unpacking that white lotus finale

********SPOILERS AHEAD**********

Oh my god, bestie…

So it has been four days since the heartbreaking season 3 finale of “The White Lotus”, Amor Fati. I feel like enough time has passed to allow us all to decompress and reflect. I’m personally still reeling, but let’s hold hands and unpack it together <3 Now, I’ve seen mixed reviews swirling around, The A.V. Club gave the episode an A, while Vulture had its reservations (no pun intended hehe). My heart was RACING during this finale, and I gasped more times than I can count. But, there were definitely some moments I could have done without and scenes I wish we could have seen. Let’s dive in baby!

We’re just gonna get the trio of blonde ladies out of the way, because this is a group I found the least compelling. Following a tense conversation the night before, Laurie, Jaclyn, and Kate come together for one last dinner. We get Carrie Coon’s “just happy to be at the table” monolouge which tied up their journey pretty neatly. Like myself, I’m sure MANY other women found the strained yet profound friendship between these three to be deeply relatable. Mike White must have had my childhood best friends in the writer's room because of how accurately he depicted the minefield that is tight-knit groups of female friends. But what else did they really contribute to this season? I really wish the plotline about Laurie’s non-binary kid stayed in, cause at least that could have sparked some thought-provoking conversations between her and Kate. We didn’t even get to see their reaction to the shooting outside of some tears on the boat ride!

As for Belinda and Zion, we got to witness a true full circle moment. Greg/Gary antes up and gives Belinda a cool 5 mil, to finally start the spa she’s been dreaming up and was robbed of by Tanya in the first season. I know the morals here are murky, but Tanya did do Belinda dirty; if anyone deserves a piece of the pie, it’s Belinda! Then Belinda pulls a Tanya herself on Pornchai, which I get, I just wish she brought her hunky himbo with her, like get a prenup diva!! I was disappointed with Zion’s storyline because I felt he could have been more than just the hush money negotiator. Another deleted scene I had wished they kept was one that involved Zion taking Piper’s virginity. I would have loved to get a lil more romance, a lil more spiciness this season. We could have had some more character-building from Zion and also a follow-up on Piper’s own relationship with sex. Instead, we just got the incest brothers (which the girlies on Tumblr are a little TOO into for my liking…) 

Speaking of incest! Side note, I did really love how we closed out on Greg/Gary. He got the classic villain shot where we come in from behind as he’s seated in his cuck chair. The wink he gave Chloe as she flirts with a potential victim of his disturbed childhood experiences was equal parts amazing and terrifying. I have a feeling this won’t be the last we see of this sick, deranged, bald freak!

The Ratliffs… this was a real roller coaster. Piper very predictably decided she no longer wants to spend a year in Thailand, too attached to the luxuries she’s grown accustomed to. Lorazepam mom can hardly contain he excitement, she’s practically peeing her pants while murder/suicide dad can hardly contain his horror. Tim is like, “Great now I have to euthanize MOST of my family.” Meanwhile, Locahlan explains to Saxon, he only got him off because he’s a pleaser and Saxon looked lonely. I can’t. I have nothing more to say on this. With the looming promise of their electronics being returned comes the moment that’s been teased allllll season, Tim’s gonna murder his vapid family!  He drops a bunch of suicide fruit seeds into the blender, a lil rum, a lil coconut milk, some pineapple juice, and bam! Jonestown-style pina coladas for the whole family to enjoy. Except for Lochlan, who Tim spares because he’s the only Ratliff that has expressed he can live with just a little. But, Mike White fakes us out, Tim yells “THE COCONUT MILK IS OFF” slaps the drinks out of his family’s hands, and I was dyingggg. 

Questionably, Tim doesn’t rinse out the blender, just leaves it, probably fine. I honestly thought he might be saving some for himself to drink in the cover of night. I GASPED as Lochlan prepared a protein shake in the dirty, poisoned blender the next morning. By the way, people have been losing their minds that Lochlan didn’t rinse out the blender, but to that I say, “Have you ever been in a boy’s college dorm room?” TOTALLY believable, boys are animals. 

