HBO’s The White Lotus concluded its third season with a highly-anticipated 90-minute finale, finally unveiling the identity of the mysterious corpse introduced in the show’s first episode.
Mirroring the structure of previous seasons, Season 3 opened a week ahead, revealing the body’s discovery.
It then flashed back to the guests’ arrival at the Thailand resort as it introduced both guests and employees, before the final episode unveiled who the body belonged to.
The Season 1 corpse belonged to troubled White Lotus Hawaii manager Armond (Murray Bartlett), who was inadvertently stabbed by Shane Patton (Jake Lacy).
The Season 2 victim was Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge), a wealthy heiress featured in Season 1, who died after slipping and hitting her head trying to escape from a yacht… after she murdered three men she suspected her husband Greg (Jon Gries) paid to kill her.
Meanwhile, in season 3, it was lovers Rick (Walton Goggins) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) who ended up floating in the water after being shot. It happened after Rick shot Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn) before learning Jim was actually his father.
HBO’s The White Lotus concluded its third season with a highly-anticipated 90-minute finale, finally unveiling the identity of the mysterious corpse introduced in the show’s first episode
Mirroring the structure of previous seasons, Season 3 opened a week ahead, revealing the body’s discovery, before the final episode unveiled who the body belonged to
During a moment of anger, Rick shoots Jim, before Jim’s wife Sritala (Patravadi Mejudhon) tells him that Jim was his father.
Jim’s bodyguards then start shooting at Rick, who manages to kill one of them. However, during the shooting Chelsea is shot in the chest.
Rick starts carrying Chelsea’s body away, but the hotel’s security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) shoots him in the back.
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Rick and Chelsea’s bodies are then seen floating in the pond.
The episode begins in the Buddhist temple, where Piper and Lochlan had spent the night.
Piper wakes up, as a monk says sometimes people wake up with anxiety and an anxious energy as Lochlan is already awake.
The monk says that people take life into their own hands and take action, as their father Timothy takes more of his wife’s drugs, as the monk says that people’s solutions are ‘quick fixes.’
A determined Gaitok is seen riding on his scooter as Jaclyn is deep in thought after reading a book.
Rick wakes up in a hotel room chair as Frank is heard in the next room, still partying with the women they picked up last night.
Rick says he has to catch a plane as Frank chases him in the hallway as Frank tries to talk him into staying.
More women arrive but Rick gets in the elevator and heads to the airport.
Gaitok arrives just as his perpetual crush Mook does, asking if she had fun on their date, though she just meekly nods.
He tells her that he knows who pulled off the robbery as Mook is excited for him since it could help his career.
Jaclyn goes and talks to Kate, asking if she’s seen Laurie, as Jaclyn says she’ll go ask to see if she wanted to get breakfast.
Jaclyn goes into Laurie’s room and says she’s going to get breakfast, but Laurie says she’s going to keep sleeping.
Jaclyn apologizes about Valentin, says she didn’t even know she cared as Jaclyn insists, ‘I want to be your friend.’
It was lovers Rick (Walton Goggins) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) who ended up floating in the water after being shot
It happened after Rick shot Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn) before learning Jim was actually his father
During a moment of anger, Rick shoots Jim, before Jim’s wife Sritala (Patravadi Mejudhon) tells him that Jim was his father
Lochlan says he wants to wait to tell their mom Victoria that he’s coming with her to Thailand, but Piper doesn’t want him to come.
She doesn’t want to be responsible for ‘f***ing up’ his life, says she just wants to f**k up her own.
Piper and Lochlan return to the family villa, Piper wants to talk about it later since she wants to take a shower.
Piper leaves and Victoria wants Lochlan to tell them how it was but he angrily says he doesn’t know anything.
Belinda and Zion are having breakfast as Pornchai comes over and they hug, as Belinda introduces him formally to Zion.
Zion realizes Belinda really likes him and Zion wants his mom to take the money, but he wants her to see how much he can get from Gary/Greg.
She thinks he’ll mess her up but Zion says he’ll be there with him if he tries anything, and Belinda clearly considers it.
During breakfast, Timothy asks Piper if she likes the place and she said, ‘it’s a really cool place,’ insisting, ‘it’s not a cult.’
Timothy makes a strange comment that they’d all be fine with less, as Piper complains about the temple food.
She said it was really bland and wonders if she could eat it for a whole year and she complains about the small room.
Victoria seems happy that her daughter is disappointed but Piper thinks it’s pathetic that she’s so spoiled as she realizes she can’t live like that.
Piper starts crying because they have it so good and so many others have it so bad, as Victoria admits they are lucky and claims no one in the history of the world has lived like they have.
