S03.E06: Denials

[Snazzy Daisy]

Quote

In the wake of the Full Moon festivities, Laurie finds herself feeling deceived by Jaclyn, while a hungover Saxon tries to bury what happened the night before.

Later, Belinda’s son arrives at an inopportune moment, Chloe faces questions from her boyfriend, and Rick continues his ruse with Sritala.

Air Date: Mar 23, 2025

 

The White Lotus Season 3 | Episode 6 Preview | Max

 

[Snazzy Daisy]

[NeenerNeener]

Ugh. They did go there, without actually "going there" on screen.

 

Whoops! Spoke too soon. 

Edited Monday at 01:58 AM by NeenerNeener

[Is Everyone Gone]

I'm over the Saxon/Lochlan incest storyline. At this point, it's just unpleasant. I did feel bad for Saxon though. He was SA'ed.

I worry about Belinda. Hope she'll be okay.

Victoria asking Piper to stay in the monastery for one night was actually smart.

Poor Tim.

The three women are so unpleasant, I kind of hate their storyline.

Edited Monday at 02:22 AM by Is Everyone Gone

[Pi237]

The brothers storyline would’ve played more authentic to me if they either didn’t 

a) have the weird foreshadowing of the younger brother staring lustily at the older brothers behind or

b) had them Both act shocked and mortified when the flashbacks of exactly what happened popped in their heads

Because if the younger brother was acting in a predatory way, why make him look stricken when he remembered?

It’d make more sense to cut that one scene out of Lochy staring at Saxons behind, and just have the whole thing be the result of being totally drugged up.  Then, the mortification from both brothers makes sense. And would be more plausible since I’m sure a lot of people do really messed up, regrettable things when in a black out.

I actually enjoyed the 3 women having tension after Jaclyn hooked up with the guy she’d been pushing on Laurie all night. As she said, Jaclyn always did that and I totally see it. Of course, she would deny it. And poor Kate stuck in the middle, trying to keep the peace.  These three characters are so true to life, I think everyone knows a girl friendship group like this.

Beware a boat owned by Gary!! 

[Snazzy Daisy]

The White Lotus Season 3 | Inside Episode 6 | Max

 

[QQQQ]

Omg, I always scroll past the (seemingly) dozens of photos posted in each weekly episode forum, but this week I did so with my eyes closed lest someone decided to post stills from the brothers' encounter.  🙈🤦😩

[thuganomics85]

First it was Taiwan, and now it's China.  Maybe by the end of the season/series, Victoria will finally figure out what country she's actually in!  I believe in her!

So, The White Lotus finally did what HBO does best and brought in some good old incest to the proceedings!  Not sure if there was any actual sex (yet?), but it certainly looks like a handjob was involved.  I imagine this is only the beginning of a major fallout.  Patrick Schwarzenegger in particular, really is playing it like Saxon was assaulted, which plays differently compared to the way Chelsea and Chloe are reacting to it.  Lochlan though is the bigger question mark.  He's claiming he blacked out too, but if he had more awareness over what he was doing to Saxon, then that takes things into even darker territory.  Either way, I do not see the Ratliffs coming out of this as a happy family.

At least it's not just them, because at this rate, the friend group is going to completely crash out.  Each one of them have their own issues and weak points, but after sympathizing with Kate last week, I'm back to being more on Laurie's side now, because I really don't believe that Kate wasn't just trying to stir up more drama by letting it slip that she saw Valentin leaving Jaclyn's room.  Nah, she didn't spill the beans just to get a "laugh" out of it: I think she wanted to see Laurie squirm and get upset.  And then once confronted, Jaclyn, somehow made herself the victim in all of it.  Sure, buddy.  If that's the case, I'm guessing you'll tell your husband (who, apparently, was just working the entire time) all about it when you get back!  This gang is such a mess!

Zion is finally here and I'm already liking how casual he was over stumbling upon Belinda and Pornchai in bed, and just seems to be happy that Belinda is letting loose a little.  Their relationship seems built on solid ground, so I hope Greg and whatever he is scheming doesn't fuck all of that up.

Rick (along with Sam Rockwell again!) finally gets an audience with Sritala and her husband, and while we don't see his face yet, the guest cast credit confirms who I thought he was once I heard his voice!

I'm pulling for her still, but I have a feeling things won't work out for Piper and the monastery.  Feels like a shoe of some kind is going to drop that will prevent it from working out for her.

Episode seems to be hinting the possibility of Tim becoming a family annihilator with his visions of first killing himself, and then killing Victoria after she claimed she couldn't live without wealth.  But I'm guessing it's all a fake-out.  Right now, I'm leaning towards Gaitok being involved with the mysterious shootout.  He seems like a natural shot; at least on the range; but continues to be insecure about "manning up", impressing Mook, etc.  I'm guessing he's going to get into some kind of situation, tries to play the hero, and ends up being too trigger-happy, which will lead to unnecessary deaths.

[Is Everyone Gone]

I have to say that my favorite character this season might be ... uh, Saxon? 

Not that he's not a douche (he is), but he seems to be the least hypocritical of the bunch. He's fairly aware of who he is and what he wants.

Him being shaken out the bro-job was excellent acting.

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, Pi237 said:

 

I actually enjoyed the 3 women having tension after Jaclyn hooked up with the guy she’d been pushing on Laurie all night. As she said, Jaclyn always did that and I totally see it. Of course, she would deny it. And poor Kate stuck in the middle, trying to keep the peace.  These three characters are so true to life, I think everyone knows a girl friendship group like this.

