Who Was Killed (And Who Could the Killer Be) After ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Premiere?

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Belinda Could Be the Too-Obvious Victim in ‘The White Lotus’

The Ratliff Family Is Not as Picture Perfect as They Seem

There’s Tension With the Female Friends on a Ladies Retreat

The Other ‘White Lotus’ Couples Are in Precarious Positions

The Resort Employees in ‘The White Lotus’ Could Have Drama, Too

The White Lotus’ third season switches the setting to Thailand as a new group of entitled guests visit the lavish resort. This time, it’s a wellness center with the goal of helping its guests disconnect from the daily stressors in their lives, reconnect with their inner selves, family, or other companions, and experience a sense of calm.

However, as is typical of the show, the guests are far from ready to relax. They all have their own secrets and hang-ups, and, of course, someone winds up dead. While viewers won’t find out who until the end, that hasn’t stopped fans from theorizing about who died and who the killer could be. There’s a case that can be made for just about everyone. With multiple gunshots heard ringing, it could even be more than one person this time around.

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The White Lotus

TV-MA

Comedy

Drama

Mystery

Release Date 2021 – 2024

Network HBO

Showrunner Mike White

Directors Mike White

Writers Mike White

Cast

See All

Jennifer Coolidge

Tanya McQuoid

Jon Gries

Greg Hunt

F. Murray Abraham

Bert Di Grasso

Jolene Purdy

Lani

Creator(s) Mike White

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Belinda Could Be the Too-Obvious Victim in ‘The White Lotus’

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Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) is one of two returning characters from prior seasons, and the beginning sets it up to suggest that she could be the victim. Arriving at the resort to supposedly learn from this top venue and bring back ideas for Maui, the season begins with her son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) enjoying a meditation session. But when he hears gunshots ring out, panic sets in.

As he ducks for cover and tries to figure out what’s going on, he’s terrified because he knows his mother is on the other side of the resort where the shooting is occurring. He tries to get closer to ensure she’s OK when he notices a body floating in the water. The identity of the body is hidden, and his reaction is shock and dismay.

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Some fans believe he’s so horrified because it’s his mother. But his natural inclination to swim away from the body suggests maybe it isn’t her. If it was his mother, after all, he might be more inclined to go to her versus away. Even knowing the body is of someone who is already dead, a son seeing his mother floating may try to do whatever he can to help, even embrace her, despite knowing she’s already gone. This has led some fans to suspect that maybe the body isn’t hers.

Nonetheless, the reveal of Greg (Jon Gries) on the resort with a new younger girlfriend suggests that he’s up to no good again, and he’s one person with previous ties to Belinda. He may try to get rid of Belinda for fear of what she might know about his relationship with Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) and her tragic Season 2 death. However, it’s unclear if Belinda is even aware of Greg’s involvement or even of Tanya’s death at all. She wasn’t seen in Season 2, which took place at another White Lotus resort in Italy. But given her naturally intuitive nature, Belinda may suspect foul play once/if learning of Tanya’s death, which could make her Greg’s next target.

The Ratliff Family Is Not as Picture Perfect as They Seem

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The Ratliff family is at the center of the new cast of rich jerks this season, each with their own demons. Patriarch Timothy (Jason Isaacs) is clearly hiding something, sought out by the media that has questions about his business dealings. The previews show that he might be in trouble in future episodes. His wife Victoria (Parker Posey), meanwhile, seems oblivious to anything nefarious he might be doing, just happy to immerse herself in her seemingly picture-perfect life, putting on rose-colored glasses to anything that suggests otherwise. But this is largely because she is heavily medicated most of the time. It’s possible someone takes her out while trying to get to Timothy. There’s also growing tension between Timothy and Rick, who got into an altercation on the boat. The two will likely continue to run into one another and the conversations could get more heated.

Their three children, meanwhile, each have their own issues. Son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) is a womanizing, arrogant young man who works for his father. He’s merely out to have a good time and wants to take his young, innocent, impressionable younger brother Lochlan (Sam Nivola) with him. It’s possible the troubles Timothy faces have something to do with Saxon, which could mean someone in the family is at the center of the shooting.

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Further, there appears to be tension between Saxon and his sister, Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), the catalyst for the family traveling to Thailand. A Buddhist convert, she has a deep interest in spirituality and is keen on interviewing a monk for her thesis paper. Her close relationship with Lochlan appears to be a thorn in Saxon’s side. The relationship among all three siblings seems strange, with odd undertones that could suggest there’s more than meets the eye. That could make any (or all) of them victims or perpetrators.

