‘The White Lotus’ season 3, episode 5 recap: full moon antics
We get a second Chekhov's gun. Jaclyn is getting messy. Belinda finally hooked up with Pornchai. The Ratliff bros kiss. Things are heating up as we unpack this week's episode of ‘The White Lotus’
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This story contains spoilers from this episode of The White Lotus.
REST ASSURED THAT The White Lotus show writer and director Mike White is not repeating himself. Sure, the early drawcard seemed that our Thailand vacationers are facsimiles of seasons past: we got the polo-tucked-in finance bro, aloof wealthy woman, people in crisis. On the show’s accompanying podcast, Jason Isaacs (who plays Tim Ratliff) recently dished that White scoffs at the thought of archetypes. Come in with your expectations and the new season feels comparatively slower, at least that has been the general consensus in the Esquire office. Before we go into the events of the third season’s fifth episode, know that White is aiming for something bolder. And this week, there are a lot of those revelations.
This week, we have a rare instance of the episode carrying into the night. This has disrupted the regular scheduling of breakfast, treatments, followed by an explosive dinner. The full moon hangs high in the sky as Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola) take Greg-Gary’s (Jon Gries) yacht island-hopping. What could happen on this auspicious night?
Wait, are we in Taiwan?
Without her younger brother to back her up, Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) comes clean to her parents that there is in fact no thesis, but she’s scouting her post-grad plans to spend a year meditating in a monastery. On the precipice of what’s to be an epic crash out without her lorazepam, Victoria (Parker Posey) pulls every parochial stereotype a woman of her ilk has about Southeast Asia. Supremely, however, is her worry about how ‘decent’ this monastery is; if Piper will stray from the value systems she’s instilled.
Out of all of her iconic one-liners, ‘decent’ is the word we should be heeding from the Ratliff matriarch. The woman is obsessed with decency: about who she associates with, who she acknowledges, what activities she engages in. Victoria considers herself decent, but more importantly, she does not think the same of her children. In her eyes, decency is something they have to earn, despite their Southern blue blood breeding. Saxon addresses his mother as “ma’am”. So the thought of Piper joining a guru’s harem sends Victoria to bed with a full bottle in tow. But to think that within a year Piper could emerge with a completely different value system (especially one that is not Christian) might just invoke the tsunami.
Meanwhile Tim can’t process any of this. Remember, the FBI-wanted finance guy stole Gaitok’s (Tayme Thapthimthong) gun, which he made a weak case to retrieve. (For all his sweetness, the White Lotus gatekeeper is terrible at his job.) Piper being his favourite child, though, Tim’s impassive fug is less to do with his affection and more to do with his suicidal thoughts. We won’t be here by week’s end, he thinks, as he crafts a suicide letter. Saved by the bell, Victoria walks in on him, hiding away the gun.
For Tim, the prospect of the feds dragging him away to jail, his family losing everything they know, represents his ultimate failure not just as a father but as a scion of Southern blue blood. He’s cracking under the “expectations” that have been imposed on him since day one, unleashing a tirade on his wife. As the saying goes in his circles, only stupid get caught. In his hour of need, like any alter boy who’s strayed from the path, he gives God a dial.
Read Esquire’s recap of last week’s episode:
‘The White Lotus’ season 3, episode 4 recap: what are you hiding and seeking?
Spin the bottle, but no bottle? Just free will
In the truest representations of travelling in Thailand, the Ratliff bros continue on the party boat with Chloe and Chelsea for some island-hopping. Another true sense, especially for this milieu of traveller, no one seems aware that it’s Songkran, the Thai New Year. Last episode, the girl-trippers didn’t want to join in on the water gun festivities; these guests sit in their guarded resort without real immersion, especially during one of the country’s biggest holidays.
Still, the two pairings go off to the nearest town to not soak in the festivities, but to get wasted on a street full of other expats and tourists for the full moon party – a night when all inhibitions are off. Chloe passes around some LSD; Saxon doesn’t do drugs, “I am the drug,” he says, striking an icky pose. In this regard I respect his decision to opt out, but the gymcel gives in after Lochlan takes one. Now we’re cooking. As the group heads into town, we’re seeing a quiet Saxon (in a good way) that’s less macho and more vulnerable. Without his blender and protein shakes, he’s a lot more palatable here. He has a stupid look on his face but his experience of this holiday might just turn for the better.
The night comes to a climax (ha!) as the quartette head back to the boat. As Saxon is tripping over himself, the two girlfriends decide on what they should do with them. Chelsea has been trying to reach Rick (Walton Goggins) all evening, who is in Bangkok, but even as Chloe presents an intoxicated Saxon up to her, Chelsea is no cheater. But Chloe still has her eyes on her “little magician”.
They meet up with the boys in a red-lit part of the boat as they play spin-the-bottle sans bottle. (Without the excuse of chance, this is just free will?) Saxon eggs his little brother to smooch Chloe, which he’s pleased about. Despite Chloe’s attempts at linking up Chelsea with Saxon, she points for the two brothers to kiss. Feigning disgust, Lochlan chokes on his drink; Saxon is in a fug to process the request. The first peck doesn’t satisfy the girlfriends, which gives Lochlan the permission to grab his brother by the neck and lay it on thick. Saxon holds his brother back by the elbows, but even when it’s done, Lochlan pulls away with a smile before taking another swig from the bottle.