I presume Kate feels guilty because she kind of started the feud by telling Laurie what happened.  Jaclyn didn't help by lying when confronted.  Things probably would have cooled down instantly if she had just admitted to what she had done (not that she tried to encourage Laurie to have sex with Valentin, but she really wanted him for herself, but that she did sleep with the guy).

 

37 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

Their relationship seems built on solid ground, so I hope Greg and whatever he is scheming doesn't fuck all of that up.

I'm not sure what Greg is up to (either murder or perhaps he will offer Belinda a payoff to go away), but I'm glad Belinda got out of there as quickly as possible.  

[MerBearStare]

Victoria is more on top of things than she seems. I agree with the poster who thought it was smart of her to tell Piper to stay in the monastery for the night. I have a feeling Piper will hate it, but she also might be so stubborn that she won't admit it. Although this could all be moot once they find out they're broke.

As uncomfortable as this whole incest storyline is, I was reading an article in the Washington Post over the summer about a guy who had been adopted as a baby and when he did one of those DNA kits, he found out his bio dad was also his grandfather. They quoted an expert as saying that incest is more common than people think, but it's hard to get an exact number because even anonymously people don't want to admit anything.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Pi237 said:

Because if the younger brother was acting in a predatory way, why make him look stricken when he remembered?

It’d make more sense to cut that one scene out of Lochy staring at Saxons behind, and just have the whole thing be the result of being totally drugged up.  Then, the mortification from both brothers makes sense. And would be more plausible since I’m sure a lot of people do really messed up, regrettable things when in a black out.

I guess the question is whether or not Lochy is predatory. Saxon is visibly shaken now but he was the one subtlely taunting his brother in the earlier episodes.  He put his ass out.  He's the one who told his brother he was going to masturbate and left the door ajar as he got naked.  He's the one who openly discussed Lochy and his sister's sex lives. 

He started pushing the boundaries and once they were on drugs, Lochy pushed them further. 

47 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

because at this rate, the friend group is going to completely crash out. 

I think it'll look that way but at the end they'll be like "we should do this again some time" where they can get passive aggressive all over again. 

[TomGirl]

Did anyone else think Tim might decide to stay at the monastery along with Piper?  He seemed very impressed.

Loved “Locher and Pipelin”.

[AntFTW]

12 minutes ago, TomGirl said:

Did anyone else think Tim might decide to stay at the monastery along with Piper?  He seemed very impressed.

I could see that. Initially, I thought that Lochlan might stay.

[Cheezwiz]

Good acting by Patrick Schwarzenegger this episode. I still can't stand Saxon, but it was interesting seeing him taken down several pegs this episode. I laughed out loud when Chelsea offhandedly called him "soulless". YEP.

Did anyone get the feeling that Tim wanted to move into the monastery himself after chatting with the monk? It would be a funny twist if instead of disappearing into Thailand to avoid prosecution, Dad decides to become a Buddhist instead of his flaky daughter. I have to say that I'm so stressed out at the moment (not in a white-collar crime kind of way), that everything about the scenes with the monks appealed to me  BIG TIME - and I'm someone who loves creature comforts!

I'm still enjoying the storyline with the three ladies - I'm hoping something batshit and dramatic happens there, because it's what I've been anticipating.

The actress playing Chloe reminds me of Winona Ryder from certain angles.

I'm super bored with both Belinda & Gaitok's storylines. I don't dislike their characters, I just don't care that much about them.

Looks like next week, everyone will be attending the dinner party from hell at Greg's mansion!

[Snazzy Daisy]

The “Locher and Pipelan” line makes me laugh. 😂

2 episodes left, I seriously hope TWL will pick up the pace.

[Harvey]

What's everyone's opinion on this ultimately being damaging to the LGBTQ community, like Grace Randolph said? I feel like they've brought a homophobe's idea of a gay person, especially a family member to life this episode.. Definitely for the first time in mainstream media I believe (GOT is not present day).🤔

Saxton being disgusted, seemingly non-consensual, and his brother being guilty. I would hate a homophobe to watch this with a gay son or brother. It's not a great representation. It'll be interesting to see how this episode plays out online this week.😬

[T Summer]

I hate the pacing and writing of this season!

Did we really need to find out this week what the brothers did with Chloe (the willing one of the two women) LAST WEEK?

 

...and did we really need Frank to confirm he isn't down for any killing or helping Rick  facilitate his revenge killing THIS WEEK after he already said he's now a teetotaling Buddhist... and when he handed over the gun "I hope you're not planning on using this" LAST  WEEK?

 

How come all these surveillance cameras don't help staff out with who is taking (or putting back) the gun? [forcing us to watch searches in real time] ...and why did they give Gaitok the responsibility of the gun if they doubt his competence with firearms in the first place?

 

What kind of fish-brained staff member just opens a woman staff member's door, with her son beside him no less? and why does it open with full view of her bed? If Belinda's quarters are one room, all the more reason to knock and wait for  a response before entering!

This week for the first time in a while we don't see Tim appearing doped in the middle of the day and finally a family member notices him and asks if he's ok, and it's soulless Saxon? I call complete BS! Also, I'm sick of watching Tim imagining every possible escape scenario! B-o-r-i-n-g!

 

I would have thought mum Victoria's idea was Piper stay over without the safety of having a family member accompanying her . 🙄

 

Sritola(sp?) hesitated about the meeting with Frank at her house by saying her husband was not well. So why is he right there with her to greet them? I'd have thought he'd be hidden away in a sick bed given her comment.

7 hours ago, Is Everyone Gone said:

The three women are so unpleasant, I kind of hate their storyline.

