“The White Lotus,” Mike White’s black comedy anthology series, is back on HBO for a third season. Times staffers love an escape, but since we can’t take a trip to Thailand to stay at a luxury resort, the next best thing is to immerse ourselves in the new season. Follow along with us for each episode as we discuss theories, observations and our favorite moments leading up to the finale. (Read our recaps: Episode 1 and Episode 2.)
Episode 3 opens with the Ratliff family (minus their patriarch, Tim, played by Jason Isaacs) on the shore, under foreboding gray-blue skies that saturate the surrounding area. The three siblings are sitting together — “This is what it looks like before a tsunami,” Lochlan (Sam Nivola) says — while matriarch Victoria (Parker Posey) is staring out to the sea. Their North Carolina home, lighted up inside with a fiery glow, stands behind her, signaling it’s all a dream. As Victoria wakes up, she overhears Tim taking another stressful call about the scandal he’s caught up in but that she knows nothing about. After sharing the contents of her dream with her family over breakfast, Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) suggests: “It could be some kind of warning … [dreams] are a window into something.” Dun, dun, DUNNN. As the calls keep coming in — and Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), who works for his father, nearly learns that something’s amiss — Tim challenges the family to do away with all their devices for the duration of the trip, letting Pam collect them into a jumbo bag. What could possibly go wrong?
Elsewhere, Rick (Walton Goggins) sidles up to hotel owner Sritala Hollinger (Lek Patravadi) at breakfast, claiming to be a producer who is working on a secret project and asks the former actor if she would be open to taking a meeting in Bangkok with a director he’s working with. She agrees. Before all that, Rick has a hankering for some weed and takes a trip out of the hotel, with Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) tagging along. The pair wind up at a snake show, where tourists marvel at the reptiles while munching on potato chips. Rick, high as a kite and feeling a kinship to the misunderstood animals, takes it upon himself to set some of the snakes free. A cobra bites Chelsea and she’s whisked away to a hospital. Her resort pal Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), who had invited them for a dinner date, makes the keen observation upon her return: “Chelsea, you’ve had two brushes with death in two days. Maybe you guys shouldn’t come on the boat tomorrow.”
The three musketeers, meanwhile, continue their fascinating and painfully realistic friendship dance. At dinner, Kate (Leslie Bibb) reveals that, since her move to Austin, she goes to church every Sunday, which surprises her coastal liberal friends who imagine it might be awkward to connect with people who don’t align with their political views. “Wait. Are you a Republican?” Laurie (Carrie Coon) asks, which elicits a look of horror from Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan). “Noooo!” Kate says. “I’m an independent. But Dave is.” When Laurie wants some assurance that Kate didn’t vote for Donald Trump, her bob-haired friend offers a tight smile and evades the questions. And yes, later that night, Laurie and Jaclyn gather to trash talk about this development, which Kate overhears.
But the bigger OMG moments concerned Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge). First, Chloe mentions to Chelsea that Greg/Gary (Jon Gries) has an ex-wife whom he never talks about because she was a troubled woman who killed herself. (One can only assume this is a story that he’s given Chloe about Tanya; unless he has another ex-wife … ). Later, at dinner, it finally clicks for Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) that she recognizes Greg/Gary as Tanya’s beau; she approaches him at dinner and brings up Tanya (in front of Chloe, Chelsea and Rick). Greg/Gary tells her she’s mistaken. But Belinda can’t shake the feeling. She manages to forget long enough to share a walk to her room with Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul).
Finally, the other employees of the resort have their own developments. He may have been friendzoned, but Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) is still pining for Mook (Lisa Manobal); but at least he’s still trying to make career moves, letting Sritala know he’d be interested in being her bodyguard if she needed extra security on her trip to Bangkok.
Now it’s time for Meredith Blake, Greg Braxton and Yvonne Villarreal, platinum-status members of “The White Lotus” frequent guest program, to break it all down.
Who do we think is the corpse this week? Does the snake imagery from recent episodes offer a clue?
Blake: I am actually more intrigued by all the water imagery in this episode and what it might indicate. There’s Victoria’s elusive dream, the torrential downpour she wakes up to, and then there’s Lochlan holding up his iPad to show Tim, who is gripped with panic over whatever is going on at the office, a video of a man standing on the beach during the 2004 tsunami and calmly being overtaken by the waves. “He didn’t even run, he just stood there,” Lochlan observes. Tim looks like he understands this impulse. Maybe he will let the waves wash over him, too.
Braxton: I’m going to sideline my earlier prediction, at least for the moment, and contend that Victoria’s tsunami dream was a clue she might be the one who is the floating ghost.
Villarreal: Ooh, I’m intrigued by both readings. Victoria’s suspicions that something is amiss with Tim and her choice to not press too much for an answer she doesn’t really want to know feels like it could set her up to be collateral damage to Tim’s poor decisions.
Do we believe what Rick says in these meditation sessions? Or is it an act?
Braxton: Rick says he needs satisfaction as revenge for his father’s murder. I predict he will somehow be involved in the finale mayhem, possibly with guns ablazing.
Villarreal: Look, Walton Goggins’ delivery is so powerful in these meditation sessions that I am willing to release every caged snake on his behalf. You see the face of a lost boy whose self-worth, seemingly because of his daddy issues, is strained — “I don’t need to detach, I’m already nothing…” This man is coming for his Emmy. But because I trust no one, I’m also side-eyeing these moments. Is it all part of some grand manipulation? I don’t know if that’s enough of a red flag for me. I’m just a girl charmed by his curmudgeon demeanor and annoyance for everything.
Chelsea and Rick go to the snake farm for a show.
