The White Lotus is always a masterclass in crushing ironies and catastrophic consequences for one’s actions, but we feel like season 3 really took the cake there. What started as a slower season turned into one of the most haunting, emotionally wrecking season finales filled with full-circle moments, literal upside down outcomes, and spot-on punishments for some of the most iconic characters that appeared on our screens.
We’re breaking down the biggest final on-screen moments from season 3 that changed our perspective of ‘crime and punishment’ and agonizing resolutions.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, this is your SPOILER ALERT before you continue reading.
The poisonous fruit could be an allegory, not just a weird tree to plant at a resort
In the last episode of the season, after an excruciating time for Tim Rattlif who seriously considered murdering his family members and committing suicide, we can once again see the poisonous fruit that, for some reason, is planted all around the luxurious White Lotus resort.
Other than the fact that this is indeed a poisonous fruit, the fruit itself can serve as an analogy to the biblical forbidden fruit. When Tim contemplates if he should use it against himself and his family, it represents the fact that currently, he is the only one to have ‘tasted’ the forbidden fruit that gave him the knowledge about his financial situation, and that the others would know only when they got their phones back.
As we all know, he decided not to go with his original plan, and everyone was spared – even his dirty-shake-drinking son, Lochlan. But that beautiful shot in which he looks at the fruit could be interpreted as those last moments in which he is the only one who knows what’s really going on.
Chelsea did manage to change someone’s life. It just wasn’t Rick’s
Good-hearted Chelsea was a surprising character in the 3rd season. She started out as grumpy Rick’s younger girlfriend, and while many suspected her of being with him just for his money, viewers quickly realized she genuinely loved and cared for him (unlike other characters who we saw associating with older, successful, white men for their wealth).
Chelsea had a real desire to help change Rick, to make him a better man. Despite this, when she said “I’m hope and Rick is pain, and eventually one of us will win,” she basically confirmed to herself what she knew all along; she wouldn’t be able to change him. During her time on the island, though, she managed to unexpectedly change someone else – none other than Saxon Rattlif. His was one of the biggest character developments we’ve ever seen in one season (we’ll expand on him later on), and that was all thanks to Chelsea. While she didn’t expect it, she left her mark on the world in the form of a reformed Saxon – who definitely needed it.
Tim getting a second chance at life – literally
After finding out early in the season that his and his family’s life is about to change forever, Tim Rattlif spent most of season 3 wandering the resort, half-sedated and suicidal. He contemplated his death (and his family’s death) for a full week which resulted in one of the most suspenseful scenes in the series, where he almost lets his entire family drink a poisonous shake only to regret it immediately.
Understanding that other than Lochlan none of his family members would survive as poor people, he comes up with a plan to poison them all, including himself, to get rid of the pain of being penniless. He has a change of heart, but that doesn’t stop fate from trying to reach his innocent son who (nastily, may we add) drinks from a dirty shake, leading to his near-death experience.
Watching the finale, we almost felt relieved watching Lochlan die – not because we’re brutal savages cheering for the death of a young lad, but rather because it felt like poetic justice. Tim put his family at risk, lost everything, thought of killing himself and three other family members because of it, leaving Lochlan to fend to himself because he thought he would be okay being poor – it only made sense that he would have to hurt in such a monumental, brutal way for his punishment to feel justified. Instead, Lochlan miraculously survived.
Eventually, we liked this ending: Tim got a chance at a new life, for both his son who was practically reborn and himself and his family who were now impoverished. It’s going to be a tough time for them coming back home, but maybe that’s exactly what they needed.
Belinda might as well be Tanya reincarnated
We have to admit it: We never really liked Belinda’s character. Maybe it’s the actress, maybe it’s because her storyline was quite weak, but her full-circle moment was one for the ages. Belinda, without doing it on purpose, basically became what she clearly detested – the incomparable Tanya (who left us way too soon.)