^ Amen Amen Amen

[QQQQ]

I could see Victoria giving a sizable donation to the monks in exchange for making sure her daughter's overnight stay is less than ideal. And if Lachlan found out, I wonder if he'd support his sister or blackmail his mother 😅

[Chaos Theory]

This season isn’t hitting me like other seasons have.   I can’t explain exactly why.   I know Walter Goggins is a fan favorite actor but he does nothing for me.  The  family story is a bit weird with the incest stuff but I don’t think it has anything to do with LGBTQ stuff except how people conflate the two even though they are completely separate issues.    I am actually the most interesting in the middle brother because he is the least defined and caught between Saxton’s extreme masculinity and Piper’s perceived spirituality.   It would be interesting if it was all because she doesn’t want to be like her mother who seems to only care about money.     

[Madding crowd]

I didn’t like Chloe or Chelsea in this episode. They could have just had a fun time partying but instead wanted to bring down the brothers in some way. Chloe didn’t need to confess to Gary and now he will probably try to force them to kill Belinda for him.

Thinking maybe Tim stays with the monks and Piper changes her mind. Jaclyn seems like a bitch and she had a lot of nerve being mad after she pushed Valentin on Laurie, knew Laurie was attracted to him then had to have him for herself. And she’s married. I keep thinking her husband is going to show up and find her with Valentin. Rick’s story seems so separate from the rest of the show. I guess everything will happen at Gary’s party. The actor plays Gary/Greg as so unlikable that I don’t know why people would want to hang around him. I hope Piper, Saxon and Lochlan end up Ok. I don’t think any of them are evil.

[slowpoked]

8 hours ago, Cheezwiz said:

I laughed out loud when Chelsea offhandedly called him "soulless". YEP

Chelsea might be becoming my favorite character this season. The stereotype of her character would have hooked up with younger, hotter Saxon by now. But she’s genuinely standing by her man. Speaking of Rick, when did his mother die? Is this just a recent event? I would think that Chelsea being this emotionally connected to him means they had a lot of good times together, and Rick being this sullen was just a recent development.

Re: Saxon - Chelsea pointed out exactly why he’s not getting laid. He’s cravenly desperate. And women can smell desperation. This was shown as early as the first episode, where Saxon called out to Chelsea and he also called out to the three ladies, all of whom rejected him. Aside from the confusion of what happened with their threesome, he’s also feeling the insecurity of women wanting his brother more than him. He’s really all bark and no bite. And when Chloe and Chelsea decided to reject him, in different ways, it devastated him.

That speech by the monk to Tim re: what happens when we die seemed familiar to me. Sure enough, it was the same speech Chidi gave to Eleanor on the finale of The Good Place. And sure enough, Chidi mentioned it’s a tenet of Buddhism. Nice, subtle touch, I guess.

Edited Monday at 01:28 PM by slowpoked

[Madding crowd]

Chelsea has no right to call someone else soulless though. She lives a life of luxury being supported by a rich, older man. She doesn’t seem to do much beyond lie by the pool.

[txhorns79]

9 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

Chelsea has no right to call someone else soulless though. She lives a life of luxury being supported by a rich, older man. She doesn’t seem to do much beyond lie by the pool.

Saxon wasn't being called soulless because of his lifestyle or background.  He was called soulless because of his behavior and personality.  I don't think that Chelsea appears to be a party girl undercuts her message.        

[overtherainbow]

Well snap, it’s really heating up. We have 2 more episodes. This could go a lot of ways. 

Timothy is debating murder-suicide, not yet realizing the gun is missing. I was holding my breath the whole time Gaitok was sneaking around their villa, flashbacks to S1 when Kai’s attempted robbery went down south. 

I second the poster who said may very well be Timothy who ends up staying at the monastery, realizing after talking with the monk that there is so much more to life and he has more to learn. That will be his 'out'. Victoria will OD on lorazepam and wine from the shock of it. 

Even though we kinda saw the brothers storyline from a mile away, ew! Chloe and Chelsea were a little too smug in this episode at Saxon's disgust at the realization that he got more action from his little brother than the two women. Considering Lachlan is also barely 18 and still in high school, letting it go that far felt predatory on their part. 

Laurie is pulling no punches and the gloves are off. 

Rick is preparing for his showdown with Sritala's husband. 

Belinda, again, needs to stay as far away from Greg/Gary as possible. If she makes it out of this, time to shed the White Lotus for good and get serious about opening up her own spa or start looking for a new ritzy resort masseuse job. 

I hope Mook (Lisa) has a bigger role in the finale than just smiling widely and flirting with Gaitok. For as big of a deal as they've made her debut out to be, they haven’t given her a ton to work with. 

[Mindthinkr]

46 minutes ago, overtherainbow said:

I hope Mook (Lisa) has a bigger role in the finale than just smiling widely and flirting with Gaitok. For as big of a deal as they've made her debut out to be, they haven’t given her a ton to work with. 

If they don’t then this is just boring filler. 

[slowpoked]

10 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

If they don’t then this is just boring filler. 

I would really be disappointed if the death ended up being one of the hotel employees. In S1, the hotel manager dying just didn’t seem to have enough oomph. After killing Tanya last season, it would be a huge letdown by Mike White if the dead body ends up being Gaitok, Fabian or Valentin.

Speaking of the dead body, it was shown that the body had dark hair, correct? So that already rules out the three friends? 

[storyskip]

I took Tim’s “enlightenment” moment with the monk an entirely different way.

My read on that scene was that Tim found the idea of “returning to the peace of the collective consciousness” as a “pro” to offing himself and escaping the pain of life.

