On tonight’s new episode of The White Lotus things are starting to get a bit intense for a few folks. Some we definitely saw coming, but that connection that Gaitok started to piece together was a shock to me.
Rick has had an ulterior motive since arriving in Thailand – revenge for his father’s murder. When he finds out that he would be at The White Lotus hotel he decides to stay there hoping to get a chance to see the man, Jim, who killed his father face to face. Turns out he wasn’t there; he was staying in Bangkok. As much as Chelsea tried, Rick was determined to get to Bangkok and left for a few days.
“Killer Instincts” - THE WHITE LOTUS, Pictured: Sam Rockwell as Frank and Walton Goggins as Rick Hatchett. Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO © 2025 Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
He was obviously desperate for this closure. When he concocted this plan to have his friend Frank (er Steve?) pretend to be a director interested in working with Jim’s wife, nothing was adding up. Frank, I mean Steve, knew nothing about Sritala’s work and stumbled through all the questions she had for him. By some miracle, it worked out and Rick was able to get Jim alone to talk (more like kill him). Once alone, Rick told him everything and Jim had no idea what he was talking about. I thought for sure Rick was going to shoot him right then and there, but something stopped him.
Jim looked genuinely confused which made me wonder how sure Rick was that this was the man that killed his father. For now, it seems knocking the old man down was enough closure for him.
“Killer Instincts” - THE WHITE LOTUS, Pictured: Natasha Rothwell as Belinda Lindsey. Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO © 2025 Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Zion convinced his mother to go to the party Greg invited her to and she instantly regrets it. While there, Greg asks to speak to her privately. He gives her a sort of quid pro quo; he will give her $100,000 if she agrees to not let anyone know where he is. Unless you ask him then, he’s giving her money to start her business and he will be left alone.
Zion wants her to take the money but Belinda isn’t having it. The repercussions would be far worse if she does and she is somehow implemented in Tanya’s death and Greg’s (very obvious) involvement. I don’t know what I would do in her situation, but like Zion said, $100K is a lot of money.
That friend group that absolutely hates each other seems to finally be done pretending. Laurie is still feeling some sort of betrayal after Jaclyn sleeps with Valentin. They’ve been taking jabs at each other and the divide is happening. Kate, for now, seems to be more on Jaclyn’s side, but trying hard to play Switzerland.
“Killer Instincts” - THE WHITE LOTUS, Pictured: Michelle Monaghan as Jaclyn, Leslie Bibb as Kate, and Carrie Coon as Laurie. Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO © 2025 Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Laurie steps away from the two of them and heads over to a muay thai fight where she meets up with Valentin and his friends. Gaitok and Mook are also there; when Gaitok glances over at Valentin and his friends, something starts to click and remembers one of them vividly during the robbery. Shortly after Valentin was there and he made it seem like he didn’t know them, it’s obvious now that he did. Was Valetin involved the entire time?
Laurie hooks up with Aleksei – they seemed to be hitting it off the entire night, but then things got weird after. Him asking her for money was probably not what Laurie was expecting for pillow talk. I’m sorry, you’re asking me to wire you money and you barely know me? That’s suspicious. As Laurie is trying to navigate this weird conversation, there’s a crazy knock at the door from some woman looking to speak with Aleksei – Laurie barely manages to escape and before she does, she notices a stash of jewelry – I'd bet that was from the robbery.
“Killer Instincts” - THE WHITE LOTUS, Pictured: Jason Isaacs as Timothy Ratliff. Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO © 2025 Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Timothy needs to get a handle of his thoughts or get some help. Things are getting out of control. I don’t think Victoria and Saxon are making things any easier – which is why we see him “shoot” them before himself. Could this also mean he doesn’t want them to suffer when he’s going so he’s taking them with him? Either way, he needs to figure something out fast.
What’d you think about tonight’s new episode of The White Lotus? Share your thoughts below or connect with me on X/Twitter @chenfordhugs
