What did you think of ‘The White Lotus’ season 3 finale? (Spoilers)

SPOILERS for The White Lotus season finale.

Congrats to everyone who clocked the fact that Rick (Walton Goggins) was a dumbass in earlier episodes. Rick went all the way to Bangkok to “get revenge” by pushing Scott Glenn’s Jim Hollinger out of his chair. Rick did so without asking any obvious questions, especially when it was abundantly clear that Hollinger absolutely knew Rick’s mother. Hollinger and his wife had to come all the way to the White Lotus resort so Jim and Rick could have yet another confrontation in which neither asked or spoke the vital information. I’ll give it to Scott Glenn though – 86 years old and he can still drop a line of dialogue so brutal, it feels like a gut punch: “I remember your mother. I knew she was a drunk and a slut. I didn’t know she was a liar too.” And then the plot twist many of us could figure out: Rick shoots Hollinger, only to be told by Sritala that he just killed his father.

What followed after that was what many of us predicted too: Rick and Chelsea died together. Chelsea got shot in some of the crossfire between Rick and Hollinger’s bodyguards. Rick is trying to carry her body… somewhere. Then Good-Shot Gaitok runs to Sritala, only to be told to shoot Rick. Gaitok does the thing (and ends up getting a promotion). Rick dies face up in the water, yin to Chelsea’s dead yang. The only unexpected part of the shootout was the fact that the blonde friends were so close to the action, although Laurie got the f–k out of Dodge as soon as gunshots rang out.

As for the Blondes – I loved them, I loved their storylines, I loved their cattiness towards one another, and I loved the emotional wrap-up by Carrie Coon’s Laurie/Lori. It was all so “the white women will be okay, no matter what.” It was beautiful and funny. Their storyline was so compelling because their dynamic felt incredibly real.

As for the Ratliff family… I never thought that I would find their antics so interesting, but Timothy’s disgust at Piper’s revelation that she’s a princess who loves AC and organic food was incredible, as was Victoria’s uncontained pleasure that her gambit worked. The Saxon character surprised me, and I’m now a genuine fan of Patrick Schwarzenegger – he went from dull, ugly finance bro to someone who was actually trying to understand his place in the universe, someone who yearned, someone with the sadness of never knowing a real love. Did you notice that Saxon’s whole look even changed after the Full Moon party? It was like his face changed overnight. As for Lochlan… accidentally drinking a smoothie laced with death seeds is insane and I really thought the kid was a goner. That was so sad, but I’m glad he survived and he “saw God.” I’m also glad that after Timothy spent the week having a Lorazepam-induced nervous breakdown in which he came close to killing his entire fam, he decided that everyone could live and they would just have to get through the rest of their lives without money.

Last thing… Belinda, Greg and the money… I didn’t expect Belinda’s son to suggest $5 million!! Nor did I think Greg would give it to her, but look at that. Is Belinda finally getting her happy ending? She got the f–k out of Thailand in a hurry, and left her poor Thai bae behind, even though he wanted to start a wellness center with her.

Anyway, I enjoyed this season, I enjoyed the characters and storylines a lot. The second season is GOATed to me, but I was rooting for several characters this season and I enjoyed seeing everything play out in the finale.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red/HBO.

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17 Responses to “What did you think of ‘The White Lotus’ season 3 finale? (Spoilers)”

  1. Christina says:

    Much lot of the criticism I’ve read about this season calling it predictable and not as interesting as past seasons feels unfair to me. Each season has its own vibe, and this one was intense. White’s writing is fun, and I love the characters and the work of the actors that bring them to life. Parker Posey’s Victoria was a blast! She was this season’s Tanya. Rolling Stone called out that the resort’s murders would be a PR problem for the resort brand, but this isn’t real life. It was a wonderful escape. Critics who didn’t like the three women friends storyline sounded sexist to me. The dynamics of female friendships deserve to be portrayed on screen, and I agree that they felt real.

    • Josephine says:

      I did not like the resolution of the 3-friends storyline. Those women are not friends to each other. I thought the proper ending would be a realization of that fact along with the realization that no one deserves to be stuck in the same role in a friend group for 30 years (or however long it had been). I was sad that they did not evolve. Jaclyn maintained her feeling of superiority and Kate remained happy as number 2 so that she didn’t have to be number 3. And Laurie seemed to think that it was better to have these two as friends than none at all? I don’t know, that ending felt like it was written by a man who thinks that female friendships really are that superficial.