Victoria’s words seemed to double down on this, with her “I’d rather be peacefully dead, than struggling with the pain of being poor.” Of course Victoria made that comment thinking it was all speculation because she cannot conceive that her little bubble could be busted.

I think Tim is going to take the monks words as “permission”, heck even encouragement to become a family annihilator, because in his confused (drugged) mind, he’d be doing his family a favor; giving them peace instead of pain.

Lorazepam (any of benzodiazepines) are a slippery slope, especially if taken for anxiety. Sure while you’re under their influence the world seems fine, but when you’re no longer under their influence, the anxiety comes back twice as hard. It’s part of why benzodiazepines are so addictive. 
 

So Tim is a ticking time bomb, because he’s about to lose everything, go to prison, lose his identity as “family provider”,  he’s put himself on a drug that can really muck up your brain chemistry, and he’s “hearing” a message that suggests death is this peaceful existence, where life is pain.

I think Gary’s dinner party is a red herring. As someone already noted, we know from episode 1 that Belinda is going to survive. Rick and his gun are in Bangkok, so that leaves Tim to snap.

[Harvey]

8 minutes ago, storyskip said:

.

I think Gary’s dinner party is a red herring. As someone already noted, we know from episode 1 that Belinda is going to survive. Rick and his gun are in Bangkok, so that leaves Tim to snap.

Spoiler

Gary is not going to try to kill Belinda. He is going to try to buy her silence. 

 

[SFoster21]

23 minutes ago, storyskip said:

I took Tim’s “enlightenment” moment with the monk an entirely different way.

My read on that scene was that Tim found the idea of “returning to the peace of the collective consciousness” as a “pro” to offing himself and escaping the pain of life.

Victoria’s words seemed to double down on this, with her “I’d rather be peacefully dead, than struggling with the pain of being poor.” Of course Victoria made that comment thinking it was all speculation because she cannot conceive that her little bubble could be busted.

I think Tim is going to take the monks words as “permission”, heck even encouragement to become a family annihilator, because in his confused (drugged) mind, he’d be doing his family a favor; giving them peace instead of pain.

Lorazepam (any of benzodiazepines) are a slippery slope, especially if taken for anxiety. Sure while you’re under their influence the world seems fine, but when you’re no longer under their influence, the anxiety comes back twice as hard. It’s part of why benzodiazepines are so addictive. 
 

So Tim is a ticking time bomb, because he’s about to lose everything, go to prison, lose his identity as “family provider”,  he’s put himself on a drug that can really muck up your brain chemistry, and he’s “hearing” a message that suggests death is this peaceful existence, where life is pain.

I think Gary’s dinner party is a red herring. As someone already noted, we know from episode 1 that Belinda is going to survive. Rick and his gun are in Bangkok, so that leaves Tim to snap.

The opening scene of Ep 1 with the shooting is followed by a chyron reading ”one week earlier.”  
 

has not been a week, ok???

[peeayebee]

12 hours ago, Pi237 said:

Because if the younger brother was acting in a predatory way, why make him look stricken when he remembered?

It’d make more sense to cut that one scene out of Lochy staring at Saxons behind, and just have the whole thing be the result of being totally drugged up.  Then, the mortification from both brothers makes sense. And would be more plausible since I’m sure a lot of people do really messed up, regrettable things when in a black out.

I don't see Lachlan as being predatory. I don't think his staring at Saxton's butt was about him wanting his brother or wanting to take advantage of him. Saxton was the big brother constantly talking big, talking about getting laid, pushing it like it was the most important thing in life. Lachlan was curious, probably a virgin. I remember as a little girl coming home from the beach with my big sister. She was wearing a bikini, and I looked at her breasts. Didn't mean I wanted to have sex with her. 

Lachlan was like a blank slate. He didn't know what he wanted. Sex with a woman? Sex with a man? I think he admired his big brother and wondered if he could be like him. Reminds me of Frank saying that he wanted to fuck himself. Maybe that's something like what Lachlan was going thru.

 

11 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Patrick Schwarzenegger in particular, really is playing it like Saxon was assaulted

When he rushed to the toilet to throw up, I thought of that interview with the Chloe actress who said that after the kiss with Lachlan, Patrick looked like he was going to throw up. I wonder if she got confused in the interview and was thinking of Saxton throwing up.

Quote

At least it's not just them, because at this rate, the friend group is going to completely crash out.  Each one of them have their own issues and weak points, but after sympathizing with Kate last week, I'm back to being more on Laurie's side now, because I really don't believe that Kate wasn't just trying to stir up more drama by letting it slip that she saw Valentin leaving Jaclyn's room.  Nah, she didn't spill the beans just to get a "laugh" out of it: I think she wanted to see Laurie squirm and get upset.

 

I don't think Kate was trying to stir up trouble. I think she just wanted to gossip. She thinks gossip is fun and harmless. She seems like an airhead, not really understanding much of anything. 

This ep was an improvement. Things seemed to be moving along. 

I'm glad Gaitok got the gun back. I assume Tim will look for it and see it's missing.  Maybe he will think one of the family took it. 

Gary is scary. 

Jaclyn is awful. It would have been so easy and harmless for her to admit to Kate and Laurie that she slept with Valentin. But she can't admit any weakness. 

I hope Belinda and Pornchai are able to open a spa together, but it probably won't happen.

I haven't checked to see who is playing Sritala's husband, but I'm curious. I'll wait until next week to find out.

Sritala seemed awfully suspicious when Rick was telling her about the director wanting to meet her. She's smart.

My favorite part of this episode was the monk. He made me want to move to Thailand and live in the monastery. I knew Tim would be affected by what he said. Heck, I was as well.

