S03.E02: Special Treatments

[peeayebee]

I wondered that, too. If not an actual tsunami, maybe a figurative one. BTW, at the very beginning there was a camera shot from the ocean. Seemed it was from some thing. I thought of the title sequence paintings: a sea monster or whale swallowing men. I don't think the POV was literally a creature looking at the island, but something perhaps more figurative, an ominous threat from the sea, kind of like the many shots of monkeys just watching.

The gate guard: I see in the credits (and here) he is called Pornchai, but his name tag says Gaitok.

[susannot]

I thought Pornchai was the wellness/masseuse working with Belinda.

[chaifan]

7 minutes ago, susannot said:

I thought Pornchai was the wellness/masseuse working with Belinda.

You're right.  I just edited my posts, as I had mixed up the two names and was referring to Pornchai when I meant Gaitok.  

Pornchai - wellness guy working with Belinda

Gaitok - security guard who's sweet on Mook

[JenE4]

38 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I wondered that, too. If not an actual tsunami, maybe a figurative one. BTW, at the very beginning there was a camera shot from the ocean. Seemed it was from some thing. I thought of the title sequence paintings: a sea monster or whale swallowing men. I don't think the POV was literally a creature looking at the island, but something perhaps more figurative, an ominous threat from the sea, kind of like the many shots of monkeys just watching.

The gate guard: I see in the credits (and here) he is called Pornchai, but his name tag says Gaitok.

I was going to mention the sea monsters in the opening artwork sequence, too. I was paying close attention to it because I wanted to see exactly what the monkeys were doing—as I recalled them attacking/killing people in the episode 1 sequence. And…were the monkeys replaced with the sea monsters this episode?!? I swear, I thought last week practically the whole thing was about monkeys and they were barely in it this week. I think most of was the same, like the elephants in the beginning, but they seemed to swap out the monkeys at the end with sea monsters. This seems like a lot of effort to make a different “classical animal-themed artwork” montage every week—or am I just going crazy and it was the same?

[Irlandesa]

17 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

To be fair season 1 had Shane and his "I want to speak to the manager." energy,   Season 2 had a father and son fight over a hooker.     Season 3 has Saxton a guy who talks about nothing but sex.  

These are all horrible people.  Mike White writes tropey characters and then pushes them to the extreme of bad behavior.    It's the entire point of the series.  Bad people will be bad people even on vacation to paradise.  

Yep. Since every season we know there's a death and a potential murderer but we don't know which characters this happens to, we need to believe all of them are either capable of murder or capable of being murdered. 

[DrSpaceman73]

Saxon and his mom have a weird relationship too.  She fawns over him and laughs at all his jokes like a lovesick teen. Wondering if it could be those two who end up in bed. 

Hopefully Saxon is taken down with his dad.  Entitled douche doesn't begin to describe him. 

[bilgistic]

20 hours ago, blackwing said:

Not sure if Chelsea is actually a prostitute or not, she could be.  Those big buck teeth are a bit distracting.

I think she's adorable. The only thing that bothers me is that the actress recently played a British high schooler on the Netflix show, "Sex Education" (which is very good). That's all I can see her as--so young! The fact that she's on this show "dating" a man old enough to be her father is gross. She is 30 in real life. Walton Goggins is 53. I know that's the point, but still. Gross.

[AstridM]

21 hours ago, blackwing said:

Jensen Ackles is another one that befuddles me.

OMG, same! Just WHYYYYY?

[peeayebee]

2 hours ago, JenE4 said:

I was going to mention the sea monsters in the opening artwork sequence, too. I was paying close attention to it because I wanted to see exactly what the monkeys were doing—as I recalled them attacking/killing people in the episode 1 sequence. And…were the monkeys replaced with the sea monsters this episode?!? I swear, I thought last week practically the whole thing was about monkeys and they were barely in it this week. I think most of was the same, like the elephants in the beginning, but they seemed to swap out the monkeys at the end with sea monsters. This seems like a lot of effort to make a different “classical animal-themed artwork” montage every week—or am I just going crazy and it was the same?

I just watched both intros again. There are elephants in both, monkeys in both, sea monsters in both. I thought there may be a little something different, but I would have to put more work into it to be sure. 😊

[blackwing]

16 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I don't think Saxon was checking out the server in a lascivious way. I think he recognized that the person might not be a woman. I don't mean to be insensitive or incorrect. I don't know if 'ladyboy' is a legitimate term -- I assume not -- or if it's commonly used, at least by some people. Since Timothy actually said it, I'm assuming it is not an acceptable way to refer to people. 

