If what happens on vacation stays on vacation — what about those days in between whatever incident and the return home? For a few punitive days before it’s time to check in for the next flight, people who act with no consequences while on holiday are left to sit with exactly that and pore over their actions. Maybe you can’t relate, but characters in “The White Lotus” Season 3 surely can.
Episode 7 is all about consequences, or at least about what comes after making a critical choice. Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb), and Laurie (Carrie Coon) finally speak their minds after too long tiptoeing. Lochlan (Sam Nivola) chooses to run away rather than face what happened with brother Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), while sister Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) might be regretting her decision to spend a year away from home. Greg (Jon Gries) confronts Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) about his history, and Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) grapples with the idea that violence might not, as Luang Por Teera (Suthichai Yoon) puts it in the opening, do “spiritual harm to the victim and the perpetrator.”
And it may not last, but the most monumental choice in this episode might be Rick (Walton Goggins) choosing not to hurt the man who killed his father (Scott Glenn). After Episode 6’s memorable combination of Rick and Frank (Sam Rockwell) having a conversation that rattled at least one of them to his core, the duo continue their shenanigans with an absolutely farcical visit to Jim (Glenn) and Sritala’s (Lek Patravadi) home. After dominating the previous night’s conversation, Frank is tasked with bluffing through his entire fake meeting with Sritala, an ordeal so taxing that he breaks his sobriety (that one bummed me out, but I hope he’s okay).
And dear Rick, after a lifetime of resenting the man who killed his father and certainly ideating revenge even if he wasn’t sure of going through with it — Rick confronts Jim, tells him the truth, and follows his heart by doing… nothing. He knocks the old man over (of a piece with the goofiness of the overall sequence), flags down Frank, and they run away like they just ding-dong-ditched the place instead of almost leaving behind a dead body. Rick reveals that he got closure from the meeting alone, and the final shot of him in this episode shows a brand-new level of contentment in the character.
As far as lethal interpersonal tension goes, we must now turn to Belinda and Greg. After feigning ignorance and then glowering at Belinda from across the resort, Greg boldly invites her to his home and to speak privately about their previous acquaintance. There’s relief in the end of the gaslighting, but fresh dread for Belinda when he offers her money — hush money, no matter how delicately he puts it. He’ll obviously deny any foul play regarding Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), but the point is that he has the power and money to make loose ends like Belinda go away, whether through a payout or other, more sinister means…
Superlatives
- Most likely to die: I stay stressed about Belinda, but would it be too obvious after the season-long buildup? I can’t help but think of Rick, isolated from the rest of the characters and probably feeling more stable than he has in his entire life…
- Horniest: Not a very horny episode altogether, but congrats to Laurie on proving whatever it is she was trying to prove!
- Least likely to die: Going with Chelsea if only to pair with the above notes about Rick. And I love her!
Grade: A-
New episodes of “The White Lotus” air Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO.