And then when Piper and Lachlan were there, and he says, "As thoughts emerge, say hello!" then "And very gently let them go. Goodbye!" That's what Lachlan and Saxton need to do to their memories of the night. Hello, memory! Goodbye, memory!

[One Imaginary Girl]

Early in the episode, Victoria said Piper would go on to live a long life, so I wonder if that was some foreshadowing that actually something bad is going to happen to her.

[Cosmocrush]

13 hours ago, Pi237 said:

It’d make more sense to cut that one scene out of Lochy staring at Saxons behind, and just have the whole thing be the result of being totally drugged up.  Then, the mortification from both brothers makes sense. And would be more plausible since I’m sure a lot of people do really messed up, regrettable things when in a black out.

Like Chelsea said, I can't think of a single drug that would make me have sex with my brother. 

Because they did show the earlier scene of Locky starting at Saxon's behind I am leaning towards Locky acting as the predator here, at least as far as Sazon goes.   And I didn't believe him for a minute when he immediately told Saxon was he couldn't remember anything of the last night.  I think Locky hates Saxon.  

 

Edited Monday at 04:22 PM by Cosmocrush

[iMonrey]

6 hours ago, T Summer said:

14 hours ago, Is Everyone Gone said:

The three women are so unpleasant, I kind of hate their storyline.

 

I get that a lot of people find them funny or interesting, I hear a lot of how "realistic" their dynamic is, and maybe that's true. But I don't find it terribly interesting to watch. All three are basically just unhappy people down deep and catty. I don't think it's funny or interesting, I just find it unpleasant to watch.

[Sailorgirl26]

2 hours ago, storyskip said:

I took Tim’s “enlightenment” moment with the monk an entirely different way.

My read on that scene was that Tim found the idea of “returning to the peace of the collective consciousness” as a “pro” to offing himself and escaping the pain of life.

Victoria’s words seemed to double down on this, with her “I’d rather be peacefully dead, than struggling with the pain of being poor.” Of course Victoria made that comment thinking it was all speculation because she cannot conceive that her little bubble could be busted.

I think Tim is going to take the monks words as “permission”, heck even encouragement to become a family annihilator, because in his confused (drugged) mind, he’d be doing his family a favor; giving them peace instead of pain.

I took it the same way and had the same thoughts as you. 

[kittykat]

I think the biggest twist of last night's episode was that Gaitok actually found the gun and fails upwards another day.

Interesting that in the end Victoria might be the most honest and realistic of the Ratliffs.  She makes it clear how she knows her privileged status and wouldn't want to live without it.  Also it was smart of her to tell Piper to stay for a night.  How the turn tables.

Well it's no surprise the three ladies are on the verge of a showdown.  Jaclyn doubles down on lying, Laurie is done with niceties and Kate is maybe a teensy regretful with opening today's can of worms.  Who wants to bet that by the end Jaclyn and Laurie throw each other into the pool while Kate sips a margarita.

[susannot]

If Tim Ratliff does turn out to be a family annihilator, then the casting of Jason Isaacs in the role was inspired.  After all he was Lucius Malfoy, the Death Eater and right hand man of Voldemort.  But I don't think Ratliff will kill his family.  Lucius Malfoy turned away from the dark side at the end of Harry Potter.

[Sailorgirl26]

2 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I don't think Kate was trying to stir up trouble. I think she just wanted to gossip. She thinks gossip is fun and harmless. She seems like an airhead, not really understanding much of anything. 

I think Kate is living what she sees as a perfect little bubble of a life in Texas and has adapted herself into the perfect picture of a wealthy, conservative soccer mum. If she'd married say, a New York liberal arts professor, she'd likely be a wealthy liberal hippie. 

Instead of appreciating her lifelong friends for their role in her life, she's judging them because they don't fit into the picture of the life she's created in Texas. 

She strikes me as a follower type of personality -- she adapts who she is to whomever she is with. My cousin is like that -- never gave a whit about religion and then started dating and then married a born-again, and all of a sudden she's the perfect religious wife, going to church, teaching Sunday school, going on mission trips, etc. Meanwhile, years earlier, she dated the son of a really famous professional athlete and was all about the sports life. 

I also have a girlfriend who adapted her personality to whomever she was dating. Her now husband is super into his college basketball team, and now she is the biggest fan, wearing all the gear, going to all the games, etc., despite never caring about basketball before dating him. 

its one thing to tag on/learn about your SO's interests and hobbies, its another thing to absorb them as part of your identity because its part of your SO's identity. 

Someone once said to me they were living a life of "comfortable misery." Married, not particularly happy but not so unhappy to go through the effort of getting a divorce and upending their life -- instead he was just going through the motions to make it look to the outside world like his life was everything society tells us it should be. His wife ultimately divorced him, and he was devastated. WTH? Dude, you got the result you wanted -- the one you were too lazy to make happen. I told him as much. 

I also knew a guy who would tear it up at regatta parties, partying like he was single and no responsibilities, cheated on his wife, the whole thing. His wife knew about it all but chose to turn a blind eye and live in willful ignorance because she didn't want to upset the apple cart (and she was the primary breadwinner!). That strikes me as Kate as well -- who knows if her life is actually the picture perfect bliss she makes it out to be or if she's just living in willful ignorance or is comfortably miserable. 

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I get that a lot of people find them funny or interesting, I hear a lot of how "realistic" their dynamic is, and maybe that's true. But I don't find it terribly interesting to watch. All three are basically just unhappy people down deep and catty. I don't think it's funny or interesting, I just find it unpleasant to watch.

