White Lotus III Finale
A recap and review
SPOILER ALERT!
Amor Fati
What will happen today?” These are the words of the monk overlaying the opening scenes and match my own as I awaited the final episode of the season. He continues, “There is no resolution,”, at which point I started to panic, having spent seven hours investing in these characters and their ever-twisting stories. Perhaps Rick’s (Walton Goggins) anticlimactic showdown with his father’s killer really was it and representative of a more subdued conclusion to the season. Thankfully the monk was wrong in this instance, with Mike White successfully threading together the various storylines into a satisfying conclusion.
Having played the ditsy, spaced-out mum for seven episodes, it was finally Victoria’s (Parker Posey) turn for some validation. She had challenged Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) to spend the night in the monastery, willing her to realise how ‘grim’ it was. Upon Piper and Lochlan’s (Sam Nivola) return, Victoria fails to hide her joy and relief when it transpires that Piper’s awakening actually revealed that she is indeed spoilt and couldn’t relinquish the material lifestyle she has inherited. Victoria absolves Piper of any guilt, reassuring her it would be offensive to not enjoy the privilege bestowed upon them. Across the table, Timothy (Jason Isaacs) despairs. Unwittingly Piper has added herself to Timothy’s murder-suicide fantasy that is quickly morphing into a plan.
The poisonous pong-pong fruit teased in episode one and also in the trailer for the finale makes a return. Pam (Morgan O’Reilly) reiterates its reputation and warns Timothy not to eat it. Ever the rule breaker, Timothy nods politely before scrambling to collect as many as he can handle. The blender, that had almost replaced the official White Lotus soundtrack with its intrusively loud screech, was about to prove more useful than simply making Saxon’s (Patrick Schwarzenegger) protein shakes. Timothy guts the fruits to obtain the seeds and blitzes them for later.
With the end of their holiday (and return of their devices) approaching, Timothy must act soon. He suggests they celebrate their last night with Pina Coladas, prepared by him! It’s an uncharacteristic suggestion, but not enough to arouse suspicion. Back in their room, he prepares four with the aforementioned secret ingredient. The Ratliffs are a fivesome, but Lochlan has been spared, having passed Timothy’s ‘Think you could live with no money?’ test. After a toast, the family start to drink their cocktails, only for Timothy to get cold feet. He knocks the glass from Saxon’s hand and declares, “The coconut milk is off!”.
It seems they have been spared, until we see that Timothy has left the blender unwashed on the counter. It is pretty clear where this is heading. The next morning, Lochlan belatedly heeds his elder brother’s advice and heads for the blender. Like father, like son, he decides against rinsing it out despite sticking his snout in to have a sniff first, thus preparing himself a contaminated smoothie. He chucks it back by the pool, but quickly succumbs to the poison. After vomiting at the side of the pool, he collapses. With his mother and siblings at breakfast, it is Timothy who finds him and realises that perhaps there are more important things than money. I really thought Lochlan was dead, but as Timothy yells for help, Lochlan’s eyes open. “I think I just saw god,” he tells his dad.
Kate (Leslie Bibb), Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Jaclyn’s (Michelle Monaghan) victory tour reached peak sourness last episode, with Laurie abandoning her ‘friends’ and ending up in Aleksei’s (Julian Kostov) bed. It’s a new day, though, and Jaclyn is keen to repair the damage. She apologises to Laurie but they remain estranged for now. In a scene reminiscent of episode one, Laurie looks contemplatively down at Kate and Jaclyn in the pool, but doesn’t burst into tears this time. It is only at dinner that she reveals her true feelings in an emotional monologue, second only to Frank’s (Sam Rockwell) in episode five. Kate and Jaclyn lie through their whitened teeth about being on ‘cloud nine’, wilfully ignoring the fractures that have emerged between them. It takes Laurie to interrupt them, telling them how sad she feels and that her lifelong quest for purpose has been fruitless. It is in fact time that has given her meaning and the length of their friendship is a testament to that. I’d long lost hope in these women, particularly Kate and Jaclyn who seemed vacuous and fake. With this ending, Mike White has generously afforded the three women more depth than I gave them credit for. Maybe not all bad things come in threes.
Didn’t I say Greg/Gary (Jon Gries) could afford far more than $100,000 to buy Belinda’s (Natasha Rothwell) silence? Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) agrees with me and persuades his mum to enter negotiations with a murderer. Donning their sunglasses with Zion’s business major in his back pocket, they head up the hill to Greg’s pad. Having agreed to ask for $1,000,000, Belinda spits out her drink in shock as Zion pivots at the last minute and instead demands $5,000,000. Greg doesn’t flinch, however, prompting Belinda to play ball. She stages a storm-out to put pressure on Greg who eventually comes through, depositing $5,000,000 into Belinda’s account.
If ever we needed proof that money corrupts, Belinda is it. Just as Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) had let her down in season one, Belinda does a Tanya and informs the ever-optimistic Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) that her ‘circumstances have changed’. That is one way of putting it! But can we blame her? Having spent (probably) decades subservient to the wealthiest families, oligarchs, heirs and heiresses, this is the first time she can look after number one. Sharing with and caring for Pornchai is the last thing she would want. Plus she never made any promises and there is always the chance they can reconcile in a later series.