A massive part of Belinda’s character was the heavy disappointment she felt when Tanya made empty promises to her, leaving Belinda vulnerable and upset. When Belinda gets a chance to be the good person she always felt like she was, she toys with the idea of actually taking Greg’s dirty money to keep quiet about Tanya’s murder. We all know what she ends up doing – taking an even bigger amount of Greg’s money than she planned on thanks to her pushy son Zion, making her an accomplice. An extremely wealthy one, but still an accomplice.
The best moment, though, arrives when she has to answer to Pornchai, the resort’s employee who she had a short-lived relationship with. The look of disappointment in his eyes sends us right back to Belinda’s at the end of season 1, when Tanya lets her know that she won’t be investing in her spa. She now has enough money for two spas if she wanted that, but she’s not the same moral person she once was, or once thought she was.
Piper’s short-lived simple life just became longer than expected
Piper Rattlif wasn’t one of the most interesting characters we’ve ever seen on The White Lotus, but her resolution was one of the most satisfying. Piper is the daughter of Tim and Victoria, wealthy southern folks, who wants to escape her golden cage and find meaning in life – or so she thinks.
She admits to dragging her entire family to Thailand (no, it’s not Taiwan, Victoria) so she could check out a monastery she thinks of spending a year in. Her mother is appalled at the thought but is clever enough to let Piper stay there for one night, knowing her daughter better than she knows herself.
The result is a hilarious confession from Piper, finally acknowledging that she absolutely cannot do what she thought she could; her mother’s reaction is priceless, and her father’s realization that there’s yet another person he would have to kill in his murder-suicide plot is both heartbreaking and hilarious.
What charmed us the most about Piper’s resolution on the show is that she ended up getting exactly what she wanted – an entire lifetime to find meaning, now that’s going to be completely poor. It’s not what she envisioned, but it’s definitely what she needs (and deserves.)
Laurie, Jaclyn, and Kate finally learn the truth about friendship
A lot of people on the internet felt like the three ladies’ storyline was boring, lacking, or just plain meaningless, but we beg to differ. Women all around the world felt Laurie’s final speech on a deeper level, as it spoke eloquently about what many women feel about life and female friendships in particular.
The three amigas start the trip like the white, privileged women that they are, and we say that positively! They’re friends who gossip about each other’s partners, family life, political views, career, and most importantly – looks. Just what you would expect from a friendly triangle.
But their story is more meaningful than it looks. They show us a more genuine, rough interpretation of friendship, not the fake ones you see on social media or in television or movie depictions; they show us the messy sides, the loneliness you can feel inside a friendship, and also the highs when you finally feel seen and understood, and most important of all – accepted. It’s moments like Laurie’s speech that make us believe in humanity again, those utterly real, tear-jerking on-screen moments that are so accurate it actually hurts to watch.
Rick ends up being what he dreaded most
Rick Hatchett, played by the phenomenal Walton Goggins, is one of the most interesting characters we’ve ever seen on The White Lotus. He’s angry, charming at times, ridiculously illogical, and painfully human – one of the most complex characters this season. His love for Chelsea, as we all know, wasn’t stronger than his hate for Jim, the man who turned out to be his father.
Jim and Rick’s deaths were truly poetic: Rick spent his entire life thinking about the person who killed his father, yet he ended up being the guy who killed his father, and then he died for it. In a sense, he was his own problem all along.
Let’s put aside the fact that it was absolutely ridiculous that Jim didn’t straight up tell Rick that he was his father in the scene where they met during breakfast, as it could have resolved everything and prevented so much unnecessary death. Rick, in the end, wasn’t stronger than his demons – wasn’t stronger than his pain, like Chelsea wanted him to be. He was truly his own problem, from beginning to end, and it was heartbreaking that Chelsea had to drown (literally and figuratively) with his problems instead of being free from his trauma. And yet, it seemed like she wanted it to happen like that, to be with him forever. Love is truly the most powerful force in the world, isn’t it?
Gaitok abandoned his morals for one purpose only
It was quite disheartening to watch one of the most innocent, morally conscious characters on the show become so corrupt. Gaitok, the sweet resort guard, was just trying to live his life and impress Mook, an employee at the resort, with his charming personality and honest demeanor. Instead, she showed him time after time that she’s not interested in good manners – she’s interested only in successful men. What is successful, you ask? Well, what she considered to be successful; a respectable, status-bearing job. Being a ‘simple’ guard is not enough in her opinion.
