First off, there are major spoilers ahead regarding the finale of “The White Lotus” season three. If you have found this feature before watching the episode, do yourself a favor and return to this commentary afterward.
Again, major, major spoilers ahead.
You’ve been warned.
(Seriously.)
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The good news is that after perhaps one of the most middling episodes of the entire series, Mike White pretty much stuck the landing as our stay at The White Lotus Thailand comes to an end. There was some dramatic action, some incredible performances (hello Carrie Coon and Amiee Lou Wood), and a secret (or two) were revealed. Perhaps the most disheartening aspect of the finale, however, is that the theme of this season appears to be, quite simply, “Money wins.” That’s sort of been the mantra for every stay from Hawaii to Italy, but perhaps not to this extent. White even had Billy Preston‘s classic track “Nothing from Nothing” with the lyrics “You gotta have somethin’ if you wanna be with me” playing as the end credits rolled. That’s pretty on the nose.
For a moment, things were dire. White was letting the audience have it with two of the purest and good-hearted guests meeting very grisly fates. Chelsea (Wood) was killed by random gunfire after believing the love of her life, Rick (Walton Goggins), had found inner peace. His actions, impulses she tried to stop, were responsible for her death. That tragedy would have been emotionally more impactful if Rick hadn’t been killed by everyone’s favorite, “too kind for this gig” security guard, Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), but White wanted him to pay for his mistake, and so he did.
Meanwhile, White blended up a fakeout with the poisonous fruit that’s been an obvious part of someone’s fate for the entire season, seemingly killing the youthful Lochlan (Sam Nivola). A character who, earlier in the episode, has finally vocalized that he isn’t really in love with his brother (or sister, for that matter), he just wants to make everyone happy (even if he arguably crossed a line in doing so). But…no.
If both characters had passed away, only the “morally” corrupt guests or employees (on a spectrum, obviously) at the hotel would have survived. White just couldn’t kill the angelic twink off. The auteur will make dark decisions, but, like Lochlan, he’s inherently a people pleaser as a writer (at least at this stage in his career), and Lochlan miraculously wakes up in his father’s horrified arms thinking he’s seen God (he certainly saw something).
And as the montage of characters ends the episode, pretty much everyone remaining has won. More importantly, Money has won. Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) has swallowed her morals and ditched a genuine love connection to cash in on a life-changing $5 million. That money came from Greg (Jon Gries), who, after buying Belinda’s silence, can continue his wealthy, party life unbothered (for now at least). After realizing Mook (Lalisa Manobal) was only interested in him because of his financial prospects, Gaitok now finds himself as one of Sritala’s bodyguards after taking down Rick on her orders. As he drives his new boss away, Mook looks on glowingly. Our hero got his girl. And, sure, Jim (Scott Glenn) may have paid the ultimate price for giving his son Rick a horrible life, but Sritala (Lek Patravadi) is going to thrive as the sole proprietor of their empire. Even Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius), who let his Russian gangster friends rob his workplace and tried to scam Laurie (Carrie Coon) into paying him thousands of dollars, is now secure with no fears of facing certain death back home. 
And the Ratliffs? As they speed away from the resort and their phones pop up with messages regarding their patriarch’s legal issues, White plays it as though everything is going to be A-O.K. Sure, Timonthy (Jason Isaacs) says family comes first and “we’ll get through this,” but as he looks optimistically out on the sea, you know they’ll be fine. They aren’t going to suffer. Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), who – surprise – wasn’t cut out for a Buddhist life, isn’t going to have to live in a home without air conditioning. Victoria (Parker Posey) won’t have to kill herself for being poor. Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) has demonstrated he can be more than a son mooching off his father’s success (hey, he went to Duke). And White already showed us that Lochlan can survive pretty much anything.
White tied up perhaps every loose end, while teasing that some significant moments were cut for time. Both Coon and Hook (in our interview for The Playlist this past week) revealed that White’s scripts are longer than what you’d expect for an hour-long episode and the cast was aware things would be cut for time. One item was the non-binary reference Laurie made regarding her child (White’s public justification is perhaps as horrifying as any death in the show), but a shot of the three lifelong friends leaving the resort had us wondering: Why is Jacklyn (Michelle Monaghan) seemingly upset? Has a dropped storyline or narrative thread regarding her younger husband come to a head? And why is Kate (Leslie Bibb) looking off in the distance, concerned? White didn’t need these shots, so why include them? Perhaps not everything was completely wrapped up.
As for Emmys, HBO can breathe a sigh of relief, not that they were ever concerned. “The White Lotus” should snag close to the 23 overall nominations season two earned in 2024. Best Drama Series and at least four Supporting Actress nominations appear to be a given (Coon, Bibb, Wood, Posey). Coon, a two-time nominee for both “The Gilded Age” and “Fargo,” will be a frontrunner for the win after tonight’s incredible monologue (if Television Academy members still watched submitted clips she might be a lock). Then again, there is a long way to go and a ton of competition on deck. On the actor side, a minimum of two nominations seem likely in Supporting (Goggins, Isaac) and a guaranteed recognition in Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Sam Rockwell. As expected, Emmy season will once again be bountiful for this incarnation of the “White Lotus” crew
Oh, and let’s hope that Cinematographer Ben Kutchins, a three-time Emmy nominee who was somehow not recognized for “The White Lotus” season one, finally gets his due.
Can White keep the hit series compelling as it heads to a fourth locale? Can he avoid descending into the obvious fan-casting? Can he take a jump from the current formula without alienating the growing fanbase? Ponder.
“The White Lotus” season three is available in its entirety on Max.
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