There’s Tension With the Female Friends on a Ladies Retreat

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Also enjoying the resort are three ladies looking for some “girl time” and R&R. They are led by Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), a famous TV personality who brought along her two childhood friends, Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon). It’s evident that there’s a particular closeness between Jaclyn and Kate as they openly share a mutual love for one another and gush about all the successes in each other’s lives.

Laurie, however, is like a third wheel, visibly feeling left out of the love fest. Her boring corporate life is no match for their exciting socialite lives in the limelight, and Laurie clearly resents them and their bond for that. When she excuses herself from a late-night drink only to stare longingly at her friends chatting away happily as she lets out a good cry, this confirms that there’s more bubbling beneath the surface.

Could Laurie have snapped and shot up the resort, angry about the state of her life and her insecurities about the unbalanced friendship? It’s obvious that she doesn’t feel seen; the ladies’ attempts to include her in conversations or praise are clearly forced and disingenuous. Such a drastic reaction seems far-fetched, but it’s an option worth exploring.

The Other ‘White Lotus’ Couples Are in Precarious Positions

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As in previous seasons, there are couples in peril at the resort as well. Both Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) are there with their respective older boyfriends and strike up a conversation at the bar when both are shunned by their men. Rick (Walton Goggins) seems to have Chelsea along for the ride as nothing more than a companion. But he’s distracted by other interests at the resort.

In particular, he seems obsessed with the owner’s American husband, disappointed when he learns that the man is ill and left the resort to go back to Bangkok after receiving treatment. There’s a history between them, and he came to Thailand to settle some type of score. This could end in a bloody fight, though it’s unclear who Rick is, where he gets his money, and why he is on the warpath.

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Chloe, meanwhile, is a model who lives near the resort but often visits for dinner and drinks. When the camera cuts to her much older boyfriend, who she declares is a “bald white guy” that people in Thailand call “LOAs,” or “Losers At Home,” it seems she has ulterior motives for being with him. But fans who know Greg from previous seasons know that he’s the one who likely has ulterior motives, and murder is not out of the question. It’s possible he is the killer or at least had something to do with what happened.

The Resort Employees in ‘The White Lotus’ Could Have Drama, Too

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Another possibility is that the victim (and/or murderer) is one of the resort employees. Mook (Lalisa Manobal) is one of the first people fans meet, a lovely health mentor who is friendly with Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), a security guard at the resort. He wants something more, but she only sees him as a friend. He’s jealous when she gets chatty with the big, burly bodyguards of the resort owner Srilata (Lee Patravadi) and giddily talks about how nice they are and how they get to travel the world. He could potentially get into an altercation with these men over Mook, which results in someone ending up dead.

Sritala herself could be the victim, especially since she is clearly in Rick’s crosshairs. While his issues don’t appear to be with her but rather her husband, whatever upset him could blow back on her. As a once famous actor and singer, the fact that she has bodyguards in the first place suggests that there are people who might want to harm her or at least approach her with bad intentions. Her husband could also have returned and become a target for Rick, or someone else.

Fabian (Christian Friedel) is the unassuming general manager who takes his job very seriously. He nitpicks at little things to ensure that his guests are having a good time. He also appears to get frustrated with Sritala and her apparent diva-like behavior at times. But he also desperately seeks her approval. As Season 1 of The White Lotus proved, it could very well be an employee who becomes the killer, the victim, or both.

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Valentin (Arnas Federavičius) is the most popular health mentor at the resort, who Sritala assigns to care for the three women, partly because she is a fan of Jaclyn and her work and may see a kinship with her since they are both actors. She makes a point to note that he’s from Russia and that “everyone requests him because he’s handsome.” It’s possible he could come between the three women, though Jaclyn and Kate are seemingly both happily married. He may have secrets of his own that are revealed as the show progresses.

Finally, there’s Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul), the wellness expert who was to train Belinda for the next three months to get her up to speed on how the wellness center operates and about Thai and Buddhist culture. He seems kind and eager to help arm her with the knowledge she needs. Could he be an accidental victim as Greg tries to take care of Belinda to prevent her from revealing where he is to others or digging deeper into what happened to Tanya?

The White Lotus is known for its twists and turns, keeping fans guessing through the entire season and dropping lots of red herrings and misdirects. After episode one, the victim and murderer remain question marks. It could be anyone for any reason. As the truths unfold through the rest of the season, fans can’t wait to find out if their guesses and theories were correct, or the show has once again gone in a direction no one saw coming. Stream The White Lotus on Max.