Three cheers for Belinda and Pornchai
If something happens to Belinda this season, I will riot. Fabian (Christian Friedel) tells the Maui spa manager that a certain regular has his eyes on her, alluding to his wealth that she should seize on. But our girl Belinda is neither scheming nor advantageous; she tells Fabian her history with Greg-Gary in Maui. “Please send me the link,” he tells her, the Thailand manager isn’t following. She suggests calling the local police, or maybe the FBI and the Italians, in fact, how about all of the police? After the robbery, Fabian can’t have another incident. He instead brushes her off, giving Greg-Gary the benefit of the doubt. It’s been said throughout the season that most people go to Thailand to hide. So, as the manager of the resort, Fabian is both aware and complicit in his guests’ colourful pasts. “You’ll survive,” he tells her. Yikes!
Our guy Pornchai (Dom Hetracul) gets it though. Belinda tells him everything, and asks him to spend the night before her son, Zion (Nicholas Duvernay), arrives. Then there’s that scratching noise again. We finally have our answer: a monitor lizard has been living behind Belinda’s wardrobe. To be honest, it’s a bit of a let down; we speculated that perhaps Tanya was projecting her spirit to warn Belinda. Alas, this sets up the twos hook up nicely as Pornchai assumes the role of protector and saviour for Belinda. He was charmed by her fear of critters since the day they met.
Jaclyn is getting messy back at the White Lotus villa
Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) wants three things from her night out with the Russians: to be young, hot and fun forever. That’s the goal she’s set for herself on this healing trip to Thailand, but she’d much rather confirm this unreality. This mirror is held up as she’s grinding against Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius) and his friend, revelling in the jealousy and animosity of another trio of younger girlfriends. She’s still got it.
The gossip triangle may be keeping to themselves from the other guests, but it’s their interactions with other triangles where they’re cooking. The second mirror presents itself in how the women are paired with their Russian chaperones: Jaclyn with Valentin, Laurie (Carrie Coon) with Aleksei (Julian Kostov), and Kate (Leslie Bibb) with Vlad (Yuri Kolokolnikov). The party is affirming for Jaclyn and Laurie, who are showered in the attention of men. But when she’s with Vlad, who regales how his mother violently died, the experience works conversely on Kate, confirming her insecurity that she’s the dud.
The Russian dudes join them back at their White Lotus villa. Laurie sipping on her wine in a floatie, meanwhile Kate is ready for bed in her silk PJ set. Jaclyn has been playing the supportive friend to Laurie, who has been trying to get her divorced friend laid with Valentin. The guise holds up for a while as the actress joins the group by the pool in her leopard print bathing suit. Later that night, when Laurie has finally passed out in her room, Jaclyn changes into a white silk slip as she sneaks the muscled masseuse back in, his sculpted butt climbing into bed with her.
This is no surprise considering the multiple passes she’s made in front of her friends. And with her husband Harrison not picking up the phone, she wanted a slice of the cake. Nor will this be the catalyst for whatever will erupt amongst the trio in the end; Laurie doesn’t want to have sex with Valentin anyway, so this isn’t a you stole my man scenario. What is does present, for the Laurie plus Kate side of the gossip triangle, is that Jaclyn is as troubled as they’ve suspected.
Who is Frank? The latest cameo in The White Lotus
In the Mike White tradition of excellent cameos, Sam Rockwell joins the cast as Frank, Rick’s friend who is based in Bangkok. (A quick Google search also reveals that Rockwell is in a relationship with Leslie Bibb, who plays Kate. The two have been together since 2007.) Rick meets his longtime friend at a hotel bar, though he was under the impression that they’d be partying hard tonight – the most crowded places are the most private for what they’re about to talk about. Frank orders a chamomile tea.
A classic tale of white-man-moves-to-Southeast-Asia, Frank moved to Thailand because of his fetish for Asian women and the occasional ladyboy. Growing tired of this lifestyle, however, he desired more than the cliché, he wanted to experience being “one of these Asian girls”. It’s not uncommon for Westerners to transition in Thailand, Rick thought this too. Instead, Frank’s psychosexual awakening was asking some big questions about sex, desire, and detachment, expressed as cross-dressing and soliciting sex to other expat men – he went to go fuck himself. After a while, Frank found solace in Buddhism.
If we go back to the guru teachings that narrated the end of the first episode, Frank is the first character to unlock his identity prison. He’s self-assured and matter of fact in his delivery – he’s an alcoholic in sobriety – unboxing his sexual identity in a several minute monologue to Rick. But Frank isn’t enlightened, though, he still desires sex. It’s an egoless self-realisation that many of the guests are seeking, but each will have their own path. Frank’s was to be railed by men – whatever gets you there.
Sitting in his club chair, mouth agape, Rick got more than the favour he asked of his old friend. Sliding over a black leather duffel bag, Frank says, “I hope you don’t have to use it”. We’re now introduced to a second gun – Chekhov’s guns? Though with Rick’s vendetta against Jim Hollinger, who we learnt allegedly killed his father, the gunshots during the cold open now has likely occasion to be murder at the White Lotus. Perhaps the ill Jim is visiting the resort with his wife Sritala (Lek Patravadi), where Rick lies in wait. This may be the first murder in The White Lotus.. Since Gaitok failed to retrieve his gun from Tim, perhaps there are more guns to come.
Related:
‘The White Lotus’ season 3, episode 4 recap: what are you hiding and seeking?
