‘The White Lotus’ Episode 3 Asks, ‘What Could Go Wrong?’ — Review
Editor’s Note: The following article contains spoilers for “The White Lotus” Season 3, Episode 3.
Ahead of the premiere of “The White Lotus” Season 3, IndieWire spoke with Natasha Rothwell, who plays Belinda on the series. Belinda is just one of many characters in danger of ending up dead at the end of an uneasy week at the titular Thailand resort, and Rothwell was, of course, under strict orders not to give away the ending.
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“God willing, I survive this season,” she said.
I couldn’t help but interject: “I’m really worried.”
“You should be,” said Rothwell. “Shit’s about to pop off. I’m stressed and I already know what happens. I stay stressed.”
That’s pretty much the sentiment governing Season 3, Episode 3, “The Meaning of Dreams,” written and directed by showrunner Mike White. All our key characters are inching toward catastrophe, whether that’s ending up dead in the water or causing their own calamitous downfall.
The episode title comes from the cold open, in which Victoria (Parker Posey) dreams that a tsunami arrives on the beach and ostensibly kills her and her whole family. This could be a metaphor for all kinds of disasters, including the professional and potentially financial ruin facing her husband Timothy (Jason Isaacs). Tim certainly feels like he’s in the path of a tsunami but is doing his best to ignore it by gaslighting the rest of the Ratliffs into giving up their phones. Can’t answer a call from “Teri Office” if the call doesn’t exist!
And what of the other Ratliffs’ dreams? Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) is apparently dreaming of a year-long program in Thailand, which is definitely not why her family thinks they’re there. Without a phone to distract him, Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) turns to the thing occupying the rest of his brain: sex. He spendt so much of Episodes 1 and 2 making weirdly sexual comments in front of his nuclear family, but they laugh it off and inadvertently encourage it, which then enables moments like Episode 1’s nudity and his new purpose in Episode 3: to get his brother laid. Saxon, I’m begging you to find a better hobby. Surely Pam (Morgana O’Reilly) can bring you a book?
The trio of Kate (Leslie Bibb), Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), and Laurie (Carrie Coon) continue to operate a three-person emotional seesaw with their friendship, with this episode uniting Jaclyn and Laurie and leaving chameleon Kate as the third wheel. Would it be “The White Lotus” without a nail-biting conversation about voting? Kate obviously feels isolated from her coastal friends by living in Austin, and hurt that they won’t come visit, and whether or not she voted for you-know-who, her defenses are up in this episode (not unlike Sam Nivola’s Lochlan in his posture class) to protect the life she has built and the people who do show up for her on a daily basis, no matter what party they support.
White doesn’t lay any of that out too obviously; as always with “The White Lotus,” the surface doesn’t reflect the truth — this is a scene in which two liberal women reevaluate their friend based on her voting choices, but also a scene where that friend is telegraphing her own loneliness. (Independent in Texas, though? Good thing she goes to church, because that girl needs Jesus.)
Danger also creeps toward the rest of the ensemble, make no mistake. Mook (Lisa Manobal) and Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) are the most removed from it, and therefore the ones increasing my stress level the most this week. Their dynamic is so sweet even after she essentially rejected him, but his chivalrous streak could put him in harm’s way and shatter whatever future they have together. Belinda puts herself in the crosshairs by recognizing and then confronting Greg/Gary (Jon Gries), whom she does not know to be a threat, but viewers sure do. Is it the strangeness of the interaction that leaves her on edge once she’s back in her room at night? Or is she being watched, followed — is she sensing ruin on the horizon, just like Victoria’s dream?
Last of all, there’s our dear Rick (Walton Goggins) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), removed from the central action like Daemon Targaryen at Harrenhal (it’s called corporate synergy!). Rick might claim to be “nothing,” but the dots are starting to connect about his identity and purpose. He tells Amrita (Shalini Peiris) he can’t get his life back because his father was murdered, adding an ominous clause: “But maybe I can get some satisfaction.”
The specifics of that satisfaction remain shrouded for now, but Rick has barely concealed his interest thus far in Khun Sritala (Lek Patravadi) and her as-yet-unseen husband — and in Episode 3, much like the cobra that bit his girlfriend, Rick makes a move. For all his reticence and quiet with Chelsea, he turns on the charm to speak to Khun Sritala, telling her that he has a friend in show business and would like to get her a meeting. Now, I don’t know if Rick’s “this and that” career includes talent management, but I’m willing to bet that it doesn’t (lying and conning might be more in his wheelhouse).
Either way, the man is going to Bangkok and won’t be stopped by his sweet, well-intentioned, snake-bitten partner — which means that Chelsea is potentially getting on a boat alone after two major incidents, with a man whose retired “this and that” background includes abducting women who end up dead. It’s like Rothwell said: With this show, we stay stressed.
Superlatives
Horniest: Back to Saxon, who’s now projecting it onto his brother because he lost access to his saved phone porn.
Most likely to die: This one’s getting close, but this week it’s Belinda after getting herself on Greg’s radar. You don’t have to say hello to every bald white man who might have dated your failed employer!
Most sus: Piper with that secret year-long program.
Least likely to die: One of the trio, though I wouldn’t put it past any of them to kill another after enough wine and gossip.
New episodes of “The White Lotus” air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
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