Andrew’s fatal dehydration

Andrew’s fatal dehydration is the outcome of a reversal of captivity: after Andrew Winchester had imprisoned Millie Calloway, Millie leaves him without water, and he dies locked away. The death turns the deprivation he used to control another person into the condition of his own final days, while Nina Winchester’s decision to conceal Millie’s involvement shapes what the police are told afterward.

The Reversal of Captivity

In the exchange before Andrew’s death, he offers Millie money, including two million dollars, but she recognizes the offer as empty. His appeal shifts from bargaining to pleading: he says he left her some water and asks whether she can give him some. Millie refuses. She points back to the imbalance he created by locking a girl in a room with too little water, making his present need answer to the suffering he had inflicted.

Millie then walks away while Andrew screams her name. Once she reaches the bedroom, she searches online for how long a person can survive without water. The search makes the consequence of her refusal explicit: she is no longer simply reacting to his pleas but confronting the likely duration and outcome of his deprivation. Her departure leaves Andrew confined without the water he requests.

Death After a Week

Later, Millie tells Nina that she let Andrew die locked in the room for a week and fears that this makes her destined for prison. Nina responds that Millie was not there. That answer is not a denial of Andrew’s death or of Millie’s fear; it is the beginning of Nina’s effort to separate Millie from the crime by supplying the police with a different account of responsibility.

When Nina speaks with Enzo while the police remain at the house, she understands that they suspect her of killing Andrew. She distinguishes direct killing from the death that actually occurred: Andrew died of dehydration. Although she knows she could tell the police about Millie, she decides not to do so. Nina’s silence protects Millie even as suspicion falls on Nina herself.

Consequence and Significance

Andrew’s death completes the reversal from captor to captive. His earlier control depended on keeping Millie imprisoned and vulnerable; in the final exchange, he is the one pleading for water, while Millie decides whether to provide it. The fatal consequence is not presented as an immediate act of violence but as the result of confinement and prolonged deprivation.

The aftermath extends that reversal into the question of blame. Millie believes her role will send her to prison, but Nina attempts to shield her by claiming that Millie was absent and withholding the information that could expose her. Andrew’s death therefore becomes both the endpoint of his coercive power and the event around which Nina chooses to protect Millie.