Victoria says it’s ‘offensive’ if they don’t enjoy their luxurious life and the mother and daughter hug as Piper apologizes for bringing them there.
Jim’s bodyguards then start shooting at Rick, who manages to kill one of them. However, during the shooting Chelsea is shot in the chest
Rick starts carrying Chelsea’s body away, but the hotel’s security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) shoots him in the back
Timothy watches on with an odd look on his face as Victoria flashes him a thumbs up sign.
Saxon basically ignores Lochlan when he gets home until Saxon says no one is going to make him a man, he has to do it himself.
Saxon says he’s going to read at the beach and basically brushes Lochlan off, and before he leaves Lochlan asks if he’s mad.
Saxon says it’s ok to worship him but not to really worship him that way. Lochlan says all he cares about was getting off and he thought he looked lonely and he’s in a family of narcissists.
Saxon asks him to drop it forever before he leaves to go to the beach alone.
Laurie wakes up and finds Jaclyn and Kate in the pool taking pics of each other.
Gaitok calls his security boss and finds Valentin, who asks if he liked the fights. Gaitok said his friends are ‘guys I know from the gym.’
Gaitok asks their names and says he thinks he knows them from somewhere but Valentin doesn’t tell him and leaves.
Saxon brings Chelsea’s book to the beach, saying he’s almost done with the book, which surprises Chelsea.
He says he thought the sex stuff was interesting and she says he should read the other books she gave him.
Rick arrives on the beach and Chelsea runs to him and jumps into his arms as Rick smiles and kisses her.
She asks how it went and he says that he said what he needed to say and he didn’t kill anyone and she says that’s good.
Saxon is kind of sad watching them embrace as he lays down in his beach chair while Rick and Chelsea walk away.
Rick and Chelsea’s bodies are then seen floating in the pond
Saxon apologizes to Chloe for not helping her the other night but she says it’s fine, she’ll jus tifnd someone else.
Victoria and Piper go shopping at the resort as Timothy walks back to the villa, finding Lochlan reading.
Timothy asks Lochlan if he could live with no money, no house, nothing, and Lochlan says he thinks he could.
Timothy says it’s his last day, he should go swim or do something and Lochlan puts his book down and leaves.
Timothy remembers the pong pong tree fruit that his health mentor Pam had warned has poisonous seeds.
Valentin approaches Gaitok, saying, ‘I know you know. Please don’t say anything,’ adding he will die, they will deport him.
He says they can’t work and have no way to get money, when Fabian arrives, saying the resort owners are returning today and they want a picture with the famous Jaclyn.
He picks up a fruit from the pong pong tree when Pam arrives with their phones, but he says to put them on a bus to the airport.
He asks her about the fruit and she reiterates that it’s poisonous and that the locals call it ‘the suicide tree.’
Pam leaves and Timothy starts ripping into the fruit to find the poisonous seeds.
Belinda and Zion arrive at Gary/Greg’s home, as Zion asks for two whiskey drinks on the rocks.
Zions she always talked about being ready for her moment as she flatly says, ‘He killed the b***ch.’
They meet with Gary and Zion says they are passing on the initial offer, with Zion adding it’s not enough to start her business.
Zion asks for $5 million as Belinda coughs and takes a drink, but Gary/Greg says it’s not happening.
Some of the primary guests are the wealthy Ratliff family – Timothy (Jason Isaacs), Victoria (Parker Posey) and their kids Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger, above), Lachlan (Sam Nivola) and Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook)
Zion says Tanya was worth at least half a billion dollars, and he’s asking for a mere one percent of that.
Belinda stands up and says they’re not doing this and it’s a waste of time and Zion wants her to give them time alone but she says no and they leave.
Belinda tells him what to say, and wants him to make Gary scared, and tells Zion to go close it.
Gaitok goes to pray, seemingly about whether or not to turn Valentin and his friends in, to a golden idol.
Timothy keeps grabbing all of these fruits that he can, putting the seeds in a blender and pouring it into a glass, hiding the blender in a cabinet.
Mook goes to visit Gaitok, saying he may have to quit, saying he’s not meant to be a guiard. Mook wants him to be practical and stop overthinking, but Gaitok says he thinks he can find another job.
He asks when she wants to go to dinner and she says she will have to think about it and leaves.
Timothy takes the last of Victoria’s pills as they go to dinner. Timothy wants to have cocktails at the villa, says they already have the blender, seemingly hinting about killing his whole family with the seeds in the blender.
However, he says Lochlan won’t have a pina colada since he’s not 21 yet.
Laurie says she had a late night, she went to the fight thing and went back with Alexei to his apartment.
Valentin arrives, saying the owners are arriving tomorrow and they want to take a photo with Jaclyn, and she says that is all right.
