\u201cThe White Lotus,\u201d Mike White\u2019s black comedy anthology series, is back on HBO for a third season. Times staffers love an escape, but since we can\u2019t 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.)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a full moon over on \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d and several characters are grappling with their awakening, spiritual or otherwise.<\/p>\n
Things begin with Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), who after frantically poring over security camera footage for the missing handgun, concludes it\u2019s Tim (Jason Isaacs) who swiped it. But his attempts to confront Duke\u2019s finest white collar bandit are fumbled \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
Victoria (Parker Posey), on the other hand, is concerned with a bullet that\u2019s 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\u2019t 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 \u2014 ala NXIVM \u2014 and is not impressed that the monk who runs it has authored books: \u201cSo, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other Ratliff members \u2014 Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and the little magician (aka Lochy, played by Sam Nivola) \u2014 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\u2019s willingness to cheat on their respective bald(ing) white guys, but Chelsea scoffs at the idea. Chloe isn\u2019t so opposed, even while eerily acknowledging: \u201cGary might kill me. I honestly think he\u2019s capable of it.\u201d 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\u2019s hard to ever know what\u2019s going on in that head.<\/p>\n
As Chelsea processes the sibling make-out sesh, Rick (Walton Goggins) is in Bangkok on his quest to avenge his father\u2019s murder. He first meets up with a mysterious pal (Sam Rockwell) \u2014 maybe its Frank? \u2014 for an incredibly head-spinning catch-up session that touches on his sobriety, sexuality and spirituality. It leaves Rick flummoxed but he also can\u2019t 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\u2019s request as he carries out his plan.<\/p>\n
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 Fedaravi\u010dius) 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\u2019s pool is over and everyone turns in for the night, Jaclyn reaches out to Val \u2014 despite her endless pushing for Laurie to pursue him \u2014 for a luxury resort booty call. Jaclyn\u2019s 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\u2019s in danger. Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) promises to keep her safe and lands in her bed in the process.<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m so sorry. I love you all.\u201d \u2014 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: \u201cOh, please, God. Please. Tell me what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s time for Greg Braxton and Yvonne Villarreal, platinum-status members of \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d frequent guest program, to break it all down. They\u2019re joined by new charter member, Mary McNamara, who will ride out the rest of this season\u2019s voyage.
\nBelinda (Natasha Rothwell) is on edge, but Pornchai comes to the rescue.
\n(Fabio Lovino\/HBO)<\/p>\n
Who do we think is the corpse this week? Does the gun in Rick\u2019s possession change things?
\nMcNamara: There were a lot of seemingly random shots in the opening scene, far too many for one handgun so it is possible that Rick\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.
\nBraxton: Although I had previously speculated that Chelsea was doomed because she felt she had cheated death twice during this vacation, I\u2019m 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.
\nVillarreal: I, too, have wondered if one of our monkey friends could be the gunslinger responsible for the shootout in the season\u2019s opening scene. But I still think the floating corpse met death another way. I\u2019m growing more suspicious of Saxon\u2019s blender. Maybe someone whipped up a smoothie with the poisonous fruit to avoid detection? But I am also stuck on Victoria\u2019s dependency on lorazepam and her mention of grand mal seizures. Could her withdrawal lead to her death?<\/p>\n
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?
\nMcNamara: The fact that he\u2019s so rattled leads me to believe he does not regularly commit fraud \u2014 he does not appear well lawyered-up \u2014 so yeah, maybe. If this were not \u201cThe White Lotus,\u201d I would say Tim, and potentially the whole family, would join Piper on her monastic quest. But it is, so at this point, I\u2019m assuming that Tim will somehow get away with whatever he\u2019s done and they\u2019ll all return home. Including Piper.
\nBraxton: Tim hit bottom at hyper-speed. It\u2019s only been what, a couple of days at a lavish resort, and he\u2019s gone from agreeable man on vacation to drug addiction to putting a gun to his head?
\nVillarreal: After last week\u2019s episode and Victoria\u2019s observation that the yacht was full of scammers and tax cheats \u2014 as her husband sat next to her, no less \u2014 it certainly feels like Piper\u2019s 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\u2019t 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?<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your read on Jaclyn\u2019s behavior? Is it a midlife crisis?
\nMcNamara: I don\u2019t love the \u201cforty-something actress needs to prove she\u2019s still hot\u201d storyline (<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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