I feel like Laurie is the most well-adjusted of them all. Yeah, she's dealing with her shit, having to pay alimony, having a kid with issues because of the divorce, but she seems to be handling in stride more than the other two are handling their issues. Her actions and behavior to me seem like how most "normal" people would act on vacation. Even her complaining about work with the Russians in the pool was normal drunken -- oh my god, my job SUCKS -- type of complaining. 

Edited Monday at 05:37 PM by Sailorgirl26

[Tara]

This season is horrible! Just like so many series that start out good, the writers must get shipped out somewhere else and some non-writer drives the series into the ground. I feel the last two episodes went nowhere, filled with time-fillers and the usual gratuitous sex.  RIP, White Lotus.

[CarpeFelis]

5 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

Jaclyn seems like a bitch and she had a lot of nerve being mad after she pushed Valentin on Laurie, knew Laurie was attracted to him then had to have him for herself. And she’s married. I keep thinking her husband is going to show up and find her with Valentin.

I wonder if she really did want Valentin for herself all along. Maybe it was just opportunism combined with her insecurity over feeling old (he was the one who sent them to the resort with all the retirees, after all) and wondering if her 10-years-younger husband was cheating on her. But even so, yeah, she had a lot of nerve being mad. I do hope the husband shows up, if only because I didn’t recognize the voice on the phone and wonder who the actor was.

I was in a similar situation once in my 20s though it went a little differently. A friend (who was not married herself like Jaclyn) was pushing me at a guy. Only we did end up hooking up—just once—and she got majorly pissed off. And, like Laurie, I could only wonder why she’d been pushing me at him if she really wanted him for herself. Looking back I knownshe was really a frenemy and was probably hoping I’d be rejected.

5 hours ago, slowpoked said:

Re: Saxon - Chelsea pointed out exactly why he’s not getting laid. He’s cravenly desperate. And women can smell desperation.

It’s that plus it’s so obvious he’s an entitled douchebag. He thinks of women as “pussy” and thinks the world owes him that because he’s good-looking and from a rich family.

Belinda needs to stay far, far away from Greg’s dinner party. He also might try to kill Saxon. Lochlan will be safely tucked away at the monastery.

Victoria telling Piper to stay one night at the monastery was a good idea, but I don’t think she’ll like how it turns out. She seems incredibly ignorant and unable to imagine anyone feeling differently than she does. With her obnoxious attitudes it’s no wonder Piper wants the opposite.

Wouldn’t it be ironic as hell if Tim ends up dead from an accidental OD on the lorazepam?

4 hours ago, overtherainbow said:

Saxon's disgust at the realization that he got more action from his little brother than the two women.

He didn’t. Chloe admitted she had sex with both brothers.

[Makai]

13 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I guess the question is whether or not Lochy is predatory. Saxon is visibly shaken now but he was the one subtlely taunting his brother in the earlier episodes.  He put his ass out.  He's the one who told his brother he was going to masturbate and left the door ajar as he got naked.  He's the one who openly discussed Lochy and his sister's sex lives. 

He started pushing the boundaries and once they were on drugs, Lochy pushed them further. 

I see it the same way. Lochlan is also a barely 18 year-old high school senior out with a group of adults who intentionally wanted to push him sexually. 

9 hours ago, Harvey said:

What's everyone's opinion on this ultimately being damaging to the LGBTQ community, like Grace Randolph said? I feel like they've brought a homophobe's idea of a gay person, especially a family member to life this episode.. Definitely for the first time in mainstream media I believe (GOT is not present day).🤔

Saxton being disgusted, seemingly non-consensual, and his brother being guilty. I would hate a homophobe to watch this with a gay son or brother. It's not a great representation. It'll be interesting to see how this episode plays out online this week.😬

I will find it interesting if this is being viewed as gay representation rather than a representation of toxic masculinity. 

3 hours ago, storyskip said:

I took Tim’s “enlightenment” moment with the monk an entirely different way.

My read on that scene was that Tim found the idea of “returning to the peace of the collective consciousness” as a “pro” to offing himself and escaping the pain of life.

Victoria’s words seemed to double down on this, with her “I’d rather be peacefully dead, than struggling with the pain of being poor.” Of course Victoria made that comment thinking it was all speculation because she cannot conceive that her little bubble could be busted.

I think Tim is going to take the monks words as “permission”, heck even encouragement to become a family annihilator, because in his confused (drugged) mind, he’d be doing his family a favor; giving them peace instead of pain.

Lorazepam (any of benzodiazepines) are a slippery slope, especially if taken for anxiety. Sure while you’re under their influence the world seems fine, but when you’re no longer under their influence, the anxiety comes back twice as hard. It’s part of why benzodiazepines are so addictive. 
 

So Tim is a ticking time bomb, because he’s about to lose everything, go to prison, lose his identity as “family provider”,  he’s put himself on a drug that can really muck up your brain chemistry, and he’s “hearing” a message that suggests death is this peaceful existence, where life is pain.

I think Gary’s dinner party is a red herring. As someone already noted, we know from episode 1 that Belinda is going to survive. Rick and his gun are in Bangkok, so that leaves Tim to snap.

I interpreted the scene with Tim and the monk the same way. I thought that Tim choosing to stay in Thailand was more of a possibility before this episode. Although I still think that Tim’s plotting is red herring for the dead body in the opening. 

[RunningMarket]

1 hour ago, kittykat said:

I think the biggest twist of last night's episode was that Gaitok actually found the gun and fails upwards another day.

Not to mention, we learn he's a good shot. Guessing that little tidbit comes in handy soon.