Belinda and Gary are at dinner, with Zion saying he needed time to think about it, with Zion saying he gave him her routing number and account information.
Chelsea and Rick are at dinner and Chelsea says Rick is free, and Rick says he told her she had nothing to worry about.
She says she really wasn’t worried because of ‘Amor Fati,’ which means that one has to embrace their fate, good or bad.
She says she thinks they will be together forever and Rick says he thinks they will too, which makes Chelsea quite happy.
Kate says she’s so glad they did this and Kate asks Jaclyn if they can’t help pay a little but Jaclyn says it was her pleasure.
Kate says she feels like everything is ‘in bloom’ for all three of them, as Jaclyn says she’s been in the best mood all week.
Jaclyn says nothing makes her feel more grounded than being with friends, says she was on Cloud 9 all week and she really needed it.
Laurie says all week she was just so sad, says her expectations were too high. She says when she’s with them it’s so ‘transparent’ what her choices and mistakes are.
She says she has no belief system and she lost her belief in religion as she starts breaking down crying, adding being a mother didn’t save her either.
She says religion or God doesn’t give her life meaning, because time gives life meaning, adding she’s just happy to be at the table. They all say they love each other.
They all enjoy glasses of wine and embrace with each other happily.
Back at the Ratliff villa, Timothy starts preparing drinks in the blender with the pong pong tree fruit seeds still in the blender.
He pours four drinks – seemingly pina coladas – delivering them to Victoria, Saxon and Piper, with one last one for himself.
Lochlan asks for a sip and Timothy says he needs to get a Cocke, which he does. Timothy says he couldn’t ask for a more perfect family.
Other prominent guests are Rick (Walton) and his girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee)
He says they’ve had a perfect life, with no trauma or suffering, says it’s his job to keep them from him.
Timothy breaks down in tears and says he loves them so much as VIctoria makes a toast to Thailand and she can’t wait to get home.
Saxon says the pina colada smells weird, as Timothy takes a drink and tells everyone else to drink theirs.
They all make weird faces after taking a drink as Timothy watches them all drink. He suddenly slaps the drink out of Saxon’s hands and takes all the drinks, saying the ‘coconut milk is off,’ saying he’ll see them in the morning.
Victoria says there is wine in the cabinet and they should do glasses of wine. There is still some residue from all that stuff in the blender as they go to bed.
Belinda wakes up in the middle of the night and goes on her laptop, as her eyes suddenly widen, perhaps hinting that Gary/Greg did wire the money after all.
Gaitok arrives at work to find the owners arriving at the resort, with Valentin greeting them. Gaitok goes to talk to his supervisor, who asks what he wanted to tell him, and if it was about the robbery.
Gaitok says he doesn’t think he’s right for this job and he let him down but the supervisor says he’s a good worker and they can talk later.
Belinda shows Zion that $5 million was transferred to her account. She says she talked to Gary/Greg and he wanted her to live up to her end of the bargain and she said she would. They celebrate being rich.
Belinda says he booked her a stress management treatment and tells him to go get ready.
Saxon doesn’t see anyone around and he starts making a protein shake like Saxon does, pouring the powder into the blender without washing out the residue first.
He puts the powder and some water into the blender and blends it all together into a smoothie.
Rick is getting breakfast when he gets confronted by the owner, who says he remembers his mother as a drunk and a slut, but didn’t know she was a liar. He says she told him a fairy tale and his father was no saint and he didn’t miss out on much.
The owner shows Rick his gun but Rick calmly goes back to Chelsea, completely stressed out, telling Chelsea he just insulted his mother.
Those who are employed by The White Lotus include owner Sritala (Lek Patravadi) general manager Fabien (Christian Friedel), security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), health mentors Mook (Lalisa Manobal, above), Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius) and Pam (Morgana O’Reilly), wellness expert Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul)
Chelsea says he’s free and he’s over it but Rick says how can he get over him taking his whole f***ing life.’
Chelsea says to forget about the love he lost and concentrate on the love he has, saying she’s right there.
She asks him to not do something stupid but he goes to see the Indian lady and insists he’s going to be OK.
Two of the owner’s men go after Rick as Chelsea leaves the table too and goes after Rick.
Lochlan goes outside with his smoothie, sitting on a beach chair by the pool when he suddenly drops the glass.
Piper and Saxon come back and Piper asks Saxon what he’s reading, Victoria says she’s gonna let their father sleep, he needs it. Lochlan is still sitting by the pool but he’s not feeling well. He throws up right outside the pool.
Belinda is still quite nervous but Zion says that good things happen to good people as he goes to his appointment, where we first saw Zion in the premiere, before the shots rang out.