Victoria, Piper, and Saxon obliviously walk to breakfast as Lochlan is literally dying by the pool and SEEING GOD?! Mike White fakes us out again because Lochlan lives. This one really got me because of that artsy, underwater death scene (Mike White clearly loves himself romanticized demises immersed in water) Girl, I was crying!! I thought we lost yet another gay to The White Lotus. But nah, the family’s real reckoning will come in a few hours. This brings me to one of my BIGGEST qualms this season, we are ROBBED of Victoria and the rest of the family’s reaction to being thrust into poverty. The cowardice Tim tells his family some vague BS, and we only catch a glimpse of confusion on their faces as they turn on their phones and the news rolls in.

Finally, we arrive at the tragedy that is Rick and Chelsea. At the beginning of the episode, the two have a beautiful reunion on the beach. Rick is a new man, unburdened by the legacy of his father’s death, and Chelsea is just thrilled her soulmate is back in one piece. This brings me to another issue I have with the season as a whole. The fact that Chelsea has no real agency or story outside of Rick. Maybe some fleshing out of her character was cut for time, but that unfortunately left us with a bunch of one-liners, some hilarious GIFs, and occasional doses of sage wisdom. The two have breakfast and Cheslea tells Rick, “I think we are gonna be together forever,” and he replies, “That’s the plan.” IF ONLY THEY KNEW HOW RIGHT THEY WERE. Obviously, because a shootout still needs to happen, their bliss is quickly interrupted. At this point, composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer ratchets up the tension with pounding percussion, which only made my heart beat faster and faster. We know what’s coming, we just don’t know why or who was involved. It soon becomes clear what’s about to unfold following the arrival of Sritala’s husband, Jim Hollinger. Rick confronts him to find out that boul is PACKING. Jim antagonizes Rick, and all that trauma bubbles up once again; we can even see in Chelsea’s eyes that something bad is about to happen.

My initial prediction for this season was that someone was going to lose it and start indiscriminately shooting.. Maybe that’s what Mike White thought everyone would assume, so it was an interesting twist to find that the shooting was much more personal. Rick gets a hold of Jim’s gun during a photo op with Jaclyn, pulls it on Jim, and fires away. Another twist a lot of people saw coming but was a shock to me, JIM IS RICK’S FATHER. Sritala yells that Jim told her so the night before, and a shootout ensues. Upon hearing this, we know then it’s all over for Rick. Even before he discovers Chelsea to be a casualty of this violence. Unknowingly killing his own father, a man he idolized his whole life, PLUS being the reason Chelsea was in the middle of it all, completely takes away Rick’s will to live. Rick doesn’t even fight back or try to run; Gaitok shoots Rick dead, abandoning his morals to needlessly prove something to himself and Mook. It’s very symbolic, though, how we end on a shot of Rick and Chelsea dead in the water, Rick, face up, smiling, and Chelsea’s face hidden, face down. It shows how this storyline was very much in service of Rick and his journey, and unfortunately, Chelsea was just a prop. Could this have all been avoided had Amrita given in to Rick’s pleas and sat down with him? Probably not. It was clear from the start that Rick was destined for tragedy; it’s just a shame Chelsea had to go down with him.

Well, that’s a wrap on season three! I really thought since one of the themes this season was death and the afterlife that we’d have a higher body count, but hey, I’m just happy no gays died! (That we know of, I’m not assuming Jim or his bodyguard’s sexuality!) I enjoyed this jaunt in Thailand and was engaged the whole way through, but if I’m being honest, the first two seasons were a lot more entertaining with better characters. Where will next season take us? Mike White has expressed he’d like to stray from the tropical locales, so we’ll just have to wait and see where we’re checking in next. Aspen maybe?