Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for “The White Lotus” Season 3, Episode 5, “Full Moon Party”.
In “The White Lotus” Season 3, Episode 5, Lochlan (Sam Nivola) poses an existential question to brother Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger): What if this life is all a trial, a chance to become better people?
Saxon dismisses him quickly, underestimating little Lochy as usual. Because if life is a test, he’s not only expecting but hoping to fail. Saxon’s entire blustering persona — finance bro, unlicensed sexpert, protein aficionado — could be put into evidence for his misunderstanding of life’s value, and he’s not exactly equipped to have that kind of epiphany, least of all during a cross-faded full moon party that gets out of his control.
After a slow start, “The White Lotus” delivers Mike White‘s version of an action-packed episode with this fifth installment, and it’s the most interesting hour by far for Schwarzenegger’s character. Despite all the fronting, Saxon isn’t taken seriously by most of his nuclear family, which probably extends to a lot of people elsewhere in his life. His attachment to Lochy is entirely contingent upon the younger brother hanging on his every word and twisted idea — or at least putting on a convincing show of it. Lochlan’s “One day, I’m gonna take you down” is so disquieting, dismissed no sooner than it’s uttered, but definitely worth noting. He plays the baby brother card strategically, and no one ever suspects him. When he takes the drugs, he follows up by telling Saxon, “Don’t be mad.” Not “Please don’t be mad,” and not a question: a statement. A command.
So while Saxon thinks the full moon party is his chance to take control and finally be the respected older brother, the sexy desirable guy, he’s at Lochlan’s mercy, which is terribly fascinating. There’s a moment on the beach when Lochy ruffles his brother’s hair, and Saxon closes his eyes almost as if Lochlan’s a lover. Whether this came from Schwarzenegger or White, it’s masterful. Saxon has spent so long projecting who he wants to be that he probably can’t tell how much of it is real. His deluded swagger masks deep insecurity, and if the audience sees through it, we can bet that people in his life do, too. He’s constantly talking and bragging about sex but not necessarily having any (and pointing the finger of involuntary celibacy at his sister). All of this comes through in that hair ruffle, a rare moment of authenticity for him. He’s rightfully uncomfortable when Lochlan kisses him later, but Saxon has been projecting some weird sexual shit on his siblings this entire time.
Somewhere off the White Lotus property, Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Laurie (Carrie Coon), and Kate (Leslie Bibb) are having a night to remember (or to forget, if I counted right). Kate embraces the Cancun energy until she can’t anymore, but by then, the other two are trying to set a new record. Jaclyn is dying to act out. When she thinks the girls at the club recognize and are whispering about her, she responds by dancing even more suggestively (with a man who it turns out they know). This is just a blip of bedlam to tease what she gets into back at the villa, sleeping with Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius) after constantly nudging Laurie toward him — including just a few minutes prior, when he and his friends left!
But let’s not skip ahead, because the trio truly have a night for the books. Jaclyn is on her solitary sojourn into mayhem, while Kate maybe gets a reality check that she doesn’t want this. And then there’s Laurie, who will never voice or even acknowledge her inner desire to be the focal point of the group, but relishes the opportunity. Just look at that light in Coon’s eyes when Jaclyn says, “You guys look amazing! This woman has been begging for a compliment since Episode 1! She’s got Valentin’s attention and the girls’ approval; she takes that extra shot at the table and eats up the cheers it receives; and she’s so loose and comfortable back at the resort that she takes her top off.
Everything about the night is expertly directed by White and edited by Scott Turner. By the time Kate sits horrorstruck by the pool watching her friends swim and scream and flirt with strangers, it’s put together in such a way that she could be shockingly witnessing the events of the full moon party in tandem. There’s unease in every shot, cut, and beat of music. Cinematographer Ben Kutchins catches a chilling glimpse of Laurie’s top floating forgotten through the pool water.
But the episode ends with Timothy (Jason Isaacs) in more danger than anyone else. He writes a note to his family and holds a gun to his head before Victoria (Parker Posey) interrupts, and White closes out on the man alone and praying for guidance.
Superlatives
- Most likely to die: Sorry to be boring, but it just does NOT look good for my girl Belinda (Natasha Rothwell).
- Horniest: Lochlan, I fear.
- Least likely to die: Tim, because he was about to and he didn’t. If the next few episodes are a prolonged journey to his suicide, I will be having words with White.
- Most sus: Greg (Jon Gries) was not in this episode, so we’ll go with Jaclyn for obsessing over Laurie and Valentin and then sleeping with him herself.
- Best line reading: Rothwell for “I mean he killed his wife.” Since this is a new one, honorable mentions from previous weeks include “How wonderful for you, how wonderful for you,” (Morgana O’Reilly as Pam), “Whatchu dreamin’ bout, Pornchai?” (Rothwell again), and “Sawadee never” from the one and only Walton Goggins.
“The White Lotus” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO.
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