‘Monarch’: What’s Next for Susan Sarandon’s Dottie Roman Character After Dramatic Series Premiere?
Fox’s new country music drama Monarch debuted with a bang on September 11. The series premiere of the primetime soap featuring Susan Sarandon and Trace Adkins ended on a jaw-dropping note, with a major development for Sarandon’s Dottie Roman character that sets the stage for the episodes to come.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the series premiere of Monarch.]
Susan Sarandon and Trace Adkins play a country music power couple in ‘Monarch’
In Monarch, Sarandon plays the Dottie Roman, the matriarch of a powerful country music dynasty. She’s been a star for years, alongside her husband Albie Roman (played by real-life country powerhouse Trace Adkins). Two of the couple’s three children have followed their parents into the business. Nicky (Anna Friel) is a musician in her own right. She’s struggling to escape the long shadow of her legendary parents. Her brother Luke (Joshua Sasse) is the CEO of the family’s business, Monarch Entertainment, though that hasn’t earned him his father’s respect. The pair’s youngest daughter Gigi (Beth Ditto) has the voice of an angel. But she’s opted to stay out of the spotlight so her sister can shine, instead focusing on her marriage to Kayla (Meagan Holder) and their children. Critical comments from her demanding mother also affected Gigi’s decision to stay out of the family business.
Oscar-winner Sarandon has been prominently featured in all the marketing for Monarch. But early on in the series premiere, the show dropped a bombshell. Dottie is dying of terminal cancer. She wants to go out on her own terms – and she wants Nicky to help her end her life. The show could have dragged out this storyline for several episodes, but instead, it rips the bandaid off early. In the final moments of “Stop at Nothing” Dottie swallows a fatal dose of pills, with Nicky by her side. She dies, but not before telling Nicky she’s done things that can’t be forgiven. Seconds later, Gigi walks in and sees her sister holding the pill bottle.
Dottie died in the ‘Monarch’ series premiere, but it won’t be the last we see of the character
Monarch wasn’t toying with viewers when it came to Dottie’s death scene. Those involved with the show have confirmed that Sarandon’s character won’t experience a miraculous recovery in episode 2 or spend the rest of the season lingering in a coma. She really did die by suicide in the premiere. However, that doesn’t mean viewers have seen the last of Dottie.
“It was always designed that the matriarch of the family was going to die at the end of the pilot,” Michael Thorn, president of entertainment for FOX entertainment, told Variety. “But it was also always designed that the matriarch would then come back in several of the episodes throughout the first season in flashback.” Sarandon will appear in about half of Monarch‘s Season 1 episodes, Thorn said.
The Monarch series premiere teased several mysteries involving Dottie and Albie that will undoubtedly unfold over the rest of the season. In flashbacks, we see a much-younger Dottie setting fire to a barn. And in a pair of flash-forwards, Albie confronts someone with a gun and, later, digs a grave. Combined with Dottie’s dying words about her past sins, it looks like there’s plenty of intrigue to come in future episodes.
Dottie’s death will echo through the rest of the season
Unsurprisingly, the Roman family will spend much of the rest of the season dealing with the fallout from Dottie’s death.
“It will affect everything and everyone in every episode until the end of the season,” Friel said during a panel discussion during PaleyFest’s Fall TV Previews festival. (Watch the discussion on PaleyFest’s YouTube channel beginning September 16.)
“It’s another one of our mysteries that’s going to unfold over the course of the season,” Jon Feldman, Monarch’s executive producer and showrunner added. “It influences everyone and everything that happens.”
Future episodes will see the Roman grappling with the weight of the family’s many secrets.
“It’s a show that’s built on these secrets going forward,” Feldman shared. “Every character has their own secrets and the family has to join together to protect an even bigger secret … lies are the real Roman legacy. And that legacy starts with Dottie and Albie and it’s handed to their children.”
Monarch airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.
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