“The coconut milk is off!” is something I never thought I’d hear Lucius Malfoy say in a Southern accent, but all is fair in love and war in “The White Lotus.”
The season three finale of the hit series was released April 6 on Max, and I’m devastated that my time of analyzing every easter egg and TikTok theory to decipher creator Mike White’s story is over.
Set in Thailand, this installment of the series has heavy themes of spirituality that pour into every storyline — culminating in a killer finale, rich with symbolism.
My favorite storyline followed the Ratliff family, which consisted of parents Tim and Victoria, and their three children: Saxon, Piper and Lochlan.
I’ve been saying “Piper, no!” like Victoria for the last month — thank you for your hilarious performance, Parker Posey. Tim is a stress ball in his own right, and I can’t believe this man almost killed his family instead of telling them they wouldn’t return to wealth.
And of course we have to talk about Saxon’s hilarious conversation with Lochlan in which he asked him to not “worship” him — referring to an incestuous incident from episodes earlier that left fans like me with their jaws on the floor.
I don’t know which scene stressed me out more: the family drinking Tim’s poisoned piña coladas in a cult-like circle before Tim smacked one out of Saxon’s hand, or Lochlan straight-up dying by the side of the pool after making a protein shake in that dirty blender. He has serious issues, but I was still glad Lochlan survived.
As the family headed home, the final shot of the Ratliff siblings mirrors their opening image from episode one, which symbolized a proverb of three wise monkeys who “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.” The shot showed how Thailand changed them.
Lochlan took Saxon’s place as the character who “sees no evil” with his sunglasses, and Lochlan clearly shed the naivety he had in episode one. Piper sits with her head held high while wearing a dress similar to her mother’s style, emulating her embrace of her privileged life.
Saxon sits reading one of the spirituality books Chelsea — who we’ll get to later — gave him, showing he has embarked on a path of enlightenment. I don’t know how Patrick Schwarzenegger got me to love this once insufferable character, but I’m grateful he did.
The family’s story needed to conclude with everyone making it on the boat at the end, and I love that we don’t see the Ratliff family learn what they’re returning home to.
Then we have the story of the three women, who finally came together after a season where any two of them kept going off to gossip about the third — which was about the realest depiction of catty female friendships I’ve ever seen.
Carrie Coon amazed me as Laurie, the most genuine of the three women who gets flack from the other two, mainly for being the single friend who chose her career over love.
In the intro sequence, the image that accompanies Coon’s name depicts several wolves barking at an elephant, symbolizing the saying that “the dog keeps barking, the elephant keeps walking.” Laurie never succumbed to Jaclyn and Kate’s negativity, staying resilient all season long.
Her finale monologue delivered a powerful message to define her character and accompany the spiritual themes of the show. She admits to failing at “religions” like career and love, but she values the time to give meaning to things in her life, like her friendships.
I think Laurie is way too good for Jaclyn and Kate, so my heart grew heavy when she said she was just “happy to be at the table,” referring to her lacking Jaclyn’s beautiful face and Kate’s beautiful life.
Regardless, this was a powerful and necessary speech that broke the petty barrier between the friends and allowed them to connect on a deeper level again, which they clearly hadn’t connected on in a long time.
Finally, the moment I’d been waiting for all season — who died, and how?
Just when we thought the troublesome Rick had made peace with his demons from losing his father during his excursion to Bangkok, Jim Hollinger, the owner of the hotel who Rick believes to have killed his father, returns to the White Lotus.
Rick’s girlfriend Chelsea urges him to focus on the love he has. However, Rick ultimately goes up to Jim and shoots him to avenge his father.
But in a reveal that ended up being slightly lackluster, Jim’s wife Sritala tells Rick that Jim is actually his father. Ultimately, Rick’s life was, in fact, ruined by the man who killed his father — his inner torment and inability to let go of his pain is what ultimately destroyed him, and Chelsea was caught in the crossfire of the shootout that ensued.
After Rick dismissed Chelsea’s love all season long, it was both heartbreaking and satisfying at the end to see Rick finally realize Chelsea is his soulmate at the same time she realizes he is not hers.
Chelsea previously said they were like a yin and yang — with her representing hope, and Rick representing pain — and one would win in the end. Rick’s pain won, and the final shot of his body upright and hers facedown in the water emulated the yin and yang symbol.
One more addition to the spiritual themes was that Gaitok, the god-awful security guard at the hotel, was the one to kill Rick at Sritala’s order. Gaitok abandoned his Buddhist morals with this act of violence to be rewarded with a promotion and affection from the girl he likes, Mook.
I don’t have many thoughts on that besides, why would Gaitok get promoted? He left his post constantly, let the hotel get robbed and lost a gun on the first day.
I’m just glad the amazing Belinda from season one made it out alive and was left with a fortune in hush money from Greg, the criminal who, at the end of season two, plotted the death of his wife Tanya, an heiress Belinda befriended in season one.
This season has been action-packed, and I can’t wait for season four. There are rumors of a wintery ski resort becoming the backdrop of “The White Lotus” — a welcome deviation from the sunny beaches of the first three installments of the series.
In the meantime, I’ll try not to drink any poisoned protein shakes.
