Warning: This post contains spoilers for Season 3 of “The White Lotus.”
Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) discovers a body floating in the waters of the resort in the first episode of “The White Lotus” Season 3. Seven episodes later, we know who dies — but fans hit HBO show likely weren’t expecting for multiple people to be in the water.
It turns out the bodies belong to Rick (Walton Goggins) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), who die just minutes after he told her it was his plan for them to stay together forever.
In a shocking shootout, Rick kills Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn) after Jim insults Rick’s mother. The two have history: Rick had gone to Thailand to kill Jim, believing he had killed his father years ago — so, mission accomplished.
But there’s a twist. Sritala (Lek Patravadi), Jim’s wife, tells Rick that Jim was his father. That’s right: Rick’s father wasn’t dead — he was a wealthy businessman in Thailand, and co-owner of the season’s White Lotus hotel.
There’s more bloodshed. The Hollingers’ bodyguards come running, and Rick shoots both of them, just to turn around and find out his girlfriend Chelsea had been caught in the crossfire and sustained a bullet to the chest.
Rick carries Chelsea’s body across a walkway as Sritala calls to Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) to kill him. Gaitok shoots Rick twice in the back, leading him and Chelsea to topple into the water.
Another character almost dies but miraculously survives. Lochlan (Sam Nivola) unintentionally drinks a protein smoothie laced with poisonous fruit from around the resort. His father, Tim (Jason Isaacs), had used the fruit to prepare smoothies for everyone else in his family but Lochlan — then changed his mind, choosing to face his actions.
When the rest of the family turns on their phones on the boat while leaving the resort, Tim (Jason Isaacs) tells them they will get through his arrest in the U.S. for alleged financial crimes together as a family.
The friend trio — Kate (Leslie Bibb), Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and Laurie (Carrie Coon) — leave with their bonds mended.
The episode then plays a montage of clips pointing to what happens to the rest of the characters.
Greg (Jon Gries) watches as his girlfriend Chloe speaks to another man, a nod to his sexual fantasies that Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) turned down in Episode 7.
Frank (Sam Rockwell) is seen praying in a temple, while Gaitok chats with Mook (Lalisa Manobal) before getting into the car with Sritala, as he appears to be her new personal bodyguard.
The episode ends on a moment of triumph for Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) and her son Zion. Zion negotiated with Greg to get his mom $5 million in exchange for keeping quiet about his possible involvement with his former wife Tanya’s death during Season 2 at the White Lotus resort in Sicily, Italy.
Though Belinda’s victory comes at a cost. Belinda walks out of her plan to work with Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) to open a wellness center in Thailand, a nod to Season 1 when Tanya backs out of her deal to start a business with Belinda in Hawaii. It seems Belinda’s fortune has made her somewhat steely.
The Season 3 finale ends with Zion and Belinda speeding away in a boat, as Pornchai looks on from the shore and waves alongside his fellow hotel staffers.
