The best ‘The White Lotus’ season 3 finale theories
Next week we'll finally find out who Mike White's latest victim is. Fans already have some ideas
JUST ONE WEEK STANDS between us and the The White Lotus season three’s big reveal. Who has creator Mike White decided to kill off this time around? We have a little teaser trailer for the final episode, but it’s probably safe to assume that there’s a couple of red herrings placed in there to throw viewers off. Beware!
So, where are we at with everyone in Koh Samui? Here’s a quick refresher of what’s gone done in the luxurious hellscape so far, and what fans over on Reddit and social media predict is going to happen to everyone.
Related: ‘The White Lotus’ season 3, episode 7 recap: killer instincts
The Ratliff family
How’s their holiday been? Tim is in a bad place. The fear of what will come of his dodgy financial dealings have left him suicidal and subduing his nerves with Victoria’s lorazepam. Over the past few episodes, the thought of theoretically ruining his family’s lives leads him to distressing ideations of familicide, too. His wife is actually coping pretty well without her drugs – the resort’s cocktails are doing a good enough job of sending her off to sleep. Brothers Saxon and Lochy are appalled by their incestrous night after the Full Moon Party, so much so that Lochy now wants to join sister Piper on her gap year living with Buddhist monks in Thailand.
Will they be getting the boat back to the mainland? Tim’s now lost his ill-gotten gun, and by the looks of things in the teaser trailer, the pong-pong fruit theory might be coming true. On Reddit someone suggested it could be group-death-by-smoothie: “It’s Tim who turns to the blender. Gun’s gone, but there’s plenty of fruit with poison seeds to be had.”
However, another person pointed out that this could be too obvious: “Makes me think it doesn’t happen or doesn’t work. I feel like they wouldn’t tease that if it does wind up killing anyone.” Meanwhile, a different viewers suggested that there could be a dark twist in the tale that involves Tim serving up the suicide smoothie before realising, once he regains his phone, that the chaos back home has fallen away.
The gal-pals
How’s their holiday been? Well, they’re barely speaking to each other after (the married) Jaclyn shagged Valentin, causing Laurie to call her out on it. Laurie ended up in bed with Valentin’s mate Alexei, who, literal seconds after finishing, asked her to PayPal him $10k for his “sick mum”. Then she had to jump out the window when his furious girlfriend came storming into the bedroom. Did she see the stolen snake bracelet from the resort, linking the Russians to the theft? Then there’s the Trump-of-it-all with Kate.
Will they be getting the boat back to the mainland? Yes, though chances are someone might pull the ripcord and storm off home early, putting a concrete end to this decade-long friendship. Some viewers are predicting a blow-up from Kate, who seems to be hiding behind her much-memed smug face: “She must have an inner ‘Jerry Springer crash out’ trigger in herself that she’s struggling to hold back until the finale lmao”, one person commented, while another added: “Oh Kate is 100% crashing out next epi.” It’s unlikely anything fatal’s going to happen to them, but their shared loathing could bubble over to a point of no return.
Chelsea and Rick
How’s their holiday been? It’s taken seven weeks, but Rick finally smiled! Granted, it was while his supposedly sober deviant friend Frank hoofed up lines, necked whiskey and partied with sex workers, but was this… some version of enlightenment for Rick? Devoted cosmic girlfriend Chelsea is just waiting back at the resort for her man to return, and has been telling anyone within earshot that he’s her soulmate, which doesn’t bode well for the finale. That, and the fact she’s been hanging out a hell of a lot with Greg/Gary’s chaos-chasing girlfriend, Chloe.
Will they be getting the boat back to the mainland? Alas, the general consensus is maybe not. “Bad things come in threes,” Chelsea herself said, after being held up at gunpoint in a store robbery and bitten by a snake (that a high Rick had released). Also, the footage of them embracing happily on the beach might be wishful thinking, one fan on YouTube says: “The way Chelsea and Rick look so happy after all the turmoil tells me it’s the end for one of them.” On X, someone added: “Rick goes on a side quest & gets shot & this is a previous memory with Chelsea & he realizes that Chelsea is what made him happiest all along before he dies.” Another commented: “Ughh, am scared that these are things he is seeing as he lays dying. Hope above anything that I’m so wrong.”
Meanwhile, does Rick really expect to get away with waving a gun at Jim? The kingpin literally knows where he’s staying and those bodyguards are surely headed back to Koh Samui for revenge. But then, maybe Jim will arrive with a revelation instead. “I think that Jim is going to show up at the White Lotus to tell Rick he’s his dad”, says one user. Another added: “I think the fall might have killed him. It was just tipping a chair over, but as Rick emphasized, Jim is old and frail. If so, the tragedy is that Rick is actually the one who killed his father.”
Belinda (and Zion)
How’s their vacay been? Highs and lows, really. Belinda had a holiday romance with fellow spa manager, the gentle Pornchai, but she also came face-to-face with would-be killer Greg. The last episode saw Greg try to buy her silence for $100,000 (cheapskate), and she’s currently in a moral quandary about what to do. Zion’s just here for the sun and the food.
Will they be getting the boat back to the mainland? Zion will almost definitely be okay (we saw him in the opening episode as gunshots rang out in the resort, after all). What about Belinda? Greg will possibly try to kill her if she doesn’t take his offer. As one person on Reddit predicts: “My theory was that he almost knew she would decline it so more reason to pay some hitmen triple to kill her.” And as for those hitmen? On YouTube, there’s another theory about who that might be: “Greg will send the Russians to kill Belinda.” Sounds like the only option is to take the money and run, Belinda.
Gaitok, Mook and Valentin and the Russian bros
How’s their holiday been? Honestly? It’s just another week in a luxury resort dealing with demanding one-percenters who’ve lost their grip on reality. Gaitok’s still in a trance over Mook, who’s demanding he becomes more confrontational and ambitious before she’ll even entertain the thought of dating him; while Valentin and his Russian bros, Vlad and Aleksei, were clearly behind the resort store theft, pistol-whipping Gaitok in the process.
Will they be getting the boat back to the mainland? According to the teaser trailer, it looks like Gaitok thinks the best way to prove his mettle is to rat out Valentin and co. for the robbery. One viewer on YouTube suggested that this will not end well: “Gaitok shoots Mook accidentally trying to be manly. This is because he confronts Val and his boys about the robbery.” While another person added: “Valentin’s going to take Mook as bait to try to stop Gaitok from telling everyone about the heist. Accidentally Mook gets shot by Gaitok himself.” Another commenter says: “The shootout happens between Valentin, the robbers and Sritala’s men after Gaitok exposes them as the robbers. The body floating belongs to Rick; who gets caught in the cross-fire.”
Expect the unexpected, is all we’re saying.
This story originally appeared on Esquire UK.
Related:
‘The White Lotus’ season 3, episode 7 recap: killer instincts