[txhorns79]

28 minutes ago, CarpeFelis said:

He didn’t. Chloe admitted she had sex with both brothers.

Having "sex" with both brothers can mean a lot of different things. 

29 minutes ago, CarpeFelis said:

 

Belinda needs to stay far, far away from Greg’s dinner party.

Given how he just kind of appeared in her path this episode, and it was super creepy, I'd tell her to avoid being alone as much as possible. 

 

17 minutes ago, Makai said:

I thought that Tim choosing to stay in Thailand was more of a possibility before this episode.

Thailand does have an extradition treaty with the US.  I'm also not sure if Tim has access to the kind of funds he would need to completely start over with a new identity. 

[tennisgurl]

I love that, as just about everyone else at this resort is crashing out to an inevitable break down, Fabian is going on about facing his stage fright. Oh yeah, Belinda told you yesterday that she thinks a guy hanging out at the hotel is a murderer who might kill her too and just said she is still worried about it, but your singing at a company dinner is the thing to be nervous about. 

Timothy having a moment thinking about killing his family makes me now think that it wont happen. I feel like he will end up either staying at the monastery (while Piper wants to go home) or kill himself, inspired by the monks' story about becoming one with the rest of existence after dying. 

I'm glad to know that Victoria continues to have no idea what country she's in. "He better be the best Buddhist in China!" I actually think that having Piper spend time with the monks before she commits to staying is the smartest thing that Victoria has ever said, Piper doesn't seem to have a lot of experience living without her creature comforts and it might not be the experience she really wants.

The girls trip is finally imploding now that they're actually fighting and not just gossiping. I don't think that Kate meant for Laurie to be so pissed at Jaclyn, she thought that it was just another giggling gossip session, but she underestimated how much resentment has been boiling between them, especially from Laurie. Kate strikes me as someone who never really wants to rock the boat so much as she wants to follow whoever the current "leader" is and allow things to just float along with gossiping being just something silly and harmless. I think Laurie is right to be mad, Jocelyn sleeping with the same guy she's been pushing at Laurie is particularly shitty, but none of the three of them have ground to stand on when it comes to being a bad friend, all they've done is shit talk each other this whole trip and they all know it.

I actually felt a little something for Saxon when Chelsea told him that he was "soulless" and it was sad. He looked like he'd been punched, but its a pretty fair assessment of him. He's so empty as a person, copying what he thinks is manly, trying to imitate his father at work, even his hedonism seems performative, he's so shallow and its so obvious. Everything between him and Lochy is so truly bizarre, I don't even know where to start. Except that Chloe is weirdly amused by incest, which is even creepier as Lochy is a barely legal high school student who looks even younger. 

[slowpoked]

1 hour ago, kittykat said:

 

I think the biggest twist of last night's episode was that Gaitok actually found the gun and fails upwards another day.

 

That entire sequence is funny to me because you could tell that as Gaitok was leaving, there’s no other way he could have come from, except from the Ratliff’s villa. But true to what happens in real life, resort guests never notice the help. Gaitok probably didn’t even register to Tim as the person who meekly confronted him in the bathroom the previous night. Gaitok got lucky because he was invisible to the Ratliffs, not because he was good.

Last night’s episode is probably the first time I liked Victoria in her naked honesty of admitting to not knowing what she’ll do with her life if they lose everything, meaning money. Obviously it’s outright privilege, but it’s also the scary truth.

[overtherainbow]

4 hours ago, storyskip said:

I took Tim’s “enlightenment” moment with the monk an entirely different way.

My read on that scene was that Tim found the idea of “returning to the peace of the collective consciousness” as a “pro” to offing himself and escaping the pain of life.

Victoria’s words seemed to double down on this, with her “I’d rather be peacefully dead, than struggling with the pain of being poor.” Of course Victoria made that comment thinking it was all speculation because she cannot conceive that her little bubble could be busted.

I think Tim is going to take the monks words as “permission”, heck even encouragement to become a family annihilator, because in his confused (drugged) mind, he’d be doing his family a favor; giving them peace instead of pain.

Lorazepam (any of benzodiazepines) are a slippery slope, especially if taken for anxiety. Sure while you’re under their influence the world seems fine, but when you’re no longer under their influence, the anxiety comes back twice as hard. It’s part of why benzodiazepines are so addictive. 
 

So Tim is a ticking time bomb, because he’s about to lose everything, go to prison, lose his identity as “family provider”,  he’s put himself on a drug that can really muck up your brain chemistry, and he’s “hearing” a message that suggests death is this peaceful existence, where life is pain.

I think Gary’s dinner party is a red herring. As someone already noted, we know from episode 1 that Belinda is going to survive. Rick and his gun are in Bangkok, so that leaves Tim to snap.

It could very well be this too, but all the shooting fantasizing seems like a fakeout to me. It seems like if he does end up shooting himself or his wife it will be through some fake accident, and he'll decide at the last minute that he doesn't want to after all. I do have a feeling this season will have lots more murders, though. 

19 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I actually felt a little something for Saxon when Chelsea told him that he was "soulless" and it was sad. He looked like he'd been punched, but its a pretty fair assessment of him. He's so empty as a person, copying what he thinks is manly, trying to imitate his father at work, even his hedonism seems performative, he's so shallow and its so obvious. Everything between him and Lochy is so truly bizarre, I don't even know where to start. Except that Chloe is weirdly amused by incest, which is even creepier as Lochy is a barely legal high school student who looks even younger. 

