The victims (not just victim) in The White Lotus Season 3 have been revealed — and social media users are none too happy about it.
The mystery of which guests or staff member would die at The White Lotus in Thailand officially began when Season 3 of creator Mike White’s satire premiered on HBO and Max on Feb. 16. It all starts when Belinda’s (Natasha Rothwell) son, Zion (Nicholas Duvernay), spots a body floating in the waters of the resort after gunfire breaks out.
From there — per the formula of every season of The White Lotus — there’s a flashback to the arrival of the resort’s guests a week before as the bizarre events leading up to the tragedy unfold.
While the story of The White Lotus Season 3 is decidedly different than Seasons 1 and 2, there are some common denominators, like the elevated social standings of the luxury resort’s privileged guests. And, like seasons 1 and 2, some of The White Lotus’ staff members’ stories become intertwined with the guests, equally making them a target for elimination when the final bell rings in Episode 8.
Note: Spoilers for “The White Lotus” Season 3, Episode 8 will be discussed for the rest of the story.
Before the big reveal of who dies and who murdered them is discussed below, here’s a quick rundown of the characters in The White Lotus Season 3. Readers who want each of the characters’ backstories can read them here.
- The Ratliff family, which consists of Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs), his wife, Victoria (Parker Posey) and their three grown children Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola).
- Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and her two lifelong buddies, Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon), a trio of lifelong friends.
- Rick (Walton Goggins) and his much younger girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood).
- Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), who lives near the resort with her much older beau Greg — who goes by Gary — Hunt (Jon Gries). Greg, of course, was the boyfriend-turned-husband of Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) in The White LotusSeasons 1 and 2 and is now in hiding in Thailand after Tanya thwarted his plans to kill her but died by hitting her head on a boat and drowning.
- Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), a White Lotus staffer from Season 1 who has temporarily transferred from the Hawaii location to the resort in Thailand and recognizes Greg.
- Resort owner Sritala (Patravadi Mejudhon). who is married to Jim (Scott Glenn), a land baron in Bangkok being targeted by Rick.
- Resort staffers Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), Mook (Lalisa Manobal), Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius) and Fabian (Christian Friedel).
- Frank (Sam Rockwell), a troubled buddy of Rick who is helping his old friend in his plans to confront Jim for murdering his father decades before.
Who Dies In ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 And How Are Viewers Reacting?
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, The White Lotus Season 3’s cast, writer-director Mike White and some of his fellow creatives were teasing a “shocking” finale.
Leslie Bibb said in the THR interview to, “Get f—ing ready,” while Charlotte Le Bon simply noted, “I think people are going to hate Mike White.”
In addition, Jon Gries made perhaps the ominous prediction of how viewers would react, warning THR of the finale, “It is shocking — absolutely, mouth-agape shocking.”
And neither Bibb, Le Bon nor Gries were kidding, as there wasn’t just one death, but five.
When Jim came with Sritala to the resort, he taunted Rick and called his mother a liar and a slut. After trying to calm down, Rick couldn’t contain his anger and grabbed Jim’s gun and shot him. In a Shakespearean moment, Sritala told Rick that Jim was his real father.
But the worst was yet to come when Rick also shot Sritala’s two bodyguards. However, in the exchange of gunfire, Chelsea was shot by one of the bodyguards and died. As Rick picked her up and tried to walk away, Sritala ordered Gaitok to shoot Rick. After some hesitation, Gaitok complied and shot Rick in the back and he plunged off a dock into the water with Chelsea in his arms.
Le Bon seemed to be the most accurate in her assessment of how viewers were going to feel about White after the episode, as demonstrated in the X post below.
Other X users reacted in shock to Chelsea’s death with various memes.
Another X user used a meme of Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) from Yellowjackets to get her point across.
One X user not only mourned Chelsea’s death, but her optimism and innocence.
While five characters died in The White Lotus Season 3 finale, there could have been a lot more.
Before the bloodshed that concluded the episode, Timothy tried to kill Victoria, Saxon, Piper and himself by spiking the piña coladas they were drinking with ground-up poisonous seeds from a local fruit. They each took a drink, but Timothy’s plan came to a screeching halt when he had a crisis of conscience and slapped the drink out of Saxon’s hand. Timothy then took all of the nearly full glasses away, claiming the drinks were spoiled because of bad coconut milk.
However, since Timothy left the poisoned mixture in a blender, Lochlan combined it with Saxon’s protein shake powder the next morning. Once Lochlan drank the poisonous mixture, he vomited and seemingly died. After what appeared to be a near-death experience, though, Lochlan — who was found by Timothy — opened his eyes and started breathing again.
The White Lotus has already been renewed for a fourth season. Details on the cast and when Season 4 will be released have not yet been announced.
This article was originally published on forbes.com.
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