5 hours ago, chaifan said:

I was in Thailand 15 years ago, and the term was commonly used, and not in a derogatory way.  Ladyboys were referred to as the "3rd gender".  They were quite common, especially in hotels/resorts.  One place I was at the front desk clerk was male, wore the men's uniform, but had a bit over the top make up and feminine hair do.  Not quite to the level of drag style, but much more than any of the women.  That seemed to be common, I saw it pretty much everywhere I went.  I don't know if things have changed since then.

I was just in Bangkok last month, and I confirm that it's a common term and not derogatory.  Hotel I stayed at had two clerks that wore the women's uniform, looked like women (makeup, long hair).  Adam's apples and deep voices.  It was a normal thing, no one thought anything of it.

But Saxon and Tim do seem to be using the term in a derogatory way, however, they are both terrible people.

[JenE4]

5 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I just watched both intros again. There are elephants in both, monkeys in both, sea monsters in both. I thought there may be a little something different, but I would have to put more work into it to be sure. 😊

I think the difference is in the end of the first one, the people were getting killed by monkeys and in the end of the second one, people were getting killed by sea monsters. The killing doesn’t happen throughout the whole intro—just at the end. The first episode begins with people being observed by monkeys and the second has the perspective from the sea, like you said. I’m curious whether the third show/intro will have yet another animal perspective, such as birds or something. I won’t repeat my whole spiel from episode 1 wherein I speculate that the characters each embody one of the seven deadly sins and they’ll increasingly lean into their animalistic tendencies, but I’m doubling down even more; the characters’ debaucherous actions will lead to their own downfalls. 

[peeayebee]

There's one image in the intro where a crocodile is lying in wait at the water, then the camera pans up and there's a crane looking at its reflection. The cast name that appears next to it is Natasha Rothwell (Belinda). I think the names correspond to the images. Anyway, this makes me think that Belinda is going to be self-absorbed at some point, thereby missing a lurking danger.

[peeayebee]

I just watched the two intros side by side. They're the same.

I also took the liberty of jotting down what names came up at which picture. Instead of the actor's name, I'll put the character name.

Kate – three elephants
Laurie – elephant being threatned by wild dogs?
Rick – man smoking in tower
Piper – person meditating
Timothy – man in tree
Mook – woman and man laughing together
Jaclyn – woman w big exposed breasts on balcony
Lochlan – man floating in water
Sritala – woman sitting near water holding bird (w human head)
Victoria – two monkeys, one blowing smoke
Belinda – crane looking at reflection, croc watching
Saxon – two frightened women w/ men looking at them lasciviously from trees
Gaitok – man about to fight tiger?
Chelsea – tiger eating deer, 2 jackals threatening

 

[Artsda]

Could the hotel owner husband be Rick's father?

The drugged up mother is getting old and it's only 2 episodes. 

[peeayebee]

10 minutes ago, Artsda said:

Could the hotel owner husband be Rick's father?

I had also wondered that. It's certainly possible.

[JenE4]

38 minutes ago, Artsda said:

Could the hotel owner husband be Rick's father?

The drugged up mother is getting old and it's only 2 episodes. 

I was thinking the husband is the person who is responsible for his father’s death. It seems that Rick is out for vengeance or other bad intentions, not a happy family reunion. 

[peeayebee]

I could see it going either way. Maybe the man killed his father. Or maybe Rick lied during his stress session (about his father being murdered), and this man is his father, a father who was abusive or did something to scar Rick.

[Special K]

There have been a lot of references to water, or being submerged (or semi-submerged) in water - lots of establishing shots where the waves are at eye level, Zion wading through water in the opening scenes, Lachlan in the immersion tank, the two on the hammocks and the tide rising under them, etc.

Also, I was struck by the frequent fire/flambe eruptions from the open kitchen during dinner service when the Gary/Chloe and Rick/Chelsea were eating.

I agree that the dynamic between the three friends is painfully accurate.  Ouch.  I was taken with how well those segments are written (Mike White!).

I caught a "quote" from the WL seasion 2 theme music at one point, woven into the soundtrack!  That was a thrill.

I love Chelsea. Can't wait to learn more about her story/why she's with Rick.

As to the prairie dress on Piper, I think it's meant to refer to the "granny core" aesthetic that some Gen Z have been into.

Edited Wednesday at 04:33 PM by Special K

[peeayebee]

5 minutes ago, Special K said:

Also, I was struck by the frequent fire/flambe eruptions from the open kitchen during dinner service when the Gary/Chloe and Rick/Chelsea were eating.

