Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 6.
As promised, the third season of The White Lotus continues to tread confidently into the dark psyches of its characters, becoming the most spiritually provocative season yet. Episode 6 picks up from the revealing night that spanned the previous episode, where our resort guests are forced to confront the fallout of that fateful night. Repressed memories pop up unbidden, scandalous gossip is aired out, and long-lived plans are on the cusp of coming to fruition. But the episode first opens with the gruesome scene of Timothy (Jason Isaacs) lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood leaking out of the self-inflicted gunshot wound in his head. Victoria (Parker Posey) and Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) run in, wailing over the grotesque scene of their husband’s and father’s corpse. Then Timothy wakes up from his daydream.
After that shocking scene, Timothy hides the gun in a drawer and silently returns to bed, unable to share Victoria’s concerns about dissuading Piper from joining a monastery and living a “normal life” instead. Throughout the episode, Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) lurks outside the Ratliff’s rooms, craning his neck to observe their comings and goings while making excuses whenever other staff members ask what he is doing. The issue of the missing gun is finally resolved when Gaitok gets an opportunity to sneak into the room when the Ratliffs have left. After a quick search, he finds the gun in the drawer and triumphantly leaves, ready to practice at the shooting range and go on his coveted date with Mook (Lalisa Manobel).
‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Episode 6 Exposes Gossiping Friends
Following the spontaneous affair between Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius), Kate (Leslie Bibb) witnesses Valentin leaving Jaclyn’s room, well aware of the implications. Her next move is predictable but still exciting, as she spills the tea to Laurie (Carrie Coon) over breakfast, expecting the latter to be as suitably scandalized as her. Instead, Laurie reacts in a way Kate doesn’t expect — she almost looks hurt. Kate tries to backtrack, but the damage is done and Laurie starts musing about why Jaclyn would sleep with Valentin when, just the day before, she was encouraging Laurie, the single one, to do so.
The brewing emotions come to a head while they are sprawled on the sun-loungers. For the first time in this friendship group, Laurie decides to confront the issue out in the open, directly asking Jaclyn about what happened. In doing so, she also outs Kate as the messenger of this news, who is horrified by the by-play. Jaclyn maintains a defensive position. She refutes every accusation of having an affair and tries to gaslight her friends into thinking they are imagining things. Not getting the reaction she was hoping for, Laurie retreats, and they return to their usual “happy” and “friendly” selves — so much so, that Laurie suggests going to the Muay Thai competition Valentin’s friends invited them to, one she absolutely didn’t want to go to before.
When they part ways, Kate is briefly left alone with a frustrated Laurie and fiercely whisper-questions her about exposing her gossip. In turn, Laurie makes an unintended and immediately regretted barb about being the honest one, stinging Kate and making her turn away in annoyance. Kate then tries to recover her friendship with Jaclyn and runs after her, claiming she had no idea why Laurie behaved the way she did. Jaclyn then accuses them of being gossips, further emotionally manipulating Kate with how the tabloids already do that to her.
Gary Invites Belinda To a Dinner Party in ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Episode 6
Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) has a steamy night of her own, but a less illicit one with her new beau Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul). They wake up in bed together, all loved up, when they have a rude awakening by none other than her son, Zion (Nicholas Duvernay). As awkward as it initially was, over breakfast, Zion tells his mother that he is glad she found someone. They enjoy their reunion, catching up on life, with Belinda also promising to tell him about the dangers of Greg/Gary (Jon Gries). Fabian (Christian Friedal) also briefly interrupts them to invite them to dinner where he will be singing, which they accept with uneasy smiles. Apart from Fabian’s lifelong dreams of singing, it seems like Belinda may also get hers of owning a spa, as Pornchai expresses interest in opening one with her, which is apparently much easier to do in Thailand.
Meanwhile, one hill away from the resort is Gary, swimming in the pool in his giant mansion, and Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), approaching him cautiously. He is still peeved about the fact she took the yacht out to the Full Moon party without him, but this escalates into another jarring line of questioning. He plainly asks which of the Ratliff brothers she slept with. Though she keeps denying the accusation, he doesn’t believe her. Instead, he creepily changes tactics, saying he wishes to throw a dinner party at the house with her help, and he wants her to invite the brother she slept with (jokes on him, she slept with both). She doesn’t even bother denying it at this point. The desire seems completely bizarre until we see the scene of him inviting an anxious Belinda to the dinner party. Although she refuses, he tells her to think about it, slowly walking away and leaving everyone on edge.