Rick goes to see the lady and says he needs to talk to her, it’s urgent. She says she’ll come find him, to give her one hour.
Lochlan is still laying down by the pool, as we see Lochlan trying to swim out of some deep water as he approaches the surface.
Lochlan is now still as he seemingly drowns in this vision of sorts but we see him still laying on the deck by the pool, motionless.
Timothy finally wakes up and sees the blender has been used, before finding Lochlan still unconscious.
Timothy runs to Lochlan, trying to wake up him up. He calls out for help but no one seems to be coming.
Fabian meets up with Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie to take a photo with the owners as Rick watches from his bench.
Belinda goes to see Pornchai, says she’s loved getting to know him but she’s leaving Thailand tomorrow, saying some things have changed.
He asks about starting a business and she says maybe but ‘circumstances have changed’ for her and she can’t commit to anything now.
Rick sees the owner’s security leaving, the anguish eating away at him before he decides to approach him as Chelsea comes. He tells her to get out of here.
Rick goes up to the owner and pulls his own gun, shooting him in the chest as the women and everyone start running.
Sritala asks why she shot him and he says he killed his father, but she insists that he was actually his father!
The owner’s security comes back and fires shots at Rick as Gaitok grabs the gun and runs out of the security office.
Rick shoots both of the security guys and sees that Chelsea has been shot in the chest as well! Rick starts crying and says she can’t die on him.
Rick calls out for someone to help him but no one comes. Gaitok runs right past Rick, who picks up Chelsea.
Gaitok sees the owner has been killed as Sritala tells Gaitok to find Rick, which he does. He tells Rick to stop and he doesn’t so Gaitok shoots Rick in the back as he and Chelsea drop into the pond.
Rick and Chelsea are both floating in the water, seemingly dead.
Lochlan’s eyes open with his father Timothy at his side as Lochlan throws up again. Lochlan tells his dad, ‘I think I just saw God,’ as Timothy laughs.
The Ratliff family are on the boat back to the airport as Victoria hands them all their phones. Timothy tells his family that things are about to change but they’ll get through it. Saxon turns his phone on and has a strange look.
A calm washes over Timothy, as the three girlfriends all chat on the same boat.
Gary/Greg enjoys a drink as Chloe tries to recruit another man for a threesome.
Valentin and his criminal friends celebrate with shots as Frank prays in a temple.
Gaitok hugs Mook as he’s been elevated to security and driver for Sritala as he drives them away.
Two corpses are being rolled towards a waiting airplane as Belinda and Zion wave goodbye to Pornchai and the others at the resort as the episode comes to an end.
Some of the primary guests are the wealthy Ratliff family – Timothy (Jason Isaacs), Victoria (Parker Posey) and their kids Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Lachlan (Sam Nivola) and Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook).
Other prominent guests are Rick (Walton Goggins) and his girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood).
There are a trio of longtime girlfriends – Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon).
Those who are employed by The White Lotus include owner Sritala (Lek Patravadi) general manager Fabien (Christian Friedel), security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), health mentors Mook (Lalisa Manobal), Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius) and Pam (Morgana O’Reilly), wellness expert Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul).
Also returning from Season 1 is Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), a spa manager from the Hawaii White Lotus who is at the Thailand White Lotus on an exchange program.
Finally there is the couple that are merely ‘regulars’ at The White Lotus, Gary (Jon Gries) and his girlfriend Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon)
Finally there is the couple that are merely ‘regulars’ at The White Lotus, Gary (Jon Gries) and his girlfriend Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon).
Given that the first two victims were quite surprising for fans, theories that are the most obvious or that have been seemingly foreshadowed by creator Mike White are probably the least likely to happen, though it’s worth putting them all out there first.
The season has also features an incest storyline, which creator Mike White has defiantly defended during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Schwarzenegger, 31, played the role of Saxon Ratcliff while Sam Nivola, 21, portrayed his brother Lochlan in the show – and the sibling characters have been involved in an incest storyline which some viewers have labeled ‘disturbing.’
In episode five, the brothers shared a drunken kiss and in the following episode it was revealed that Lochlan performed a sex act on Saxon during the same drunken night out.
During the scene, Lochlan masturbated his own brother Saxon while having sex with Chloe – played by Charlotte Le Bon.
White was joined by other cast members while talking to the publication and explained, ‘There’s some kind of pleasure in getting a bigger audience on board with these erotic moments.’
He added, ‘And the incest thing, it’s really more about someone who is trying to connect with his brother and his sister through the things they value.’
Sarah Catherine Hook plays Piper Ratcliff, the sister of Saxon and Lochlan in the series. And Mike continued, ‘Saxon is all about getting off, and Piper is renouncing the materialistic.’