Saxon had given off rapey vibes from the start of the season, putting telegraphing  hypersexuality to his younger brother, but ultimately ends up the victim. Great writing, and fantastic acting by Patrick Schwarzenegger. His masculinity was fragile to begin with, and I think Chelsea saw through that. It's shattered now and his entire identity along with it.  

[AstridM]

16 hours ago, QQQQ said:

Omg, I always scroll past the (seemingly) dozens of photos posted in each weekly episode forum, but this week I did so with my eyes closed lest someone decided to post stills from the brothers' encounter.  🙈🤦😩

You’re not alone in that. 

[peeayebee]

2 hours ago, Cosmocrush said:

And I didn't believe him for a minute when he immediately told Saxon was he couldn't remember anything of the last night.  

When Lochlan first said that, I thought he was lying, but the way he opened his eyes at the monastery after remembering the previous night, I believe that he had forgotten, blocked it out, or blacked out. 

1 hour ago, Sailorgirl26 said:

She strikes me as a follower type of personality -- she adapts who she is to whomever she is with.

Yes. She's sort of an empty vessel, going whichever way the wind blows. One reason seems to be that she doesn't want confrontation. So if someone says one thing, she goes along with it. She wants everyone to get along. No conflict. 

I'm not sure what to think of her declining the shots the previous night and then basically not wanting to be partying anymore, saying she thought they should all just go to their rooms. She did seem to be having fun at first, so what changed? Was it getting too sexual for her? Is it the conservatism? Could there have been an incident in the friends' past that she's afraid of seeing repeated?

44 minutes ago, CarpeFelis said:

I wonder if she really did want Valentin for herself all along. Maybe it was just opportunism combined with her insecurity over feeling old (he was the one who sent them to the resort with all the retirees, after all) and wondering if her 10-years-younger husband was cheating on her.

Like with Kate, I'm not sure what's going on with Jaclyn's behavior. Yes she likes attention from men, esp as she's aging. But why did she keep trying to get Laurie and Valentin together? Was it because she wants to be the magnanimous one -- the queen bee who pays for the expensive trip and wants to be the provider of happiness for her friends? Maybe that's why she was pushing Laurie to be with Valentin.

When Laurie declined, Jaclyn took Valentin to bed. It was reaffirming her desirability, esp after feeling neglected or discarded by her husband (boyfriend?).

 

8 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I love that, as just about everyone else at this resort is crashing out to an inevitable break down, Fabian is going on about facing his stage fright.

I wonder what the point of this is. Performing is very important to Fabian, while no one else seems to care. Will he bomb, feel humiliated, and lash out? (possibly with a gun?) He doesn't seem like the type, but since singing as been so important to him from the beginning of the show, I can imagine him flipping out if it goes badly.

Quote

Timothy having a moment thinking about killing his family makes me now think that it wont happen. I feel like he will end up either staying at the monastery (while Piper wants to go home) or kill himself, inspired by the monks' story about becoming one with the rest of existence after dying.

I don't think he'll kill his family either. Plus, with as much as we see him at first imagining shooting himself then imagining shooting Victoria, I think he's realizing he can't do it.

Quote

I actually think that having Piper spend time with the monks before she commits to staying is the smartest thing that Victoria has ever said, Piper doesn't seem to have a lot of experience living without her creature comforts and it might not be the experience she really wants.

Maybe, but I think she'll do fine. She knows how austere life there is, so that won't be a surprise. 

 

[aghst]

14 hours ago, MerBearStare said:

Victoria is more on top of things than she seems. I agree with the poster who thought it was smart of her to tell Piper to stay in the monastery for the night. I have a feeling Piper will hate it, but she also might be so stubborn that she won't admit it. Although this could all be moot once they find out they're broke.

Well she assumes that Piper won't give up "creature comforts" because she herself wouldn't want to live if they're poor.

In fact she said they need to make Piper fear poverty.

We will see if she's right, if Piper is more like her mother than she would like to admit or she really wants to get out of  the life that Victoria has planned for her.

Maybe because they are about to become poor but that monk blew his mind a lot more by having him visualize water drops falling back to the water than he imagined blowing his brains out.

Though he seemed to be thinking of Victoria when he then imagined blowing her brains out first and then killing himself, to spare her being poor.

Saxon has no soul according to Chelsea, who was trolling him about getting with his brother, drugs or no drugs.  But The Handjob is going to torture him for awhile.  Probably until he learns that they're going to be poor.  How is he going to be a tortured soul if he doesn't have a soul?

Gaitok is turning it around.  He retrieved the gun and he shot like a boss.  Maybe he has a killer instinct after all.  Mook seems to be into it,  a man with a gun.

The women friends subplot is boring though Laurie is salty that Jaclyn hooked up with the Russian.  Jaclyn's husband claiming his phone was dead seems like a common or not believable excuse.

What's Jaclyn's excuse going to be, he ghosted her for a couple of days so she hooked up?

Greg/Gary doesn't seem to care if Chloe hooked up with one of the brothers.  She just realized that she has a nice setup, living in some beautiful villa,  with a baller yacht and meals and amenities at the WL below?

Maybe she shouldn't be taking her LBH for granted.

Rick sat and listened to Frank's story and now Frank has to do him a favor, pose as some film director so that they get to the house of the WL owners, so he can "talk" to the guy whom he believed killed his father.

 

[txhorns79]

4 hours ago, storyskip said:

As someone already noted, we know from episode 1 that Belinda is going to survive.

Why do we know that?  I looked back at the opening scene from the first episode, all we see is someone face down with dark hair floating in the water.  You can't see their skin color, and they may possibly be wearing a shirt similar to the White Lotus uniform Belinda wears.