Did Dottie really die in the Monarch premiere?

Major spoilers ahead of Monarch

Monarch made its premiere on FOX with an unexpected plot twist. The highly anticipated country music drama tells the story of the Romans, music royalty who’ve built a dynasty in the industry that has yet to be shaken. However, matriarch and Queen of Country Music Dottie Cantrell Roman is sick.

She’s been diagnosed with cancer. Unwilling to let her life and vitality slip from her hands, Dottie makes a decision, she’s going to go out on her own terms. She enlists the help of her daughter, Nicolette, to assist her in her suicide.

Initially, Nicky is against doing what her mother wishes. She sees it as a sin and doesn’t want to carry the burden of helping her mother leave this mortal coil. However, by the end of the episode, Nicky is present for Dottie’s scheduled last hour. She watches as she takes a bottle full of pills and holds her mother’s hand as she succumbs to their effects.

What the two didn’t plan is for Nicky’s sister, Gigi, to walk into the room just as Dottie seems to pass. It’s a moment that leaves the sisters and the audience hanging on a breath, wondering if this really is the end for Dottie.

In a postmortem interview with Hollywood Life, show creator and executive producer Melissa Hilfers revealed Dottie’s fate. Here’s what we know!

Is Dottie dead on Monarch?

Yes, Monarch‘s Queen of Country Music passed away. Hilfers had the following to say:

"I have never hesitated for a moment. Did other people question this decision? Yes. The president of FOX goes, ‘But she’s not really dead, right?’ And I said, ‘Oh, she’s dead.’ I actually said, ‘We’re gonna Game of Thrones Dottie?’ And the reason is that it’s important to show that this is the bold storytelling you can expect from Monarch. Every show would not do that. It’s a swing as you say, but it’s a bold show. We take a lot of bold swings."

Will Susan Sarandon be in the rest of Monarch season 1?

While this was certainly a shocking choice, if you intended to watch Monarch because it stars Susan Sarandon, this may be a bait and switch a la Big Sky, but she’s still in the show.

Remember, the Romans have a lot to hide in their past. Dottie was whispering to Nicky something awful she’d done that she doesn’t believe she can be forgiven for, that’s a mystery the show intends on continuing to unravel.

Our scenes with Dottie now will be flashbacks which will likely explain certain family dynamics and choices that the matriarch, her husband Albie, and her children have made over the years as they built the dynasty that’s a part of the backbone of their industry.

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more Monarch news and coverage! The series moves to Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX starting Sept. 20.