The Chi cast members open up about character arcs and endings in Season 7

The Chi recently released its seventh season on May 18, 2025 and fans of the drama series have been hooked due to the various twists and turns in the show. Created by Lena Waithe, the show premiered in 2018 and focuses on a group of African-American people, who go through life’s ups and downs while staying in a neighborhood in the South Side of Chicago.

Featuring Jason Mitchell, Jacob Latimore, Lynn Whitfield, and others, The Chi has been a viewer’s favorite with its gritty and realistic depiction of flawed human characters and how they navigate life. In season seven of the show, there have been many surprising deaths and therefore, Lynn Whitfield and Yolonda Ross, sit down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter and talk about their characters and endings.

The shocking deaths of Jada and Alicia in The Chi

In season seven of The Chi, Yolonda Ross's character Jada’s death was hinted early on in the show when her victory over cancer was not over yet. While Jada’s death was one of the sad and shocking moments of The Chi, it was not a surprise for the viewers. Jada told her husband Darnell and her son Emmett in the latest season and Darnell even gave Jada a living funeral so that she could get the flowers she wanted while still alive.

Apart from the emotional and moving death of Jada, another demise happened on The Chi, and this one was extremely unexpected. Lynn Whitfield or Alicia Daniels Lafayette’s murder was a shock for the viewers. In season seven of the show, Alicia is on a hunt to find out who killed her son Rob. Believing the kingpin Nuck, she ended up killing Zay, even though it was Nuck who killed Rob. Alicia later believed that it was Reg who killed her son. However, it wasn’t these multiple dangerous enemies that Alicia made that led to her shocking death. It was Douda’s wife Roselyn, who ended up killing Alicia for believing that it was her who killed Douda. Interestingly, Roselyn believed Nuck and decided to kill Alicia and avenge her husband’s death.

Lynn Whitfield and Yolonda Ross on their characters in The Chi and the endings

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Whitfield states that she did not know about her character Alicia’s death until “somewhere mid-season, maybe the fifth episode or so.” She continues, “it was really an interesting journey for me…because so often I am playing that strong character that finds a way and that learns a lesson.”

Whitfield even remarks that she did not know until the last minute about who will end up killing her character. The actress also mentions that her tenure on the show was supposed to last only three episodes and not two seasons.

On the other hand, Yolonda Ross also talks about her character Jada and what it means to her. She states in the same interview, “she’s [Jada] a Black woman that holds it down…what I thought was very interesting about this show was being able to get in deep with somebody, and get all into their personal life…and get to understand a Jada and where she’s coming from…”

Talking about playing a character with cancer, she mentions, “knowing I had lost family members and friends to cancer, I wanted to make sure I showed us humanely and fully…” Further, Jada’s living funeral was a beautiful moment for Ross as she mentions, “It’s a lot, walking into a room, and I did walk in last, that is set up with pictures of you, and your play family, but we really are like a family and friends…All these things are quite emotional.”

Ultimately, Ross states that the fact that The Chi has been renewed for season eight is a big victory and she states that all of this has happened because of the viewers.

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The show is available on Paramount+.

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