Mike White Takes Thailand with Another Viral ‘The White Lotus’ Season

Over the course of eight very stressful Sundays, the third season of HBO’s ‘The White Lotus’ graced screens across the world. In the days between episodes, it was still inescapable. All over social media was theories, memes, and interviews. Even in person, conversations often included “Piper, nooo,” “What's up with those brothers?” or “Who dies?!” Safe to say, it was another knock out of the park for show creator Mike White.

The third season follows the same formula as the first two: an unidentified body and a cast of tumultuous characters spending a week at the resort. Set in Koh Samui, Thailand (and filmed at the Four Seasons Resort), this season has spiritual roots, and characters are forced to confront their belief systems. As Carrie Coon, who plays Laurie Duffy, captions an Instagram post, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

Some of the finale theories were plain wild. That a monkey somehow got ahold of a gun and became an unknowing perpetrator of the shooting. Michelle Monaghan, who plays Jaclyn Lemon, quickly shut it down in an interview with InStyle, saying, “What? The monkeys do the shooting? Man, y'all have lost it. Spoiler alert, like, sorry, the monkeys don't do the shooting.” Another theory was that Rick’s (Walton Goggins) father wasn’t murdered, but instead went to Thailand and transitioned, and was now Sritala (Lek Patravadi).

The theory I saw most often was about the Ratliff family and the Pied Piper of Hamelin, a German folktale dating back to the Middle Ages. Set in the 1200s in Lower Saxony, the town of Hamelin is plagued by rats. The mysterious Pied Piper offers to get rid of them, and does so by playing a magical pipe to lead them to the river, where they drown. But when the townspeople refuse to pay, the Piper lures the town's children away with the music, and they vanish. There are the obvious ties: Saxony is Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), the Pied Piper is Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), and the rats are the Ratliff family. Theorists also tied the drowning of the rats to Lochlan (Sam Nivola), whose name means “land of lakes” in Gaelic, as he also frequently talks about tsunamis. In some ways, this theory was realized. Piper lured her family to Thailand under false pretenses, and Lochlan, as he teetered between life and death, was underwater in his vision.

Regardless of whether you were a theorist or not, or even watched the show at all, memes of the season were all over every platform. Iconic quotes from Ratliff matriarch Victoria (Parker Posey) in her thick Durham, NC accent became a viral TikTok audio, and some people filmed impersonations or even got their own southern mothers to repeat ‘Buddhism’ and ‘lorazepam.’ Posey follows in the footsteps of Jennifer Coolidge, who played Tanya McQuoid in seasons one and two.

In episode five, Sam Rockwell, who makes an appearance as Rick’s friend Frank, gives a jarring monologue about his sexual exploits, specifically his wanting “to be one of these Asian girls.” Rick’s reactions, which varied from stunned silence to slight nods, mirrored that of the audience. In that same episode, brothers Saxon and Lochlan kiss. This kiss wasn’t exactly a surprise, but incest will always elicit gasps and, of course, a slew of memes.

The finale, which is the show's highest viewed episode at 6.2 million, was jam packed with drama. The 90-minute runtime gave endings to all of the storylines, though some were more satisfying than others. The Ratliff family survives an attempted poisoning from patriarch and soon-to-be-felon Timothy (Jason Isaacs). Saxon, though originally deemed “soulless” by Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), somehow ends up the most enlightened of all, even surpassing failed monastery resident Piper. The trio of best friends, Jaclyn, Laurie, and Kate (Leslie Bibb), find surprising peace. One of the highlights is when Laurie makes an impassioned speech about the weight of their friendship and its enduring nature. Many suspect an Emmy nomination in Coon’s near future.

But the most viral, most intense, most ‘White Lotus’ moment, was the reveal of the shooting and its victim(s). In a betting pool on Kalshi Traders, “a regulated exchange & prediction market,” the odds of Chelsea dying were at a hefty 45%. These betters guessed correctly. Chelsea’s death was still hard to swallow. She was a fan favorite character, and the unnecessary, somewhat accidental nature of her death made it even more upsetting. Rick also died alongside Chelsea. He first posted an 18-slide Instagram story set to the song ‘Silver Springs’ by Fleetwood Mac, then a slideshow on his grid, featuring photos from on set with Wood. An abridged version of the lengthy caption: “Rick + Chelsea… To me, ours was a love story… Thank you Mike White for your imagination, your tender heart, for the privilege of giving us the opportunity to tell it. Thank you Aimee Lou for being my partner… We’ll always have Thailand.”

Mike White has already confirmed a fourth season and platforms are already buzzing with casting and location ideas. The biggest question is who will take up the helm of Jennifer Coolidge and Parker Posey?