Sealight Inn

The **Sealight Inn** was a roadside motel in Lucia, California that became Mildred Ratched's place of residence during part of her employment at Lucia State Hospital.

## Background

The Sealight Inn was a motel located off California's State Route 1 in Lucia, California. It was reportedly the only motel in town, and was run by Louise.

Louise claimed that she ran the motel in an upright manner, and didn't allow any questionable deeds at her establishment, despite the extra-marital sex Mildred Ratched and Charles Wainwright participated in occurring there.

## Inhabitants

Louise was a constant presence at the motel, spending most of her time in the front office, where she could keep an eye on the communal ice machine, as well as needle guests about their personal lives. Her position at the motel also gave her access to all the guest rooms, and she abused this privilege to enter Mildred's room without permission, finding and removing the recording device whose recording framed Mildred for the forcible lobotomy of Father Andrews. She was eventually offered a position as a candy striper, and began working at Lucia State Hospital. By 1950, she had left the motel to travel with Edmund Tolleson and Charlotte Wells as they tracked down Mildred.

As the only motel in Lucia, the Sealight housed the various reporters traveling to Lucia State Hospital to report on Edmund Tolleson after he was taken into police custody.

Mildred Ratched arrived at the Sealight at the same time as the reporters, staying at the motel while she attempted to gain employment at the hospital. After she was officially hired by Dr. Hanover, she continued to use the Sealight as her place of residence, residing in room number 10. Betsy Bucket confronted Mildred about her past at her room at the motel, and her former caseworker, Anna, visited her at the Sealight to speak to her about Edmund. She eventually let the motel to live with Gwendolyn Briggs.

Using the influx of reporters as a front, Charles Wainwright stayed at the motel while working for Lenore Osgood. Occupying room number 8, it was at the Sealight that he ran into Mildred for the first time, and their short-lived affair played out exclusively at the motel.

After leaving her husband, Gwendolyn Briggs came to stay at the Sealight, unaware Mildred was staying there as well. Her room was across the interior breezeway from Mildred's. While a guest, she discovered Mildred and Charles's affair, and confronted Mildred at the door to Mildred's room. Gwendolyn left the Sealight after being shot at Lucia State Hospital, moving back into the house she previous shared with her ex-husband.

Lenore Osgood visited the Sealight at the recommendation of Mildred, intending to stay, but found the accommodations entirely lacking, saying she wouldn't put her monkey up in one of the rooms.

## Trivia

* According to the letterhead of the notes exchanged between Mildred Ratched and Charles Wainwright, the motel's address is 129 Pacific Crest Rd, Lucia, California.
* The exterior shots of the Sealight Inn were filmed at Lucia Lodge, a historic hotel located in the real Lucia, California.
* While Louise mentions an interior breezeway, and such a feature can be seen in the interior shots of the motel, the Lucia Lodge does not have any interior connecting hallways.
* Likewise, while Gwendolyn Briggs's room is shown to be on the opposite side of the breezeway, and Gwendolyn walks around the corner of Mildred's room to reach her own, there is no "back half" of the building at the Lucia Lodge, a fact which is visible in a number of establishing and exterior shots of the motel.
* Mildred's room, along with the other rooms visible along the exterior of the Sealight, has a room number on its doors - 10, but Gwendolyn's room does not have a visible number on her door.
* The unusually green curtains in Mildred's room as well as other parts of the Sealight were inspired by scenes from Alfred Hitchcock's *Vertigo*.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 S01E04: Angel of Mercy, Part II
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 S01E01: Pilot
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 S01E07: The Bucket List
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 S01E08: Mildred and Edmund
5. ↑ S01E05: The Dance
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 **Town and Country:** The Secret References to Insane Asylums and Old Hollywood in Netflix's 'Ratched'  (SEPT 20 2020)