Photograph courtesy of HBO
Season three of “The White Lotus” came to an end Sunday, with the show finally revealing the perpetrators and victims of the crime. The hour-and-a-half conclusion also brought one major prediction to fruition, while opting not to go in some other much-speculated directions.
Who was the shooter in season three of “The White Lotus”?
There is more than one answer to the question, but the central culprit behind the crime was Rick. After seemingly moving on after confronting Jim in the penultimate episode, Rick saw his anger renewed when Jim arrived at the hotel, taunted Rick about his “slut” mother, and remarked that his father was not the good guy she had told him about.
Unable to let those words go (and unable to get urgent therapy due to Zion having the wellness session – as seen in the premiere episode), Rick grabbed Jim’s gun while he and Sritala were posing for a photo with Kate, Laurie, and Jaclyn. He shot Jim, and as Sritala held her dying husband, she revealed that Jim was, as virtually all savvy fans speculated, Rick’s father rather than the man who murdered his father.
Though visibly stunned, had no real opportunity to process the news as he had to get away from Sritala and Jim’s security detail.
Who were the victims in season three of “The White Lotus”?
Beyond Jim, there were other major casualties.
After killing Jim, Rick engaged in a shootout with the security detail — and seemingly emerged victorious. Unfortunately, Chelsea was caught and killed in the crossfire.
And as Rick tried to bring Chelsea to help, Gaitok shot and killed Rick at the instruction of Sritala.
Earlier in the episode, Rick had delighted Chelsea with the declaration that he intended to be with her forever. That added another element of tragedy to their near-simultaneous demise.
Did anything happen to the Ratliff family?
Many speculated that at least one Ratliff family member would die in the finale, and the show did tease that possibility. Ultimately, however, they all survived — and will have to confront Tim’s criminal situation and their new financial status upon returning home.
The aforementioned tease concerned Lochlan. Upon returning home from the monastery, Piper revealed herself to be her mother’s daughter, noting that she could not see herself actually living in such a modest scenario. Coupled with his prior family conversations, that meant that Tim had reason to believe that his wife, eldest son, and daughter would reject him upon learning all their money was gone.
Lochlan, on the other hand, remained willing to move to the monastery. He also confirmed to Tim that he would be OK living without any money whatsoever.
Tim considered acting on his resentment, spiking piña coladas with the seeds of the pong pong/suicide fruit and serving them to himself and all family members but the more admirable Lochlan — on the grounds that Lochlan was underage and thus unable to drink alcohol. As they began to sip their drinks, however, Tim got cold feet and urged his family to stop drinking on the grounds that the “coconut milk” had gone bad. None showed any effects of the poisonous seeds.
He did not, however, clean the blender. And so when Lochlan woke the next morning to make a protein shake (inspired by Saxon to make a man of himself), he ended up drinking the poison.
But after vomiting, keeling over, and seemingly dying — Lochlan ultimately awoke in his father’s arms.
Were there any other developments?
Set to reveal the identities of the robbers to his boss, Gaitok ultimately reconsidered at the urging of Valentin, who noted that he and his friends would be deported back home and killed if exposed as criminals.
Gaitok subsequently decided that this line of work was not for him. He made plans to quit, which caused Mook to sour on Gaitok for lacking confidence and strength and seemingly throwing his career away. She declined his invitation for a date that night.
Sensing his irresponsible intention to resign, his boss gave him the chance to sleep on the decision to quit before saying the word aloud. The shooting took place during that mulling over period.
Based on his successfully stopping Rick, Gaitok achieved his goal — and received the opportunity to become Sritala’s personal bodyguard. Prior to heading to his new job, he embraced an enthusiastic and supportive Mook.
— With the help of her son, Belinda convinced Gary/Greg to pay her a whopping $5 million for his silence about Tanya. He complied.
Upon receiving the money, Belinda nonetheless decided that she wanted to immediately leave Thailand as security precaution, while also giving herself some time to enjoy being rich. That meant nixing her plan to open a spa with Pornchai, who was visibly heartbroken at the news of her departure.
Granted, Gary/Greg had no apparent intention to go back on his deal. He was seen relaxing a party, where Chloe found a man seemingly willing to engage in the cuckold fantasy.
— Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie made up at dinner the night before the shooting, and their lifelong bond surely grew even stronger as they jointly survived the horrifying ordeal.
