first major casualty and setting several characters off on inevitable paths of vengeance. With her daughter dead, it's unlikely Margaret Wells will return to America as planned and instead will stay in London to burn the fire-starting Pincher boys who are responsible for Charlotte's fall, as well as fending off the rage of Lydia Quigley, who has never fought a fair round once in her frilly, venomous life.
Like all the best TV deaths, in Thronesor otherwise, Charlotte's passing is the kind of twist that feels tragic while opening up its story to a world of new and violent possibilities. RIP to Charlotte Wells. Everyone else? Prepare for war.
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