Like Belinda, Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) is grappling with his morals. Being a security guard is contradictory to his Buddhist principles but Mook (Lalisa Manobal) continues to pressurise him to be ambitious and successful. With the knowledge of the robbers’ identities, he plans to reveal this to Pee Lek (Yothin Udomsanti), but instead tells him he wants to quit. This is only after Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius) begs him to stay quiet, sharing his fear of being deported. Pee Lek gives him time to think about it and inadvertently time to prove himself worthy of the role, as we come to see.
With everyone else’s storylines ending somewhat neatly, this only leaves Rick and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood). I should have known that it was all too good to be true for them. After a season-long build-up to his showdown with Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn), it seemingly culminated in episode seven with Rick knocking him off his chair and scarpering the crime scene. Rick felt vindicated and got the ‘monkey’ off his back.
After leading Frank back into the world of prostitutes and booze, Rick leaves him to it, ignoring Frank’s protestations: “You started it,” he whines, but drops the objections when yet more Asian girls emerge from the elevator. Perhaps Rick would have been better off staying as his next move is ultimately his downfall.
We’d established Rick was a terrible conman, having swindled himself and Frank into Sritala’s (Lek Patravadi) home only to have no plan or knowledge of her former career. But surely returning the White Lotus, of course owned by Sritala and Jim Hollinger, whose home he had fled the night before, was a step too far, even for Rick. But apparently not. Rick returns to the beach to be reunited with Chelsea. As she runs to greet him, ominously visible is her plaster from the snake bite; a pointed reminder of her bad luck so far. At breakfast on their last day, Rick finally reciprocates Chelsea’s affection, confirming that the plan is for them to be together forever. Chelsea explains the meaning of Amor Fati: embrace your fate, good or bad. The prescient words should have been enough for me to see what was coming, but no. Making the most of the breakfast buffet, Rick goes for seconds when he meets Jim again. The old man has had time to gather his thoughts, having been left speechless at their last meet. Gloria Hatchett was a ‘drunk’ and a ‘slur’, he says, and a ‘liar’ too. Shattering Rick’s image of his father, he tells him he was not a good man and that Rick hadn’t missed much. Rick’s eyes are swimming with hurt and it’s in that moment that both their fates are sealed.
Amrita (Shalini Peiris) evidently had a profound impact on Rick. His instant reaction is to seek her out, maybe for some spiritual guidance. How should he respond? As we know from episode one, Amrita is now occupied with Zion: Belinda and her newly-acquired wealth have paid for him to have a stress-management session. Amrita reassures Rick she will come and find him after. Rick initially accepts the premise. That is before he spots Jim again having photos taken with his wife and ‘Ms Lemon’. Conveniently for Rick, the bodyguards (who have been mocking Gaitok all season for his incompetence) leave the Hollingers unattended and Rick snatches the opportunity. He storms over to Jim and steals the gun from his jacket pocket. Lifting it up, he shoots Jim in the chest. The shootout has begun. Sritala confirms the viral rumour we’ve all been anticipating: “He’s your father!” Oops. (Given the circumstances, you’d be forgiven for missing Fabian’s cartoonish performance here as he falls into the water, but go back and watch: it’s brilliant.)
Chelsea had tailed Rick from the breakfast buffet so stands agape as her boyfriend completely loses it. “Rick what the fuck?!” she cries. He grabs her and drags her behind him to a place of apparent safety. This is not to be and she is caught in the crossfire. Utter devastation overcomes Rick as he kneels beside her body, dispelling any doubts about his true feelings towards her. “We’re gonna be together forever, ok? Just like you said.” he tells a dying Chelsea, as he scoops her up.
Finally adopting role as hero is Gaitok. Armed, he runs with urgency to the scene and is momentarily dumbfounded to find Jim dead in Sritala’s arms. She screams at Gaitok to shoot Rick, as he’s walking along cradling dead Chelsea. Steadying the gun, Gaitok pauses and I fleetingly think he won’t do it; perhaps his principles will trump his duties as security guard. But two gunshots quickly prove me wrong. Rick falls into the water with Chelsea and the two float together, Rick face up and Chelsea face down. Yin and Yang. Together forever.
This season of the White Lotus has been accompanied by a hubbub of criticism regarding its slow pace. I would agree that this was a six episode season stretched into eight, giving credence to former criticism. This season veered slightly from the former two. Watching previous seasons, we could almost forget about the impending death until it returned at the end. Propelling the show in their own right were the various storylines, with less second guessing who the killer and victim were at the end. In fact both Tanya and Armond’s deaths were accidents. This season however became distracted with red herrings and death in every corner. Nonetheless finale was masterfully executed and, of course, gifted the internet with plenty of legendary memes.
Mike White has successfully threaded the various storylines into a satisfying conclusion. Kate, Laurie and Jaclyn found a deeper layer to their friendship. All five members of the Ratliff clan are still just about alive. Gaitok got his girl, a promotion and a new pair of sunglasses. Belinda can ‘be rich for five fucking minutes’ before maybe returning to open a spa with Pornchai. That said, Mike White is not sentimental with his characters and is happy to be brutal at the peril of his audience. First it was Armond (Murray Bartlett), then Tanya and now we’ve lost Rick and Chelsea. Of all season three’s characters, it was Chelsea who stayed true to her principles and even guided Saxon to find meaning beyond wanking and protein shakes. Yet it wasn’t enough to save her or Rick from what fate (or Mike White) had planned for them. Amor Fati.