‘The White Lotus’ stars explain that shocking season 3 finale ending

This article contains spoilers for The White Lotus season 3 finale, “Amor Fati.”

Rick (Walton Goggins) and Chelsea’s (Aimee Lou Wood) love story came to a tragic end in The White Lotus season 3 finale, and some of the cast members had no idea until they watched the episode live at an event on Sunday night.

While it seemed as if the May-December couple actually got to a better place after Rick didn’t kill the man he thought was responsible for his father’s murder, his healing progess shattered when Jim (Scott Glenn) confronted him at the resort the next day. Jim goaded Rick, insulted his mother and claimed his father wasn’t a saint. Rick ultimately shot Jim with his security guard’s own gun (as well as both of his guards), only to learn from a shocked Sritala (Lek Patravadi) immediately after that Jim actually was his father. To make matters even more traumatizing, Chelsea was hit by a stray bullet during the shoot-out with the guards, and she died in Rick’s arms.

But the deaths didn’t end there. Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) rushed over with his gun, encouraged by Sritala shouting, “Shoot him!” and Mook (Lalisa Manobal) losing interest in him if he gave up his goal of becoming a guard. He took aim and shot Rick in the back, and he died next to Chelsea — meaning Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) actually saw two bodies in the water in the premiere.

What’s most shocking of all? The Ratliff family emerged from their vacation okay. Timothy (Jason Isaacs) tried to poison Victoria (Parker Posey), Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), and Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), intending to spare Lochlan (Sam Nivola), who had said he could imagine living without money. But Timothy changed his mind and knocked the poisoned piña coladas out of their hands. Unfortunately, Lochlan made a smoothie out of the used blender the next morning (why didn’t Tim wash it?!). He got sick, passed out, and seemed to have died, but somehow regained consciousness in Tim’s arms soon after … and believed he saw God during his near-death experience.

The Ratliffs left the White Lotus alive, but as they turned on their phones, Tim warned them that everything was about to change. Meanwhile, Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb), and Laurie (Carrie Coon) left on better terms than ever (despite witnessing the violent shoot-out on their last morning). And Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) became $5 million richer by taking Greg’s (Jon Gries) bribe, with a negotiation assist from Zion. But her happy ending had a dark cloud hanging over it — she literally became Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) by ditching Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) and their plans to start a business together as soon as she got rich. She and Zion left Thailand immediately to make sure Greg couldn’t change his mind and come after her. Money really does change people.

When the season 3 cast gathered to watch the intense finale at a Four Seasons resort in Westlake Village, Calif., on Sunday night, Schwarzenegger revealed that he actually had no idea that Chelsea and Rick died because he only read his scenes in scripts. He learned about their deaths by watching the episode live at the screening event. And Wood said that it was hard for her to watch her own death scene.

“It was weird because for two weeks before we shot it, I felt super weird,” Wood added. “It felt like this odd, ominous thing. It was the hottest day ever and Walton had to carry me so many times. It looked exactly how it felt, which is really strange. There’s a lot in that episode that made me f—ing sob. I feel ache-y.”

Thapthimthong said that he was wary of Gaitok shooting Rick in the back, but creator Mike White assured him it worked that way. “I never had acting lessons or anything so I kind of pulled that from my time in the military,” Thapthimthong said of Gaitok’s “heroic” moment. “As first I felt like, I don’t want to shoot him in the back. We should have a little action scene. But we had a discussion with Mike and he said, ‘Trust me, it will be justified.'”

As for the Ratliffs, Isaacs loved how Timothy emerges from the season content, in stark contrast to his entire season-long arc. He also believes the family will be fine regardless of the tough times ahead. “They’ll have to get jobs,” he said. “I think that’s going to stick in Victoria’s throat quite a lot. They’ll be fine, they just won’t be fine in gigantic houses with huge Tesla trucks.”

Saxon, however, doesn’t end the season feeling as good as Timothy. You know, incest, financial troubles, and a DOA career will do that to you. “He went through the wringer. These two girls and my brother really put me through it,” Schwarzenegger said.

“There’s some relief in it, I think,” Isaacs joked.

Schwarzenegger continued after laughing, “I’m glad that Saxon had a bit of a moment at the end where he sees [Chelsea] go off into the distance with Walton, and it’s this moment of hopefully leaving and realizing what he longs for and how he could change when this is all said and done.”

Piper, meanwhile, lost her spirituality when she realized she’s actually spoiled and can’t live a simple life as a Buddhist. “She is her mother’s daughter,” Hook said. “I think she needs a Lorazepam right now. I couldn’t be happier for her. And I’m ready for her to be a ho now, so watch out. I’m being a troll, let’s go!”

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Nivola said that filming Lochlan’s near-death experience was “really emotional.”

“I’ve never died in anything before — and I didn’t in this!” he added. “It was fun to get to do that. It’s difficult in it’s own ways because I’ve never died, fake or real. It doesn’t feel like my storyline is building to a death.”

Even though Belinda turned into Tanya, Duvernay loved how she and Zion ended the season on a high note and $5 million of Tanya’s own money richer. “Finally getting even just a little justice for Tanya was amazing, to finally, over three seasons, to give her that closure,” he said.

And since Greg made it out the season alive, he still boasts the title of the only returning cast member to be in all three seasons. Does that mean he’ll return next season to continue that streak? “I don’t think so, but I don’t know so,” Gries said. “All I can say is, every time I leave, I assume it’s over.”

We’ll just have to wait until season 4 to find out.