This conversation about “White Lotus” season is fascinating to continue. Is the pace too slow? Is Mike White shortened his Thai character? Is everything incest going too far? Most important: Are white people running out of what they say about surprisingly wealthy, terminally dissatisfied white people?
Before the season began, I decided to watch all six episodes HBO provided to critics in a two-day stretch. And by the time we reached the end of episode 6, we were really clicking this season. I've found all the stories about whether people can really impress the worst themselves and bad choices incredibly.
After that, Episode 7 was a kind of bust. It was too many anti-climactic moments and too many dull conversations. It was the first new episode I've watched for over a month, and it made me wonder: Was I too forgiving the season's lapse? Have I been seduced by the fuss?
Better and worse, Episode 8 avoids all climax episode 7. During this 90-minute finale (long but not boring), almost every major character is faced with a choice about who he or she really wants to be. Some of them make terrible decisions, and some of them pay off beautifully for it – as long as you consider money and security as a reward.
Let's start with a connection to Season 1 of “The White Lotus” and a connection to Season 2 via Tanya and Greg. When we met Belinda in Hawaii, she was being helped with Tanya to start her own spa business. Tanya then collapses on Greg, crushing her dream of Belinda beginning to believe that it is possible. The same happens in the season three finale, as Belinda and his son Sion pressure Greg to give him $5 million. Belinda quickly abandons her own plan to open a spa with her Thai lover, Pornachai.
It's difficult to blow Belinda financially, especially considering that she knew little of Tanya. But the way it plays does not put her in the best light. During negotiations, Belinda appears to be extremely angry at Greg's shady past Zion's accidental firing. And she seems particularly plagued when he proves the point by quoting Langston Hughes' poems. But it turns out that this is all a negotiation tactic. Money is important to her.
I have similarly mixed feelings about what will happen to Gatek, who chooses to put his Buddhist faith earlier in the episode ahead of his career ambitions. When Valentin realizes that Gatek has understood, when he realizes that his friends Vlad and Alexei have taken the White Lotus luxury goods store with Valentin's help, he begs for mercy and says that if they are deported to Russia, they will almost certainly be killed. Balance his conscience as a Buddhist, Gatek decides that if his actions could lead to someone's death, he must avoid those actions.
However, then, at the climactic moment of the episode, Sritara urges Gatek to shoot and kill Rick, who is running away from the scene after assassinating Jim Hollinger. Gatek hesitates, but eventually fires a kill shot. At the end of the episode, he finally lands the good job he wanted, and we learn that Mooke will cheer him on and drive and protect Sritara. All he had to do was to betray his beliefs.
This is all part of the bigger point of White. Money and promises of success drive people in the real world and in fiction. These choices Belinda and Gatek make are not incredible given what we know about the characters. But they are a bit depressing – especially stacked on each other.
The ending of Rick and Chelsea is a shame, but I feel it is appropriate. When he returns from Bangkok, Rick appears ready to embrace his constant positive girlfriend and life of peace and peace. However, he sees the gym again, and the old man makes the mistake of calling Rick's mother a drunk, a woman, a liar before showing Rick the gun he's carrying. It turns out that the mysterious gunshot heard in episode 1 (at least the first one) comes from Rick, who grabs the gun while Jim is distracted and dead.
This scene has two twists. First, Rick gets Luke Skywalker Ed when Jim says that he is actually his father. (Many “White Lotus” fans realized this a few weeks ago.) Secondly, Chelsea gets caught up in a crossfire between Rick and the Hollingers bodyguard, and she dies. Last week she told Saxon that she had told her there was a “Yin and Yang battle” with Rick. She wasn't wrong. Rick dragged him to his inability to let go of his pain and anger. (It's no coincidence that they look up with him and die down from her face.)
In this episode, especially one big death scene and two replays, White is once again leaning against the image of the water. Rick and Chelsea are floating in the water after Gatek shoots him. And while this is happening, Rochlan imagines himself swimming in the pool while fighting for his life elsewhere in the resort.
The way the Ratliffs story ends is balanced with all the other sourness of this episode, offering a slight bit of sweetness. The progression of the event begins with Piper's announcement that she no longer wants to live with Buddhists. White blurs whether she is trying to prevent Rochlan from chasing her lead, as her mother predicted, or making this decision that she was really uncomfortable in the temple. (Piper weeps a very persuasive tear when he describes the night in the temple.) In any case, it rattles Tim, who has warmed the idea that Ratliff can learn to live without anything.
So Tim expands his suicide plan again. This time we take toxic seeds of local fruits, blend them into four pina coladas, and invite them to drink with the family on their last night in Thailand. He first removes Rochlan from the party. Because his youngest son appears to be able to deal with things that are really poor. Tim then changes his mind completely, knocks out Saxon's drink from his hand, steals everyone else, explaining that the coconut milk is sour. The next morning, Rochlan dies by mixing the protein shake in the same blender as the poison seeds.
What I like about Ratliffs is that it doesn't close on a completely red note. When they leave Thailand, they get their phone back. In other words, Tim's family is trying to find out what he did and what it means to them. But as he watches the water droplets splatter in the wake of their boat, he is clearly thinking about what Luang Pol Thera said to him about human existence and the cycle of human existence, towards and back towards one enormous consciousness.
It's easy to read too much of the title of the episode and treat it like a painting title. How to interpret the artist's intentions without thinking too hard about what we actually see. White certainly seems to encourage reductive reading with the title of this finale, “Amor Fati.” This refers to a concept that frequently appears in philosophy and theology. As Chelsea explains, it means “accepting your destiny,” and often applies to the idea that we should celebrate our suffering as part of what makes us human.
This episode emphasizes that while all the characters are awakening to another fateful day, they think in the way that it begins. He says, “If you accept that there is no solution, you tend to be patient.” (There you hear Mike White's whispers and warns fans of “White Lotus” that they may not like everything that happens.)
So my favorite moments in this finale are far less dramatic than shooting and addiction. I'm coming for dinner with my gal friends. While Jaclyn and Kate were talking about having a great time in Thailand, Laurie crying, saying she compares her mistakes to the seemingly perfect life of a friend and compares her mistakes.
She ended with what could be the best line of the season and told Jaclyn and Kate in turn.
Maybe it seemed this “White Lotus” season sometimes promised. But it is a resonating emotion.
Concierge service
Given reports that Season 3 of “The White Lotus” is the most watched on the show, it's clear that despite many online debates about it, audiences are still not burning out in White's formula. The show has already been updated.
If we could go back in time, we would have spent some time on previous reviews comparing resorts (who were rich, surrounded by young women) to ald men (spiritual, surrounded by followers).
One of the saddest moments in this episode was when a completely wired Frank chases Rick from Bangkok and asks him to stick. “Don't you like me anymore?” he asks before complaining, “You've started it. I can't finish it without you.” At the end of the episode, we are delighted that Frank is back in the temple, as he promised.
Let's talk about this finale! I read the comments below and respond to some thoughts all day on Monday.