      • Drea says:

        Complete opposite feeling for me. I know plenty of women who act like this and who are like this. For better or worse, they are tied to each other, and the resolution is no resolution, and never will be.

  2. Sun says:

    I liked this season miles above the others but this finale had nothing on s2 (or even s1 come to think of it) for me.

    I honestly loved the nuances of all the characters this season. Rick sucked but I was still happy to explore why tf he was such a man-baby.

    Loved seeing Sam Rockwell back on the path to finding himself!

    Loved the blondes repairing their eggshells after the holiday blowup- anyone who hasn’t had this happen in a friendship group, I can’t relate to you lol.

    Ohhh Gaitok making his choice. I know some people didn’t like his and Mook’s storyline but as someone who has family in a developing country, I thought it was such an interesting perspective on young people wrestling with cultural values and westernised measures of success/ lifestyle.

    Belinda turning into a bad guy wasn’t on my bingo card but I’m sure her and her terrifying son will get theirs in the end.

    Loved the Ratliff roller coaster! Could have a whole series following their downfall in NC, or even just Patrick Schwarzenegger’s journey of self discovery from soulless frat boy to maybe wanting genuine connection. He was fantastic.

    I just did not have all these feelings about most of the characters in previous seasons!!

  3. SIde Eye says:

    My favorite season! I loved it so much. I really wish Rick and Chelsea had lived. Every season kills off my favorite character lol. All of the actors were fantastic, but I hope to see Emmy nods for Rick, Chelsea, Victoria, Gaitok, and Saxon. They were soooo great in their roles.

    Gaitok is such a cutie! And he can sing too if you watch his interviews.

  4. Chaine says:

    I think we have seen the last of Greg/Gary, and it was absolutely full circle to hear Belinda treating Pornchai the same way Tanya treated her. I was so afraid she and her son were going to get shot! Relieved they rode off into the sunset.

    Annoyed that Lochlan revived. Maybe he will be the character that returns for season 4, when his family’s reversal of fortune means that he cannot afford college and has to get a job waiting tables at the restaurant of a luxury hotel….

  5. Ginger says:

    I really enjoyed this season more than S2. I loved the Ratliff family and their whole dynamic. Patrick Schwarzenegger really impressed me with his acting. I’m so sad about Chelsea, she was my favorite!

  6. Mrs. Smith says:

    I don’t understand Rick. From the pathetic botched attempt to confront Jim with no plan and then returning to the hotel he knows is owned by Jim like it’s no biggie. The dust has settled, essentially, so why grab the gun to kill Jim and the body guards? It’s only when he sees the real price of his silly revenge—Chelsea’s death—that he snaps out of it, but it’s too late.

    • Norman Bates' Mother says:

      I think it’s because Rick had some very strong mommy issues and getting revenge for his father, whom he didn’t even know, was not as important deep in his heart as avenging his mother. He would be fine if Jim hadn’t called the mother those bad names.

  7. wsefood says:

    This season drove me bonkers–it made no sense!! Why would Rick come back to the hotel after assaulting the hotel owner? Why are the Ratliffs and Belinda and Zion all cheery on their way home when there’s just been a mass shooting at the hotel—nobody is shook up? And no concern from Lochlan or his mother or siblings about how he got near-fatally poisoned? Why is Pornchai crushed about not opening a spa with Belinda—they had one conversation about it, Belinda is an American with family in America, neither had any money?
    The whole thing felt like insultingly sloppy writing.

    • smcollins says:

      Still processing it all, a lot happened, but yeah…people saying that Belinda pulled a Tanya seems like a stretch. I don’t recall her ever saying yes to Pornchai’s offer? And *he* made the offer to her so it’s not like she put the idea in his head, got his hopes up and then pulled the rug out from under him like Tanya did to her. He just kinda threw it out there and she was hesitant and wanted to think about it *because* of how it turned out (or rather didn’t turn out) with Tanya. She took the money for herself & her son and got the hell out of dodge which was the smart thing to do. Just my take on that particular plot line. Chelsea getting killed definitely pissed me off but seemed inevitable with how everything unfolded with Rick and his rash decisions.

