The White Lotus Finale: Who Died? And Who Left Thailand Forever Changed?
All great vacations must come to an end: Season 3 of HBO's The White Lotus wrapped up this Sunday... and we finally found out who didn't survive the trip.
Let's check in on this season's guests to see how they ended their Thailand vacations:
THE RATLIFFS | Lochlan was still gung-ho about joining the monastery with Piper, but she tried to talk him out of it: "Just let me f–k up my own life, OK?" At breakfast, Timothy supported Piper's trip to the monastery, telling her: "We'd all be fine with a lot less." (Yeah, you might find out soon!) But Piper did admit the food there wasn't great, and her mattress was stained — so maybe she needs those creature comforts more than she admits. She broke down in guilty tears, and Victoria comforted her, reassuring her that enjoying a luxurious lifestyle isn't a sin... and flashing Timothy a thumbs-up.
Lochlan offered to have a smoothie with Saxon, but Saxon rebuffed him, bringing up the whole brotherly love incident. Lochlan said he thought Saxon felt left out and was just trying to please him: "I just wanna give everyone what they want." (Saxon then told him to drop it... forever.) Timothy was troubled by Piper falling back into the consumerist lifestyle, though, and asked Lochlan: "Do you think you could live with no money?" When Lochlan said yes, Timothy sent him away — and then asked Pam again about the poison fruit outside their suite, learning that the seeds can kill a person if ground up. So he pulled apart a bunch of fruit... and headed for the blender.
Timothy downed the last of his wife's pills before asking the waitress at dinner if they can make piña coladas in their room tonight — for everyone except Lochlan, who isn't of age yet. He blended up cocktails for the others, poison fruit included, and made a toast before drinking: "We've had a perfect life, haven't we?" He teared up as he said he just wanted to keep them all safe... and convinced them to drink it down, despite the funky taste. He had a change of heart, though, slapping the glass out of Saxon's hand and pulling the rest of the cocktails away from them after just a sip. But there was still residue in the blender...
The next morning, Lochlan woke up early and fixed himself a protein smoothie in the blender — with the poison residue still in it!. He drank it down and started feeling ill, throwing up in the suite's picturesque pool before writhing on the ground. He had visions of his family before closing his eyes, envisioning himself drowning underwater and not being able to reach the surface. Timothy discovered him, calling for help in heartbreaking fashion — especially since he knew it was his fault. But hey, Lochlan made it! He woke up and threw up, and he even had a spiritual vision: "I think I just saw God."
They all got their phones back on the boat ride back home, and Timothy tried to warn them: "Things are about to change. We'll get through it as a family." And he seemed to find some measure of peace, watching the water droplets bob up and down just like the monk said.
RICK AND CHELSEA | Rick woke up in a Bangkok hotel room to find Frank practicing his stabbing moves on a mannequin (alarming!), and Frank begged him to stay and keep the party going, but Rick insisted on heading back to the resort. He reunited with Chelsea on the beach, and she lovingly ran into his arms — just as Saxon was telling her he almost finished reading the book he gave her. (Wow, are we feeling bad for Saxon now?) At dinner, Chelsea beamed that she and Rick are fated to be together because of "amor fati": "If a bad thing happens to you, it happens to me." Yeah, about that...
Rick was enjoying breakfast with Chelsea when Jim Hollinger walked in, telling him to leave — and revealing he did know Rick's mother. After calling her "a drunk and a slut," Jim told Rick that "your father was no saint. You didn't miss out on much." He was packing heat, too, so Rick couldn't go after him. Chelsea tried to talk Rick down, begging him not to do anything stupid, and he rushed off to see Amrita — with Jim's bodyguards in pursuit. He tried to interrupt Amrita's time with Zion, but she held him off, promising to come find him after one hour.
Rick spotted Jim taking photos with Jaclyn and flew into a rage, ordering Chelsea away while marching up to Jim and taking his gun, shooting him dead in the chest with it. Sritala tearfully asked why, and when he said Jim killed his father, she replied: "He's your father! He told me!" That led to a shootout with the bodyguards, and Rick calmly took them both out (we're pretty sure one of the bodyguards was the body Zion saw in the water)... but then Chelsea took a bullet, too. Rick wept over her body and tried to carry her to safety... but Gaitok, at Sritala's urging, shot Rick dead, sending them both into the water.
JACLYN, KATE AND LAURIE | Jaclyn offered Laurie an olive branch by inviting her to breakfast, and even apologized for sleeping with Valentin: "I want to be your friend." Laurie finally reconnected with them at dinner, telling them about her night with Aleksei before another awkward run-in with Valentin. Kate raved about how great they're all doing ("All our flowers are in bloom"), and Jaclyn thanked the others for their enduring friendship. Laurie, though, got real, admitting that she's been "so sad" all week and revealing that she had an epiphany that time gives her life meaning — and she appreciates how long they've all known each other. Friendship restored! (They almost got caught in the crossfire with Rick and Jim, too, but they got away unscathed.)
BELINDA AND ZION | Belinda said hi to Pornchai in the morning, and she told Zion about the spa she wants to open with him. She'll need cash, so Zion encouraged her to bring Greg a counter-offer: "See how much you can get." The two of them returned to Greg's house to negotiate, and Zion took the reins (he's a business major!), passing on his initial offer and asking for five million (!!!) instead. Greg turned him down flat, but Zion pointed out that Tanya was worth half a billion. All the money talk turned Belinda's stomach, though, and she called the whole thing off, hauling Zion away. But that was all just a negotiating tactic to hold Greg's feet to the fire. Go, Belinda!
Greg told Zion he needed to think about it, but Zion left his mom's account numbers with him in case he wants to wire her the hush money. The next morning, Belinda checked her computer... and her eyes went wide. Five million dollars were suddenly in her account, and she promised Greg she'd live up to her end of the bargain. So she's rich! She and Zion shared an excited hug before she sent him off to a spa treatment — the same one we saw in the premiere — and she said a warm goodbye to Pornchai, deciding to leave Thailand early and abandoning their spa plans. (She did the same thing to him that Tanya did to her!)
GAITOK AND MOOK | Gaitok decided to tell his boss about Valentin's involvement in the robbery, with Mook encouraging him, and he even boldly asked Valentin for his friends' names. But Valentin begged Gaitok not to rat him out: "If you do, I'm dead." Gaitok prayed on it and told Mook he needs to quit his job: "I don't want to hurt anyone." She pushed back, though, telling him she thought he was more confident than that and cancelling their dinner plans. Uh-oh.
Gaitok was still torn when Sritala and her husband returned to the hotel, with her bodyguards taunting him yet again. He told his boss he needs to quit, but the boss prodded him to think about it first. And when he heard the shootout, he went running with his gun.... and at Sritala's urging, fired two bullets at Rick, killing him. That earned Gaitok a promotion to Sritala's personal driver — and finally won him the respect of Mook.
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