‘White Lotus’ has always been less about twists and more about the consequences of the choices we make.
The best way to sum up The White Lotus Season 3 is through the song The End of the Movie from Crazy Ex Girlfriend. As the lead character walks away from a sinking hole of a choice, Josh Groban provides a bleak thesis in perfect baritone, “Because life is a gradual series of revelations / that occur over a period of time / It’s not some carefully crafted story / It’s a mess, and we’re all gonna die.”
But, thankfully, everyone doesn’t die. Just a few, or in this case… two? (Fine, three, but I just wanted to make it rhyme).
The White Lotus is a satire, meaning it isn’t that serious. The thrill of the show comes from the choices people make, and the third installment takes us through the sweeping shores of Thailand, both in Koh Samui (undeclared in the show) and its cultural melting pot, Bangkok.
Like in the past two seasons, the characters arrive on the hotel yacht, and already we can start to pick them apart as they walk through the sandy white shoreline with cares up in the air, the scent of overpriced sunblock and their philosophies intact. But we know these facades will fall apart.
Since my Mondays have now returned to just Mondays, I will give a quick recap of the characters.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Hollingers
“He’s your father! He told me that!” Let’s start with a bang, shall we? Reeling from a confrontation in Bangkok, Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) thought that he could get away with almost murder. After all, it’s his only his major plot line, and it occupies his mind so much that he neglects his girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) for most of the season. He begins the show with only one mission: to avenge his father’s death.
After mildly looming around hotel owner Khun Sritala (Lek Patravadi) in earlier episodes, he finally gets his shot (but not really) when he pays a visit to their house with his buddy Frank (Sam Rockwell) in Bangkok.
After his failed attack on Sritala’s husband Jim (Scott Glenn), Rick gives up the fight and decides to just enjoy his last day on the island with Chelsea, who runs into his arms on the beach when he returns from Bangkok. However, Jim and Sritala visit the hotel the next morning and Jim confronts Rick, who tells him his mother was a drunk and a slut.
“He just insulted my mother,” Rick says to Chelsea. “Don’t do something stupid,” she begs as he runs off and does the opposite, shooting Jim in the chest during a photo opportunity with a celebrity guest at the villa.
Sritala cries over Jim’s dead body, and Rick says, “He killed my father.” There lies the twist of the season: Jim is Rick’s father!
The three best friends
A highlight of the season for me was creator Mike White’s exploration of female friendships – the cattiness, camaraderie and hidden animosity between friends. Laurie’s (Carrie Coon) dismal but healing admission (“I’m happy to be at this table!”) to her best friends after all the passive aggressiveness, backstabbing and one-upmanship summarizes it best: sometimes, friendship swims upstream and through it all, their love remains intact.
They’re thankfully spared from the hand of death, though just barely (Laurie does a Usain Bolt sprint after Rick shoots Jim). The gunfire erupts during what should have been a simple photo opportunity with Jim and movie actress Jaclyn Lemon (Michelle Monaghan), a celebrity Jim admires.
But when you escape death, suddenly, all those little sleeping-behind-each-other’s-backs, passing insults and differences become trivial. As they sail away with tears and wine, they go back to being friends for life.
Belinda, Zion and Greg/Gary
Fan favorite Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) was an integral part of White Lotus, so much so that they had her come back for two of them (Hawaii and Italy). But sadly, she dies by falling off a boat after being kidnapped by the “gay mafia” in the second season.
But that wasn’t the end of her character. Though we do not get a physical appearance from Tanya herself, she lives on in the characters in season 3. We see the return of spa manager Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) and Greg (Jon Gries), now known as Gary. In the first season, Belinda befriends Tanya and gets duped in the end when Tanya backs out of their business plans.
As the karmic cycle would have it, Belinda arrives at the Thailand resort and trains under White Lotus wellness expert Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul), whom she befriends (and has a tryst with). She and Pornchai talk about starting a business together, and she ends up pulling out of the plan, saying, “Circumstances have changed for me”—exactly what Tanya told her in the first season.
Why? Apparently, money talks and money walks. The fateful return of Greg/Gary pulls her into bothered territory, and after a nerve-wracking conversation at his party, he tells her he actually has been wanting to give her money (probably to keep her quiet). She doesn’t give in, but uses her son Zion to eventually get $5 million.
The Ratliffs
Piper, noooo! Piper, yes! Buckle your seatbelts and pop your Lorazepams because this was the family of the century (at least for me). Much of the season’s focus is on the Ratliffs, who represent the stereotypical wealthy family—patriarch and financier Tim (Jason Isaacs), anxiety-riddled socialite wife Victoria (Parker Posey), finance bro Saxon (Patrick Schwarznegger), spirited daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hooker) and youngest son Lochlan (Sam Nivola).
There’s a lot of taboo that surrounds this family, one of them being a kiss between the brothers. At the start of the season, we see that Tim’s bravado quickly erodes after finding out that he is going to jail and lose all his money in the process. Think Schitt’s Creek but in five stars, and he shuts down and loads up on whiskey to prevent the truth from spilling out.
Parker Posey is a fan favorite because of her iconic lines—and southern accent. But the shock factor of the season is between Saxon and Lochlan. Though there were hints of closeted feelings, it never really comes into fruition except for a little awkwardness. After being the family douche, Saxon is reduced to reading spiritual books recommended by Chelsea to try to start over.
In the end, due to Tim’s failing mental health and attempts to unalive himself, he tries to poison his family (except for Lochlan, who says he could live without money). Tim blends the poisonous “suicide” fruit seeds into a piña colada but at the last minute begs them not to drink the shake, chalking it up to “bad coconut milk.”
Victoria then sasses, “There’s wine in the cabinet behind you. Why didn’t you think of that?”
Though Piper is the catalyst to the family trip due to her spiritual “awakening,” it is Lochlan who undergoes a real transformation. After blending a protein shake with the poisonous remnants (unbeknownst to him), he vomits and dies for a bit, going through a round of visions. Dad Tim, after waking up from his slumber, discovers that the blender is empty and sees Lochlan on the floor, unconscious. He screams for help, to no avail, and Lochlan wakes up and declares he’s seen God.
Piper, on the other hand, is an example of “I’m-different-from-my-family-but-I’ve-realized-my privilege” after spending a night at the monastery, complaining about non-organic eggs and sleeping in a “box” without AC.
In the end, Tim confesses on the boat that things will change, and the realization looms on the family as Saxon reads the news first on his phone.
The end is not near—for some
Rick and Chelsea’s deaths aside, most of the guests at the resort manage to escape unscathed. While the finale was met with mixed reviews, I’d argue that calling it underwhelming misses the point. It all comes down to perspective. The show has always been less about twists and more about the consequences of the choices we make. Sometimes those choices lead somewhere. Sometimes they don’t. And somehow, we all have to live with that.
It’s both realistic and unrealistic to expect a neatly wrapped ending for everyone—especially on The White Lotus, a show that thrives on unraveling that very idea. All I know is, I’ll miss my Monday escapes to Thailand. But here’s to the next season—and wherever Mike White decides to take us.
The White Lotus Season 3 is currently streaming on HBO Max.
