Between a last-minute crash out in the NCAA Final Four and Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs) trying to kill his entire family, this has not been a good weekend for The White Lotus's Duke.
Surprisingly, though, none of the Ratliff family ended up in a body bag in the Season 3 finale of The White Lotus. Nor did Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), who appeared to be next on Greg's (Jon Gries) nefarious chopping block going into the episode.
So who did die, and how did things fare for the rest of our White Lotus staff and guests? Let's break it down.
Warning: There will be spoilers ahead. But you already knew that.
Rick, Chelsea, and Jim Hollinger all die in The White Lotus Season 3
In the last episode, Rick (Walton Goggins) visited his father's murderer Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn), intimidating him but refusing to kill him outright. The visit seems to have appeased him, because when he returns to the resort, he's lighter, more peaceful.
At dinner, Chelsea tells Rick that they're meant to be, bringing up the Latin phrase "amor fait," which is also the title of the finale.
"It means embrace your fate, good or bad," Chelsea tells Rick. "Whatever will be, will be. And at this point we're linked, so if a bad thing happens to you, it happens to me. I think we're gonna be together forever, don't you?"
"That's the plan," Rick replies.
In a devastatingly ironic twist, they're both right. Jim's arrival at the hotel the next morning reawakens Rick's anger, especially when Jim says, "I knew [your mother] was a drunk and a slut. Didn't know she was a liar too. Wanted you to think your father was some kind of great man. She told you a fairy tale, kid. Your father was no saint."
Nor is Rick's father dead! Turns out, Jim's been his father all along. If only he had communicated that clearly to his vengeful son instead of speaking in cryptic sayings, maybe he could have avoided what came next. Rick steals Jim's gun from his holster and kills him, meaning the first gunshots from the shootout that opened the season didn't come from the gun that kept changing hands from Timothy to Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong). Instead, they came from Jim's gun.
In the ensuing shootout, Rick learns from Sritala (Lek Patravadi) that Jim was his father, takes out Jim's bodyguards, and then realizes that Chelsea has been caught in the crossfire. Chelsea's already had two brushes with death this season, namely the armed hotel robbery and the snake bite. With this final death blow, her prediction that all bad things come in threes comes true.
Rick isn't far behind, as Gaitok finds his killer instinct and shoots him with the hotel's gun. Chelsea and Rick float together in the river, their fates intertwined exactly the way Chelsea said they were at their last dinner together. Amor fati indeed.
Timothy cooks up a killer smoothie for the Ratliffs
Over on the Ratliff side of The White Lotus Season 3, Timothy is still reckoning with the fact that as soon as his family leaves the resort, they'll realize that they're losing everything. So what does he do? Tries to kill them, and himself.
He takes the fruit of the pong pong tree — known by locals as the "suicide tree" due to its poisonous seeds — and concocts cursed piña coladas for Victoria (Parker Posey), Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), and Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook). He tells Lochlan (Sam Nivola) that he can't partake because he isn't 21 yet, but the real reason comes down to a conversation they had earlier, when Lochlan said he thinks he could live and be happy without the family's money.
It's a stark contrast to the rest of the Ratliffs' relationship to wealth: Victoria has straight-up said she'd rather die than not be rich, Saxon put all his metaphorical eggs in Timothy's basket, and Piper returns from one night at the Buddhist center knowing she can't spend a year there as she won't be materially comfortable. Their misery terrifies Timothy to the point of attempted murder-suicide, but he changes his mind and saves his family from poisoning. (Between this and all the deadly dream sequences, it's a season of fake outs for the Ratliffs.)
And The White Lotus Season 3 has one last Ratliff death fake out in store! Lochlan uses Chekhov's blender to make a smoothie, Saxon-style, with the dregs of the piña coladas and some protein powder. (At least rinse the blender, dude.) The combination almost kills him, and in his unconscious state, he imagines himself swimming towards the surface of a pool. Four figures gaze down at him, but they aren't his family. Instead, they look like monks.
"I think I just saw God," Lochlan tells a panicking Timothy upon waking up, suggesting that his spiritual journey is just beginning.
So are the Ratliffs' troubles, as they use their phones for the first time on the boat out of the resort. Timothy claims they'll all get through these changes as a family, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that attitude will dissipate by the time they make it back to North Carolina.
Belinda gets rich and takes a move from Tanya's playbook
By Season 3's end, Belinda is safe from Greg's clutches and $5 million richer. She and her business major son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) negotiate the sum in order for her to start a spa of her own, just like the dearly departed Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) once promised. The only catch? Belinda has to agree to keep her mouth shut about Greg's wrongdoings. Once adamant about going to the police, Belinda is now all too willing to keep quiet. Her silence has a price, and it's a brand-new spa!
However, Belinda doesn't want to stay too close to Greg for fear of his retaliation. She and Zion head back to the US as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the departure means saying goodbye to Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) and reneging on their dream to create a wellness center together. Sound familiar? Belinda is basically doing to Pornchai what Tanya did to her, promising a spa and then taking it away. Here's hoping Pornchai can return in a later season and live out his dreams, Belinda-style. Justice for Pornchai!
What else happened in The White Lotus Season 3 finale?
The rest of the White Lotus guests and staff get their own happy endings as well. The trio of Laurie (Carrie Coon), Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), and Kate (Leslie Bibb) reaffirm their friendship following a tearful dinner together — including a sweet monologue from Laurie about finding meaning and belief in their prolonged time together. Plus, the three have that extra trauma bond of Jim getting shot in front of them. After that, they are inseparable (although I'm sure they'll still gossip from time to time).
Now a killer, Gaitok gets promoted to being Sritala's bodyguard, an upward move that's sure to work wonders in his relationship with Mook (Lalisa Manobal). He also decides not to report Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius) and his friends for robbery after Valentin's impassioned pleas that he stay silent. Valentin and his crew can live to party another day.
That does it for Season 3 of The White Lotus! Who's going to check in for Season 4? Who won't be checking out? And how are people still going to these notorious death trap hotels?
The White Lotus Season 3 is now streaming on Max.
Topics HBO The White Lotus
