Abhiroop Das
Created by Lena Waithe, Paramount+’s ‘The Chi’ steps into its final season with more questions than answers, especially about the characters whose fates are left ambiguous in the seasons prior. After Douda’s death, it doesn’t take long for two rival factions to emerge and fight for power. On one side, Reg returns after years and quickly assumes the leadership role in an up-and-coming drug gang. Meanwhile, the throne of the 63rd Street Mob comes under contest, with Nuck eventually killing Rob and becoming the new king. However, the mystery that sets off this entire final run is that of Alicia’s death. Roselyn, who holds Alicia responsible for Douda’s death, takes her revenge and then disappears from the city and the story at large. Season 8 picks up right after this exit, leaving characters and fans alike to question where she might have gone and why she isn’t coming back. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Roselyn’s Subplot Might Have Been Shelved in Favor of Other Storylines
Though ‘The Chi’ ends its eighth and final season by wrapping up almost all major plot points, one mystery never quite gets resolved: that of Roselyn’s present whereabouts. It almost appears that she got away with all of her crimes, including the murder of Alicia in the previous season and of Nora in this one. After plenty of narrative buildup to her perhaps making a grand appearance in the series finale, no such thing happens, and the world simply moves on, leaving behind a trail of unexplained questions and deaths that do not receive their justice. While in-universe, it’s likely that the hunt for Alicia’s killer is still on, it is still puzzling for the show not to develop a resolution for this thread, knowing how strongly it affects so many character arcs.
Season 8 begins with Victor and Shaad being wrongfully detained as the murder suspects in the Alicia case, and after Nora tells the truth, the investigation is expected to pivot to Roselyn. However, that doesn’t quite happen, and the story only really returns to Roselyn after Nora gets killed, and Reg reveals who put a hit on her. Given how invested Shaad seems in getting revenge for Nora, it is very likely that the Roselyn sub-plot really was meant to be a part of this season, possibly in the final stretch of episodes. However, with a tight, ten-episode structure and lots of individual story elements to deal with, this likely got abandoned mid-production. For now, we have to wrestle with an in-universe explanation that Roselyn is still lying low somewhere outside of Chicago, and might never get caught for her crimes after all.
Kandi Burruss Bids the World of The Chi Goodbye With Season 7
As ‘The Chi’ has officially come to an end with the season 8 finale, whatever remaining chances there were of actor Kandi Burruss making a guest appearance are now gone. While her exit from the series leaves one of the biggest plot threads hanging in the air, it can reasonably be explained as an in-universe, ironic turn of events, where sometimes the antagonists get away with it. Kandi joined the show in season 3 alongside Curtiss Cook, who plays her on-screen husband, Douda, and from there, all the way up to season seven, Roselyn remains a major player in the bigger game. However, given that the final run of episodes is more focused on breaking the cycle and letting the youth mature, it makes sense for the show to reconstruct the narrative without Kandi’s character returning for a twist reveal.
While Kandi has not provided a confirmed reason for her absence from season 8, scheduling conflicts might have been a potential reason. Notably, the actor also stars in season 3 of the Netflix show ‘Survival of the Thickest,’ which likely underwent production around the same time as the final installment of ‘The Chi.’ Thus, it is entirely possible that the clashing schedules made it difficult for Kandi to make a brief appearance in the latter series. The actor has always been in love with her character, describing her as feisty and just as skilled as Douda in making political maneuvers. Though we don’t get a detailed look into how she bows out of this story, the sense of intrigue is, in and of itself, a memorable send-off to one of the most engaging presences in this saga.
Read More: The Chi Season 8 Finale Recap and Ending Explained: Is Bakari Dead or Alive?
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