Love sometimes blinds us, and it was definitely the case with Gaitok. He should have seen that despite Mook’s gorgeous appearance, she was quite shallow inside, but he was way too enamored to think straight.
His blindness led to him killing Rick for Sritala, despite Rick being unarmed and wounded, carrying a helpless, wounded Chelsea as well. It earned him a new job – being Sritala’s bodyguard and personal driver, and it also earned him the ‘honor’ of being with Mook… but at what cost?
The beauty of Rick and Chelsea’s deaths
We felt like we had to write about this scene in a separate item, as it was just too beautiful not to address properly.
When Chelsea was shot by the bodyguards, and Rick died just moments later by Gaitok’s gun, they both dramatically fell inside the resort’s river. Chelsea ended up being faced-down in the water, while we could see Rick’s face upright right next to her with an expression of disbelief, pain, and also peaceful acceptance on his face.
This shot, which we have to say was visually one of the most beautiful we’ve ever seen on the small screen, represented something significant about Rick and Chelsea’s relationship – while they couldn’t have been more different from each other, they were truly yin and yang in more ways than one, and their ending scene perfectly displayed their imperfectly perfect relationship.
Lochlan and Saxon’s twisted relationship – where do they go from here?
We were truly baffled at the complete disregard of what happened between Saxon and Lochlan. We mean… how can anyone forget? It was so grotesque, so out of line, SO incestuous – and then it was just gone like nothing happened!
In the show, Lochlan and Saxon are revealed to have gone WAY too far during their substance-filled night with Chloe. We see it, they remember it, and they even talk about it, but for some reason it just wasn’t how we thought the showrunners would handle this situation.
Such a dramatic (and disgusting) act between two brothers should have been properly talked about, right? Like, something catastrophic happened between the two, and other than an incredibly uncomfortable conversation, it was like it never even happened. We don’t know how two brothers can bounce back from such an ordeal, but they made it look like it wasn’t even that bad, which is extremely hard to do.
What we thought was a good ending sequence for both, however, is the boat scene at the end – Saxon, who started the week as the arrogant young adult received an invaluable lesson from Chelsea and left the resort an actual better man, while Lochlan was contemplating his life choices after getting physical with his brother and drinking out of a dirty shake, which led to his near-death experience.
In the end, it was the perfect ending for both, we just really hope they’ll be able to get past the trauma of their night with Chloe when they get back home. They do have bigger fish to pry, though, with the whole ‘completely poor’ situation they’re going to have to deal with from now on.
The ending we deserved but never got
Before we finish, we have to wonder – what happened to Valentin, Aleksei, and Vlad? We got clear confirmation that these 3 were behind the robbery at the resort which almost got Chelsea killed, but for some reason, the final and concluding episode showed nothing about these three and we never got to see them punished for their crimes. We even know Laurie realized Aleksei was one of them when she found the jewelry at his busted apartment, but she said nothing to anyone about this fact.
When we wondered how on earth Valentin, Aleksei, and Vlad got no consequences for what they did, it struck us – the whole point of The White Lotus is to show that sometimes, or even most times, bad triumphs good; sometimes criminals get away with things for reasons we don’t understand and there’s really no meaning to it. We didn’t see them in the final episode, there was no closure for their characters.
Gaitok also knew about them and decided not to say anything, revealing the fight between good and evil in his heart – be good to society and tell everyone what happened while putting these criminals at risk, or sparing them but potentially being cruel to others by keeping criminals free.
Final Thoughts
The 3rd season of The White Lotus started pretty slowly, with some even calling it boring, especially by comparing it to the effervescent season 2 (we don’t talk about season 1 here.) As the season progressed, we got to see these characters completely unravel, putting their most twisted, unnerving mannerisms and inner worlds on display at the luxurious resort that turned their worlds upside down.
Reading into the visual symbolism this season is not only a feast for the eyes – it could teach us a lot about the show’s real intentions and the discussions it’s trying to stimulate.