I noted that, too, at least one time, and I expected one of the characters to make a remark about it. For a second I also wondered if the flame was bigger than the server or chef intended.

[iMonrey]

On 2/24/2025 at 2:39 PM, blackwing said:

I've never seen Walton Goggins in anything before, and it appears he has quite the following.  I've seen multiple comments in this week's episode thread and last about how charismatic he is.  I'm not seeing it at all.  He must be one of those actors that everyone raves about but somehow I don't see the hype. 

Me neither but he seems to have residual admiration for his work on Justified. I only watched two episodes of that show before giving up, it just wasn't for me. He seems to be a fine actor alright but I'm not predisposed to being impressed with him, he's just sort of "meh" for me. And he's got an enormous five-head.

[BC4ME]

19 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I just watched the two intros side by side. They're the same.

I also took the liberty of jotting down what names came up at which picture. Instead of the actor's name, I'll put the character name.

Kate – three elephants
Laurie – elephant being threatned by wild dogs?
Rick – man smoking in tower
Piper – person meditating
Timothy – man in tree
Mook – woman and man laughing together
Jaclyn – woman w big exposed breasts on balcony
Lochlan – man floating in water
Sritala – woman sitting near water holding bird (w human head)
Victoria – two monkeys, one blowing smoke
Belinda – crane looking at reflection, croc watching
Saxon – two frightened women w/ men looking at them lasciviously from trees
Gaitok – man about to fight tiger?
Chelsea – tiger eating deer, 2 jackals threatening

 

Awesome work! Thank you. I feel like going back to see what the images were when the names from the previous two seasons were displayed. We already pretty much know the fate of the characters from those two seasons except for Belinda and Greg so far. 

[peeayebee]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

He seems to be a fine actor alright but I'm not predisposed to being impressed with him, he's just sort of "meh" for me. And he's got an enormous five-head.

You should see his teeth when he smiles.

[carrps]

On 2/23/2025 at 8:26 PM, iMonrey said:

The dress Jaclyn wore to dinner was hideous. It looked like something a drag queen would wear to Mardi Gras.

It was couture. Valentino. I saw the name and wondered if it was a reference to Valentin.

 

[cmfran]

I know this show tends to take its time with plot development, but wow, these first 2 episodes have been slow. If the next couple don't move a bit faster, I'm not sure if I'll continue.

Parker Posey is basically channeling Moira Rose. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

Victoria Ratliff Runs Into Kate Bohr In Thailand | The White Lotus Season 3 | Max

 

[Harvey]

14 hours ago, cmfran said:

I know this show tends to take its time with plot development, but wow, these first 2 episodes have been slow. If the next couple don't move a bit faster, I'm not sure if I'll continue.

Parker Posey is basically channeling Moira Rose. 

I keep complaining at home that this series would be so much more enjoyable if we received the entire season at once because then this super slow buildup would not be an issue. But yeah, I am with you there. The real way to watch this show would be to just not watch it until the entire season is out and then binge it afterwards, but of course you need a lot of restraint for that as well. There is just no good way to enjoy it, and at this point there are simply too many question marks with hardly any answers.

And I know, of course. We will get the answers by episode 8. But it is just very far away.

[AstridM]

5 hours ago, Harvey said:

The real way to watch this show would be to just not watch it until the entire season is out and then binge it afterwards

I often do this with shows. It IS possible, lol. 

[Harvey]

3 hours ago, AstridM said:

I often do this with shows. It IS possible, lol. 

Yeah I do it too I am just invested in these characters at this point so it is hard to wait.

[Haleth]

I was sympathetic to Laurie last week but this epi she showed she’s just as catty as her friends. I love Carrie Coonz though; this character is such a far cry from Bertha on The Gilded Age.

The family is awful, well, except for maybe Piper. Saxon is a pig and his mother encourages his gross behavior. Did anyone else notice how Jason Isaac’s real accent keeps poking through?

About the only guest I like is Chelsea. She is a bright light in a sea of glum. (And yes, she reminds me of Keeley.) I’m guessing Rick is looking for his father?  He showed some genuine concern for Chelsea after the robbery so he’s not a complete jerk.

(Off topic- Justified was a great show even if some seasons were better than others.  Best ending of a series ever.  Goggin’s character was by far the most interesting one, start to finish.  Horrible person but fascinating to watch.)

Thats really interesting, the art associated with the actors in the credits.  I hope it’s not Lochy floating in the water!