Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) realizes she can’t deny that deep down she’s a spoiled rich girl and learns to embrace that, losing her holier-than-thou interest in Buddhism along the way. Meanwhile, her brother Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) starts to suspect it might be worth having a soul. Little brother Lochlan (Sam Nivola) might finally stop being such a people pleaserâa quality that led to him drinking a poison smoothie and jacking off his brotherâand discover himself in the process. Their dad, Timothy (Jason Isaacs), decides that keeping his family togetherâand aliveâis worth enduring the humiliation he will receive in financial ruin. Hard to say whether his wife Victoria (Parker Posey) will agree.
Coon’s character Laurie is able to finally articulate just what her belief system is in her teary monologue. Believing in work failed her. So did believing in love or parenthood. She argues, then, that it’s time she has come to rely on to get her through. “I don’t need religion or god to give my life meaning, because time gives it meaning,” she says. “We started this life together, we’re going through it apart, but we’re still together.”
It’s a lesson that Rick could have taken. He and Chelsea have the potential for “time,” as evidenced by her cheery assertion that they are going to be “together forever.” But instead, confronted once again with Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn), Rick can’t help returning to his old belief system, which was revenge. He tries to stop himself, going to meditation counselor Amrita (Shalini Peiris) for help, but she makes him wait while she does another session. So he sits on the precipice of enlightenment and succumbs to his darkness, costing him and Chelsea their lives. The fact that Jim was actually his father was a little too predictable and Star Wars-y for my taste.
White’s decision to take Chelsea down with Rick is a mean one that feels like a bit of an intentional fuck you to audiences. While Rick’s storyline trudged along, weighed down by his melancholy and inaction, audiences fell in love with Wood’s big eyes and earnest love for her partner, even if it didn’t seem all that reciprocated. But The White Lotus has always been about people hurting other people with their selfishness. Rick’s greed isn’t financial, it’s spiritual, and that results in the ultimate cruelty. The fact that their dual deaths are framed as at all romantic speaks to White’s underlying cynicism. People are going to choose themselves over others every time.
White has always mashed up provocation with heart. That much is evident in his breakout feature Chuck & Buck, which he wrote and stars in as an immature man who’s sexually obsessed with his childhood friend. It sounds disturbing, and at times it is, but by the end it’s rather sweet. That combination felt on full display in this season of White Lotus. There’s even something tender about the way the Ratliffs all coalesced, despite their murder attempts and incest.
I will say, at this point, I’d love to see White take a break from the Lotus to see what he comes up with outside of the confines of a luxury hotel. Right now, I don’t think HBO will let him do that. But, despite all the messiness, I remain intrigued to see where he takes us.