(Fabio Lovino/HBO)
The episode gives us our first Tanya mentions. What did you think?
Blake: I thought it was interesting, and maybe a tad implausible, that word of Tanya’s death hadn’t gotten back to Belinda, either through news reports or the White Lotus grapevine. Surely if a fabulously wealthy heiress like Tanya died under mysterious circumstances after traveling aboard a yacht where numerous people were shot and killed, it would attract media attention and probably spawn a million podcasts. And I am also sure the employees at the White Lotus would be buzzing about the high-roller guest who drowned. My question is how Greg/Gary has managed to escape unnoticed — and why he’s dumb enough to show up at another White Lotus. But you know what they say … criminals always return to the scene of the crime.
Braxton: We’re going to find out soon how evil Greg/Gary is. It’s one thing to plot the murder of a wealthy spouse. But there’s literally nothing that can connect him to Tanya’s death. If he really fears that Belinda might expose him as a suspect, he could decide that she has to go. We’ll find out how dark his soul truly is.
Villarreal: To your point, Meredith, the lack of awareness from Belinda about Tanya’s death seems strange, which is why I could maybe see this season happening at the same time as the events of Season 2. Like, is he in hiding as the stuff in Sicily is going down, waiting for final word? And is the ex whom Chloe mentions someone else entirely or is it the story he gives her knowing Tanya’s end is near? Or does this season actually take place afterward and Greg/Gary is extra mysterious and quietly vengeful because his (maybe?) lover Quentin (Tom Hollander) is dead? (He was one of the murderous gay men whom we learn has a past with Greg/Gary judging from the old picture Tanya discovered of them.) Being in conspiracy theory mode is really making my head hurt.
What did you make of the Trump conversation between the Real Housewives of Koh Samui?
Blake: I admit I was a little thrown by the Trump reference. “The White Lotus” engages with real-world issues but is not usually so bluntly topical. It also made me wonder which election were they talking about. But it did not surprise me to hear that Kate is an “independent,” or that she probably leans conservative. You can tell a lot about a woman from the forced smile she gives to everyone she encounters. What’s more interesting is that Kate’s politics give Jaclyn and Laurie something to gossip about and leave her feeling like the third wheel. I wonder when Jaclyn is finally going to be the odd woman out?
Braxton: It was jarring to hear Trump’s name and an element that I don’t think will necessarily age well in a few years. But if you’re going to go there, then really go there. Instead of asking Kate whether she was a Republican, Jaclyn and Laurie should have asked her if she was MAGA.
Villarreal: I felt like I went through the Tanya McQuoid gamut of facial expressions while watching this scene.
Kate’s an independent, OK?
(Fabio Lovino/HBO)
Who has you most suspicious so far — Chloe, Greg/Gary or Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius)? Are they working together?
Blake: We all know Greg/Gary is a villain. But now I find myself questioning what exactly Chloe knows about Tanya and whether she’s running a long con on Chelsea. The way she sidled up right next to her at the bar in the premiere felt like someone zeroing in on a mark. And surely Chloe is no idiot and is savvy enough to ask questions about where all of GG’s money comes from. I think it’s safe to assume she knows more than she’s letting on.
Villarreal: Yeah, the snake imagery has me trying to determine who is slithering with deception — I’m starting to suspect Mook isn’t as sweet and nice as we think she is. Is she in cahoots with Valentin? Is Valentin working with Chloe to undermine Greg/Gary? Or is she working with Greg/Gary to con Chelsea and Rick? And why do I feel like Piper has something up her sleeve? I only trust the monkeys at this point.
Are Rick and Chelsea the best couple of the franchise?
Blake: Why yes, they are. I am surprised at how I’ve grown to care about this couple who seem mismatched in many ways — starting with their age but also their entire personalities. Chelsea is sunny and compassionate, while Rick seems like the dictionary definition of a misanthrope. But he clearly cares about her, in his own strange, emotionally stunted way. And thanks to his stoned snake liberation, we know that he’s capable of feeling empathy (however misguided) for other living creatures, which is more than I can say of many people on this show. Especially Saxon.
Braxton: Are we watching the same show, Meredith? One of the things that bothers me this season is Rick and Chelsea don’t make sense as a couple. I don’t see any connection that would help define why they are together in the first place. And she keeps calling him her “soulmate” even though he seems totally annoyed and detached from her. He didn’t seem to really care about her potentially fatal snake bite. He cared more for the snakes and dismissed the incident as “I was high.” I compare them to Harper (Aubrey Plaza) and Ethan (Will Sharpe) from Season 2. They clearly had issues, but there still seems to be a connection. Their marriage had just hit a rough patch. Rick and Chelsea are all rough patches.
Villarreal: Maybe Chelsea knows about Rick’s high arch (see photo 8 of this spread) and just couldn’t resist him? I dunno. I find them endearing as a couple. But I also know I shouldn’t because they could definitely benefit from a “Couple’s Therapy” session.
Who is Frank, the person whom Rick called in the final moments of the episode?
Blake: I have to believe Frank is some sort of shady underworld connection Rick met while doing “this and that.”
Villarreal: After Ke Huy Quan’s voice made a surprise cameo as Kenny, one of the professional contacts calling Ted amid the chaos, I hope we get a fun surprise with Frank.
Which group table would you want to sit at for dinner?
Blake: I’d definitely sit with Chelsea, because she’s a good time. But I might ask Laurie to join with us, too. Because if there’s anyone I can relate to it’s a tired working mom.
Braxton: It might change. But for me so far, it’s a “table for one.”
Villarreal: Meredith, please save me a seat at that table. I want in. But I’d add Rick to the mix after he’s gotten his hands on some weed.
