The White Lotus Season 3, Episode 5 Recap

Introduction to the Episode

“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, Episode 2, Episode 3 and Episode 4.)

The Full Moon and Spiritual Awakening

It’s a full moon over on “The White Lotus” and several characters are grappling with their awakening, spiritual or otherwise.

Things begin with Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), who after frantically poring over security camera footage for the missing handgun, concludes it’s Tim (Jason Isaacs) who swiped it. But his attempts to confront Duke’s finest white collar bandit are fumbled — Gaitok leaves the security kiosk unattended (again) and gets distracted by Mook (Lalisa Manobal) as she performs a traditional dance. (Gaitok, sweetie, a promotion is never going to happen this way!) When he does approach Tim in the bathroom, Gaitok lacks the imposing demeanor to intimidate him into fessing up to the theft, let alone returning the gun.

Family Drama Unfolds

Victoria (Parker Posey), on the other hand, is concerned with a bullet that’s been fired at dinner. Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) finally tells her parents the real intention for the trip was to check out a Buddhist meditation center she plans to join for a year. Tim is in a fog of lorazepam and dread, so the news barely registers, but its a SOO-NAH-ME of emotions for Victoria, who, unlike her husband, can’t temper her reaction with pills. It leads to another Grade A unchristian-like meltdown from the matriarch who is convinced the center could be a sex cult — ala NXIVM — and is not impressed that the monk who runs it has authored books: “So, Charles Manson wrote books! Bill Clinton wrote books. The list goes on. Hillary Clinton wrote five books … Look at the Catholics! Organized religion and deviant sex can go hand in hand.”

The Ratliff Family’s Antics

The other Ratliff members — Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and the little magician (aka Lochy, played by Sam Nivola) — are chasing their own highs, with blender boy trying to hype his younger brother into some escapades with their female companions. Chloe tries to gauge Chelsea’s willingness to cheat on their respective bald(ing) white guys, but Chelsea scoffs at the idea. Chloe isn’t so opposed, even while eerily acknowledging: “Gary might kill me. I honestly think he’s capable of it.” The foursome wind up high on some happy pills that, before long, results in an incestuous smooch that seemingly leaves Lochy in a state of content and Saxon … well, it’s hard to ever know what’s going on in that head.

Rick’s Quest for Revenge

As Chelsea processes the sibling make-out sesh, Rick (Walton Goggins) is in Bangkok on his quest to avenge his father’s murder. He first meets up with a mysterious pal (Sam Rockwell) — maybe its Frank? — for an incredibly head-spinning catch-up session that touches on his sobriety, sexuality and spirituality. It leaves Rick flummoxed but he also can’t dwell on it too long because he needs another favor from this nameless friend, who brought a duffle bag full of items (a gun, among its contents) at Rick’s request as he carries out his plan.

Nighttime Encounters

Elsewhere, seeking their own wild adventures far away from the water guns and AARP crowd, Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon) are on the loose with Val (Arnas Fedaravičius) and his Russian besties at a night club, making small talk about ballet and dead parents. After a good stretch of dancing and drinking, the Super Soaked Trio decide to head back to their villa. Jaclyn suggests the men join them, much to the dismay of our bob-haired Independent voter. Once the rollicking at their villa’s pool is over and everyone turns in for the night, Jaclyn reaches out to Val — despite her endless pushing for Laurie to pursue him — for a luxury resort booty call. Jaclyn’s not alone in her late night rendezvous. When Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) learns from hotel manager Fabian (Christian Friedel) that Greg/Gary (Jon Gries) has been inquiring about her, she worries she’s in danger. Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) promises to keep her safe and lands in her bed in the process.

Tim’s Desperation

But distress was all Tim was experiencing in his corner of the White Lotus. Feeling the full weight of his situation, the former altar boy scrawls a short letter to his family — “I’m so sorry. I love you all.” — just before raising the handgun to his temple. But as a sleepy Victoria shuffles in, his plan is diverted. The episode closes out with Tim calling to a higher power: “Oh, please, God. Please. Tell me what to do.”

Discussion with the Experts

Now it’s time for Greg Braxton and Yvonne Villarreal, platinum-status members of “The White Lotus” frequent guest program, to break it all down. They’re joined by new charter member, Mary McNamara, who will ride out the rest of this season’s voyage.
Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) is on edge, but Pornchai comes to the rescue.
(Fabio Lovino/HBO)

Predictions and Theories

Who do we think is the corpse this week? Does the gun in Rick’s possession change things?
McNamara: There were a lot of seemingly random shots in the opening scene, far too many for one handgun so it is possible that Rick’s gun makes it back to the hotel. The corpse in question appears to have dark hair and be dressed in gray or light blue. Zion flees from it, so it’s not Belinda. Tim has been rocking a lot of pastels (Isaacs in crisp linen is a high point of the series) and there would be irony in him contemplating suicide only to die in another way. But now I very much fear that it’s Pornchai; Belinda deserves a kind lover but this series is not big on happy endings. Either way, my scene-one theory remains fixed: Somehow a monkey gets hold of a gun (so many random shots) and some bright person (Gaitok?) is trying to play cowboy and shoot it. Result: mayhem.
Braxton: Although I had previously speculated that Chelsea was doomed because she felt she had cheated death twice during this vacation, I’m going to take a knee on any further predictions for now. In the previous two seasons, the victims seem to have been people who had made very poor choices which put them on a path to destruction. And almost every character in this episode makes some very, very horrible choices, so the field is wide open. Karma is coming.
Villarreal: I, too, have wondered if one of our monkey friends could be the gunslinger responsible for the shootout in the season’s opening scene. But I still think the floating corpse met death another way. I’m growing more suspicious of Saxon’s blender. Maybe someone whipped up a smoothie with the poisonous fruit to avoid detection? But I am also stuck on Victoria’s dependency on lorazepam and her mention of grand mal seizures. Could her withdrawal lead to her death?

Character Analysis

Do you think Tim would feel this doomed about his involvement in a white-collar crime in 2025? What kind of life could the Ratliffs set up in Thailand if they never went back home?
McNamara: The fact that he’s so rattled leads me to believe he does not regularly commit fraud — he does not appear well lawyered-up — so yeah, maybe. If this were not “The White Lotus,” I would say Tim, and potentially the whole family, would join Piper on her monastic quest. But it is, so at this point, I’m assuming that Tim will somehow get away with whatever he’s done and they’ll all return home. Including Piper.
Braxton: Tim hit bottom at hyper-speed. It’s only been what, a couple of days at a lavish resort, and he’s gone from agreeable man on vacation to drug addiction to putting a gun to his head?
Villarreal: After last week’s episode and Victoria’s observation that the yacht was full of scammers and tax cheats — as her husband sat next to her, no less — it certainly feels like Piper’s grand plan to live in Thailand is signaling an extended family stay. Saxon will adjust to life fine if his blender is nearby. And Lochlan will be fine if Saxon is nearby. (Please don’t mistake my sarcasm for encouraging incest!) Tim can be some kind of boatie. Victoria would need to get her prescription refilled to keep her functioning in this setting for a prolonged time. I would demand a spin-off to see how this plays out. What if Victoria reaches enlightenment and helps that monk write a book?

Jaclyn’s Behavior

What’s your read on Jaclyn’s behavior? Is it a midlife crisis?
McNamara: I don’t love the “forty-something actress needs to prove she’s still hot” storyline (