“The White Lotus” did warn us: violence begets violence. In the Season 3 finale of Mike White’s treacherous drama, cycles of violence take center stage as they spin on, end, or reroute in terrifying directions. Once again, a few days in paradise has left these characters changed forever—at least the ones who survived.
After conceding that he isn’t a violent man, Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) finds himself at a crossroads. On one side, there is nonviolence, his Buddhist upbringing, and leaving the job he takes such pride into pursue other avenues; in the other direction, accepting the option or at least the reality of violence will further his current career, and possibly his relationship with Lisa Manobal’s Mook, who is weirdly rigid about his options. There is a sense that her interest hinges upon his machismo and his job title, and (sadly) the show has barely bothered to give her more character than that.
Gaitok’s affection for Mook and his own self-respect are what drive him toward his actions later in the episode. In his eyes, Valentin and his friends not only committed a crime, but violated Gaitok’s trust. He was disrespected at work by a colleague, and despite his aversion to violence, he hates that he didn’t spur to action during the robbery. The word “honor” doesn’t come up, but Gaitok is a man who values it and wants it back.
The karmic impact of violence manifests differently with Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), who starts out adamantly against taking Greg’s (Jon Gries) hush money but comes around to it, thanks to son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay). There are obvious moral qualms in taking financial gifts from someone who almost definitely killed (or at least played a role in her demise) his wife—but it’s also hard to deny Zion’s practicality. They can’t stop this man, they can’t change what he did, and if his mom can get a better life out of it, isn’t that a net positive for the universe?
Zion goes full Business Bitch with Belinda’s blessing, and watching her bank balance shoot up was easily the most satisfying beat in this episode. But while Belinda escapes the violence to come and the wrath of Greg (so far), she ends up perpetuating a cycle that hurts her deeply when she leaves things hanging with Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul). Just a few episodes ago, Belinda was grappling with the pain of Tanya’s (Jennifer Coolidge) rejection and how it felt to delay her dream because of a wealthy woman’s whims; with Greg’s donation in the bank, Belinda leaves Thailand and Pornchai in a similar position to where she herself once was.
“The White Lotus” When it comes to reaping what you sow, no one has done more introspection this season than Timothy (Jason Isaacs), whose business dealings and their ultimate fallout will change life as his family knows it forever. Timmy has spent his phone-free vacation ideating every fatal outcome for his family, and eventually deciding that it’s not enough to take his own life, or his wife’s, but that he should also kill his two eldest children out of mercy.
Lochlan (Sam Nivola)—pure of heart, a self-proclaimed “pleaser,” and the only one who can find a worthwhile life without their usual luxuries—is spared the sentence, unbeknownst to him as Tim hands out the poisoned piña coladas. “The White Lotus” hints at the dark and twisted often enough, but “Amor Fati” goes far beyond flirtation with these themes—and even then, Mike White controls the viewer. You simply cannot look away from this picture-perfect family about to die via smoothie machine, or imagine the horror Lochy will experience as witness and survivor.
The nightmare gets grimly inverted the next morning, when Lochy makes his first protein shake from the dregs of the deadly fruit and ostensibly dies after a vivid vision of himself drowning and crying out to four faceless individuals for help. It’s a strikingly surreal and spiritual scene for a show that normally opts to mine tension from everyday human behavior, and it works even if it shifts the tone drastically.
Lochy lives (I did say in a previous review that he or his siblings dying would simply be too sad), but death has officially checked into the resort by this time. A newly composed Rick (Walton Goggins) reunites with Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) only to come face-to-face once again with Jim (Scott Glenn), who’s taking no chances. The old man has a gun strapped to his person now, and he tells Rick that his mother was a “drunk and a slut” and a “liar,” that his father was not a good man.
Poor Rick starts to spiral instantly; it’s as if the interaction kicked him back into childhood and the character begins to remature at hyperspeed before our very eyes. He returns to Chelsea as a wounded child, seeks Amrita’s (Shalini Pereis) help as a source of wisdom and guidance, and finally spots Jim again while in something akin to an adolescent rage. He doesn’t care about the consequences, internal or external. He just needs to do something.
Tragedy—Greek, Shakespearian, Lucasfilmic tragedy—surrounds Rick in his final moments. He executes Jim only to learn that the man was his father, but before he has time to unpack that even slightly, he’s on the lam from White Lotus security in a full-blown shootout. Chelsea, of course, sticks with him, and of course catches a stray that kills her before he can even call for help.
The end of Rick’s life is the end of Gaitok’s innocence, the violence and torment moving from the dead man into his killer. And at the same time that Rick’s actions destroy his life and his love, Timothy’s threaten to take his son from him, but Lochlan lives. How interesting that the Ratliffs escaped a devastating fate while it so mightily befell Rick and Chelsea.
Earlier in the episode Victoria told her daughter that it’s their responsibility to live well in honor of those who can’t—the kind of cognitive dissonance required in her position, perhaps, but the episode gives them all that chance when someone like Rick never even had it. Death loomed over him for as long as he could remember, and finally welcomed him into its arms.
Superlatives No Most/Least Likely to Die this week for obvious reasons. In its place, one single Dodged the Bullet Award for Ms. Belinda Lindsey! Horniest: Fear may have driven all the horny out of this group. It stays in Thailand with Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon). The Dr. Amrita Award for Emotional Growth: Laurie (Carrie Coon)! It may not have been particularly exciting, but her trio got a nice resolution that included facing and discussing some hard truths. Best line reading: Christian Friedel for Fabian’s “It’s very important to Khun Sritala” Yeah, buddy, I hear you with that emphasis.
Grade: A-
“The White Lotus” Season 3 is now streaming on Max.
