Diksha Sundriyal
In its third episode, the third episode of HBO’s ‘The White Lotus‘ stirs things up for its characters. A silent storm has been brewing for most of the characters, and the opening scene of the episode points towards the upcoming tsunami that will swallow them whole. After the robbery incident of the previous episode, this one gives the characters some time to settle down before unleashing a hint of chaos on them. A reference to a beloved character from previous seasons serves as an exciting update to the story, though it remains to be seen how that will fit into this season’s narrative. SPOILERS AHEAD
A Tsunami Inches Towards the Ratliffs
In the second episode, Tim Ratliff discovered that he is under investigation by the FBI for some pyramid scheme he was a part of with his friend, Kenneth Nguyen, who already had his house and office raided by the authorities who seem to have all the evidence they need against all the people involved in it. The next morning doesn’t bring any relief for Tim as the situation gets worse, and he finds himself sinking into the quicksand faster than expected. He tries to explain the situation to someone on the phone, and his wife, Victoria, hears parts of it, but she has too much Lorazepam in her system to care about it, so she falls right back to sleep.
After a while, his kids start to wonder if there is something wrong with their father. Concerns are shown by Piper and Lochy, especially with the constant calls their father keeps getting during breakfast. At first, he tries to ignore the calls, but then he is forced to take them, which alerts his family to something untoward. Later, Saxon, too, gets a call from someone from the office who presents the situation as something of an urgency without telling him exactly what is going on. He, too, tries to talk to his father about it, but this only makes Tim even more nervous. In fact, he becomes so desperate to keep his family out of the loop that he suggests they all go off-grid for the rest of their stay and deposit all their devices to Pam.
When Saxon tries to resist, he says a few kind words to his son to ease his mind. But this is just him burying his head in the sand while his entire world falls apart. Meanwhile, Victoria focuses on just chilling, popping one pill after another. Lochy attends a session to correct his posture but discovers that it will take more than one class to get it right. Piper visits the monastery, where she has a meeting set up with the monk for whom she came to Thailand. It also turns out that she is applying for a program that will bring her back to the country after she finishes college. Saxon, on the other hand, befriends Chloe and has his entire family invited to Gary/Greg’s boat the next day. From what happened the last time Greg got someone on a boat, we are curious to see how things turn out this time.
Rick Plans His Next Move While Belinda Encounters a Familiar Face
The reason behind Rick’s stay at the White Lotus is still a mystery, but it’s clear that whatever he is looking for is in Bangkok. At breakfast, he pretends to be a producer working on a movie (though he could be it because we don’t know what exactly he does) and offers Sritala a role in his upcoming film. He gets her contact information in Bangkok. Meanwhile, Chelsea witnesses the entire thing from afar and is curious about Rick’s sudden change of tone while talking to Sritala. But when she asks him about it, he rebuffs her. On her insistence, he attends another session of stress management, where, once again, he talks about his father’s death. Interestingly, he says that he still might get some satisfaction, which points towards the fact that his search for Sritala’s husband is related to his father’s death somehow.
The session wires him up, and he decides to go into town to get some weed. Chelsea joins him on his sudden trip, but that turns out to be a mistake soon. It seems that the weed hits Rick harder than expected. He decides to attend a snake show where he finds all the snakes trapped inside cages. He is so moved by their plight that he decides to free all of them, even though he knows that they are all venomous. He is not brought back to his senses until a cobra that he freed bites Chelsea, and she is rushed to the hospital. Notably, this is the second time she almost died, which doesn’t bode well for her in a story where a person is bound to end up dead. Chloe brings up the point about her brush with death over dinner, where an interesting thing happens when Belinda walks up to their table and recognizes Greg.
Moments before, she spoke to Pornchai about being depressed before she came to Thailand. She talks about Armond’s death and Tanya ditching her after giving her hope. It seems she doesn’t know what happened to Tanya, but she remembers the man she ran away with. Greg, however, refuses to recognize her and makes it seem as if she has mistaken him for someone else. Of course, Belinda isn’t convinced, and that hangs a dark cloud over her head. Later that night, she has a weird feeling when she enters her quarters. It seems as if someone has been there. The only possible culprits are Greg and the monkeys. At the table, Greg also notices Chloe sharing looks with Saxon, who is a couple of tables over, which hints at something bad that is meant to happen on the boat in the next episode.
Kate Gets a Taste of Her Own Medicine
From the moment they arrive at the resort, it becomes clear that the dynamic between Kate, Laurie, and Jaclyn is anything but a simple and loving friendship. In the second episode, Kate indulges in talking about her other two friends behind their backs, never stopping to think that, too, she might do the same thing later. Soon enough, she gives them a reason for it. Earlier in the day, Jaclyn encourages Laurie to make a move on Valentin during their yoga class and later, at breakfast, when he mentions the energy healing session. She signs Laurie up for the class and requests Valentin to take the session.
At dinner, Laurie talks about how weirdly intimate the session felt. This prompts Kate to talk about how she doesn’t feel too good about such things because they feel witchy. In return, Jaclyn talks about how witchy is a good thing because that’s the one thing that seems to be for women, while the rest of the religions seem to be all about men. Her particular focus is on Christianity, which is when Kate reveals that she goes to Church. It seems that since her marriage, she has started following her husband’s religious and political views. So, she is a regular churchgoer, has become a Republican, and voted for Trump.
The latter revelation shocks Jaclyn and Laurie, and later that night, they talk their heart out about how Kate doesn’t seem to have any ideals of her own and always morphs into whatever her current partner wants. What they don’t realize is that Kate overheard part of their conversation from her balcony. She seems hurt hearing her friends talk about her like that, but by now, she is not exactly the kind of person who should complain, given how she indulged in the same herself. If anything, her eavesdropping on them will increase the tension between the three of them, eventually leading to the fight that is a long time coming.
While the guests make things worse for themselves, the staff of the White Lotus also seems to be struggling. In the last episode, Gaitok tries to stop the robbers and is hit by one of them. This incident seems to make him bolder as, when he meets Sritala, he expresses her desire to be one of his bodyguards. She politely thanks him for the offer and says she will consider his request. Later, however, her bodyguards tell him that he should be fired for the incident and not stop the robbery. Lo and behold, before he clocks out for the day, he is told to meet the manager the next day. He is told that the meeting will be about the robbery, and from the looks of it, the meeting does not seem to be a good sign for Gaitok.
Read More: What do the Monkeys Signify in The White Lotus, Explained
You must be logged in to post a comment.