    • Norman Bates' Mother says:

      I think the opposite – it makes perfect sense to me why they behaved like that. Rick thought it’s all resolved, he wouldn’t even think that coming back to the hotel might cause trouble and he didn’t want to actually kill Jim until he heard insults aimed at his mother. It was in his mind much worse than the supposed murder of his unknown father, because the love he didn’t have and missed was from her. The Ratliffs are rich, self-centered and spoiled, that’s their whole thing – they don’t care about some shooting, which didn’t involve them. It would be out of character if they actually cared. Timothy would not want the rest of the family to know what happened and I imagine that he would convince Lochlan it was because of a spoiled powder or overheating – nothing serious to tell his mother. As for Belinda – she just became one of the rich ones and immediately started behaving like them. She was more into Pornchai from the beginning than he was into her, but the moment she got rich, she forgot about him, about Tanya about morals and could only think about her fortune. Even Saxon, seemingly on the road to becoming a better human, couldn’t care less about Chelsea even though he was the only one who actually new her out of all the people mentioned above, because it’s a long way from becoming a spoiled frat boy to a decent human being.

  8. Zan says:

    I didn’t go back to confirm, but doesn’t Belinda say the exact same thing to her spa lover Pornchai as Tanya said to her in season one when she left with Greg/Gary after promising to finance Belinda’s dream?
    That was rough.

  9. Truthiness says:

    I loved this season, visually especially. I get the symmetry but I don’t think Belinda pulled a Tanya McQuoid. Belinda was a burnt out single mom, toiling for decades healing rude rich people, getting the short stick, putting her son through college and grad school. She didn’t leave chasing d–k, she needs a minute to enjoy life and her son which is a new concept in her life.

    Me to the screen- Belinda, get debit blocking on that account and MOVE THE MONEY PRONTO. I’ve seen EFT’s get reversed even with debit blocking on.

  10. Norman Bates' Mother says:

    I enjoyed this season but it was way more predictable than the previous ones. The planned murder-suicide storyline hit close to home for me because I knew and worked with a man who actually did that but I expected from the start that after all those hints throughout the season, they wouldn’t actually allow it to happen. I expected Rick and Chelsea to die and for Gaitok to become a hero. I would be more satisfied if he rejected Mook after this though since it was clear she wouldn’t look twice at him if he didn’t get this promotion. I also hoped for a different outcome from Greg’s storyline and the annoying Russian thugs storyline. Hopefully, Greg will get some revenge in later seasons.

  11. Gabby says:

    There was a brief moment when Sritala was shouting at Gaitok to kill Rick that I thought he would turn the gun on her instead. Probably because Rick had just killed Gaitok’s tormentors.

    I did not see Greg handing over the money. I really thought her son signed the death warrant for both of them. I’ve watched a lot of Columbo in my time, and blackmailers always get killed.

    That said, I loved this season and am sorry it’s over.

  12. MaisiesMom says:

    I loved this season and the finale. Of course I was sad about Chelsea, but she kept chasing that man even as he chased his demons, literally right into a gun-fight. She deserved better but she also chose to hold him and his darkness close so the end seemed almost inevitable.

    I didn’t blame Belinda at all for “just wanting to be rich for a while.” She deserves a vacay. What she did wasn’t nearly as bad as what Tanya did to her, but the parallels were still notable. “My circumstances have changed,” riding away on the boat as the employees waved, etc. Good for her and Zion, though. And it was nice to see a healthy mother/son dynamic.

    The Ratliffs were my favorite part of the season. My heart was in my throat for what felt like half an hour during the Smoothie Sequence, yikes. I’m glad Lachy is OK and that Tim is out of Lorazepam and seems over his suicidal ideation. It would be really interesting to bring some of them back in some capacity, and by “some of them,” I mean Victoria and Saxon. I enjoyed her the most as comic relief and his character arc was the most interesting to me. That song they played at the end is such a beautiful Christmas hymn. When he prayed and they played it at the end of Episode 3 (I think?) I wondered if he would end up re-discovering his own faith or at least pre-adult self a little bit.

    As to the three blond friends, I thought they would end up buddies again by the end. I don’t really mind Laurie just “letting it go” because it’s not like she has to deal with these two, with Jaclyn’s narcissism and Kate’s enabling, all of the time. She’ll see them once every few years and she might as well enjoy herself while she’s there. I think it was more about just taking the time to re-connect with her youth and try to be Zen about the messed up stuff.

    I knew Piper would likely lose the rose colored glasses about life in the monastery, but I didn’t expect a meltdown quite so quickly. She’s not wrong about the AC, though. I live in Houston and I could NOT get by without AC. I’d be out of here if I couldn’t have it. Thailand’s heat and humidity is more intense than ours. But the thing about the organic food? She could tell it wasn’t organic? How?! She ate one meal there! Maybe I’m just not an expert on this stuff but that was kind of funny to me. Yes, an organic diet is a luxury for most people, if not all.

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