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The Ratliff Brothers’ Storyline Just Got So Much Worse in ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Episode 6
Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola) wake up with very little memory of the night before, only recalling fragmented images under red lights of a threesome-ish type of situation. Saxon gets hit with these jagged memories first and is naturally unnerved by the fact that he had a threesome-ish type of situation, where he was working on himself while Lochlan and Chloe had sex on the bed next to him. It was enough for him to ignore his brother while he pieced the night together as they returned to the hotel, which, in turn, was enough for Lochlan to agree to go with Piper and their parents to the monastery. Saxon opts to stay behind and finds himself wandering to the pool where he meets Chloe and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood). As the events of the night come up in their discussion, Saxon accuses them of forcing him to kiss his own brother, which leads to Chloe uttering these absolutely jaw-dropping words: “I didn’t force him to jerk you off.” A barrage of memories is tugged loose, causing a freaked-out Saxon to leave while Chloe gives him an invitation to her and Gary’s dinner party.
Lochlan’s “eureka” moment comes later in this flashback-filled episode of The White Lotus. He, Piper, Victoria, and Timothy are at the monastery, where Piper manages to get the monk’s permission to allow her parents to question him. When she goes to invite them in, Victoria is missing, leaving only Timothy to talk to the monk alone. He is uncertain going into it, but eventually connects with the monk. They talk about the Buddhist view on death, using an example of a water droplet returning to the ocean, leaving Timothy the calmest he has ever been this season. Enlightened, he returns to his family and gives Piper his blessing, much to Victoria’s chagrin. However, she still has one more trick up her sleeve and challenges Piper to stay at the monastery for one night. When Piper agrees, Lochlan offers to also stay behind, ever the people-pleaser. However, during a particularly effective meditation session, all the memories of the night before race through his mind — there’s no escaping it now.
Back at the resort, Victoria opens up about why she believes going to the monastery is bad for Piper. While Timothy argues that the experience will increase Piper’s resilience, Victoria vehemently refuses, claiming that her children should fear poverty. She admits that she would rather die than lose their family’s wealth and status — it was no way to live in her eyes. After this thought-provoking conversation, Timothy, who still doesn’t know that Gaitok has taken back the gun, now escalates his daydreams from suicide to murder-suicide. This time, he shoots Victoria, almost as if he is putting her out of her misery, before aiming the gun at himself. But facades must be maintained, as when Saxon, still in a daze, tells his father about the dinner party invite, Timothy agrees to go. That sounds like a good idea.
‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Episode 6 Sets Up Rick’s Ultimate Confrontation
In Bangkok, Rick (Walton Goggins) is slowly putting his plan into action. He uses the business card he received from Sritala (Patravadi Mejudhon) to arrange a meeting with her at a restaurant, still maintaining the identity of an interested film producer. During the meeting, he showers her with compliments and a dazzling smile, then insists that the eccentric director who is interested in starring her in his next film needs to meet at her house – the character was based on her, you see. While Sritala is initially cynical, she agrees to the terms as long as they don’t disturb her sick husband. Of course, as we learned in The White Lotus Season 3, Episode 4, her husband is the real target of Rick’s plans.
When Rick asks his friend Frank (Sam Rockwell) to play along as the director, the latter is concerned about Rick’s mindset. He confirms that the mysterious cargo they exchanged in the previous episode was in fact a gun, but Rick promises not to use it — he only wants a few face-to-face minutes with his father’s murderer. Reluctantly, Frank agrees. The next time we see them, they are being welcomed with open arms into Sritala’s house. The camera stays on Rick’s conflicted face as he lingers outside, staring into the house as the moment he has been waiting for, the man that has haunted him, everything, is now only a step away.
New episodes of The White Lotus Season 3 premiere Sundays on HBO and Max.
The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 6 brings its most taboo and skin-crawling arcs to the forefront.
- Release Date
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2021 – 2024
- Network
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HBO
- Showrunner
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Mike White
- Directors
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Mike White
- Patrick Schwarzenegger has a raw and dishevelled performance that complements his storyline.
- The White Lotus effectively drums up anticipation for each arc to unfold, especially Rick’s and Greg’s.
- This episode focuses on a storyline many people will be uncomfortable with.
- Episode 6 has a dark, dour pace that deviates from the acidity we usually love from The White Lotus.
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