Recently, there has been a shift from the binge-watching epidemic to an interest in the suspense and anxiety that comes with waiting for a new episode of hard-hitting television each week. With shows like The Pitt, Yellowjackets, and The White Lotus coming out on various streaming services weekly, the only difference in watching television between now and when I was six years old is that I can watch them on my phone instead of a big box in my basement!
About a week ago, on April 6th at 9 pm, the final episode of season three of The White Lotus premiered on Max. Like many around the world, my friends, roommate, and I curled up on our couch with a large bowl of popcorn and strapped in for the 87-minute episode.
Heading into the final chapter, tensions were high. In episode seven, Rick confronted the man he believes killed his father before he was born, and is now in a precarious situation in Bangkok with his old friend Frank. Saxon confronted his father about his odd behavior and was brushed off before denying Chloe’s request to fulfill her criminal boyfriend, Greg’s, sexual fantasies. Laurie finally confronted her flawed friends about their actions not only on this reunion trip, but from many years past, apparently letting some built-up resentment drive her frustration. Gaitok, while on a date with Mook, saw Laurie at the Muay Thai fight with Valentin and his two friends and soon realized that the three men were guilty of planning and executing the hotel robbery that occurred early on in the season. Chloe and Saxon shared an awkward moment when she tried to teach him how to meditate, but Saxon took the meditation books she recommended for him and now seems mildly interested. Finally, the younger Ratliff siblings head back from their transformative night at the Buddhist monastery, and Piper is dismayed at the thought of Lochlan staying there with her.
PHEW! This show has so many characters and storylines, I have no idea how Mike White keeps track of all of them while making it so that they develop, climax, and resolve steadily throughout their week-long stays at The White Lotus, all while they weave in and out of each other’s experience just enough to keep the audience on their toes. And somehow, in the end, every character has at least one fan out there, no matter how flawed they are.
After her stay at the Buddhist monastery, Piper becomes the fourth member of the Ratliff family to decide she can not live without the comforts their family has been used to until now. At breakfast, she confesses she wants to return home with her family, although she had originally declared she needed a year to study under monk Luong Por Tira. Papa Ratliff almost kills the four eldest members of the family, including himself, but regrets his actions immediately and takes his suicide smoothies away from them. The morning they are all set to leave, Lochlan makes a protein smoothie in the blender, still dirty with poison from the night before, and almost dies by ingesting the poison from his father.
For our other characters, on their last day, Rick’s hysteria is too much, and he impulsively steals a gun from the man he believes killed his father and shoots him with it. Chelsea is nearby and tries to help, but is caught in the crossfire between Rick and the hotel owner Srilata’s Bodyguard’s shots and soon dies. As Rick carries her body to help, Gaitok shoots him at the direction of Srilata and is promoted to the role of her bodyguard. He seemingly never shares his theory about the robbery, saving Valentin’s life. The “best” friends, the Ratliff family, and Belinda, along with her son, leave the island shaken, but unharmed (for now).
In episode seven of the season, Aimee Lou Wood’s character, Chelsea, says, “It’s like we’re in this yin and yang battle, and I’m hope and Rick is pain, and eventually, one of us will win. ” In the end, Rick’s pain won. His pain is what finally ended the lives of his father, his love, Chelsea, and himself. His pain forced Gaitok to make a choice he never wanted to make, and he turned a blind eye to his morals in the face of an opportunity to impress those around him.
Fortunately, Tim Ratliff’s pain did not win against the hope of his young family, and even when it looked like the youngest and most promising of them would be the first of many things taken from them, hope won again for the time being.
Also, when it looked like Laurie’s pain was going to end her two longest-standing friendships, hope persevered, but it is up to the audience to decide if that is a good or bad thing.
In my opinion, the theme that this show never fails to drive home, is that wealth and society win. Hurt people don’t always heal, criminals don’t always get caught, and the ones that do don’t always find a way to minimize the consequences of their actions on the innocents around them. Sometimes you have to choose between morality and happiness, you can wake up one day and realize lifelong friends never really knew you at all, and spoiled brats who think they hate their family and everything they stand for, are still spoiled brats. There is no right or wrong answer to every problem these characters faced throughout this season, and the beauty of this show is that we will never really know what happens to most of them.