Fans of The White Lotus have been treated to the series’ third season this year and it hasn’t taken long to jump straight into the deep end with theories. After all, if there’s anything we know about the creative mind that is showrunner Mike White, there’s always plenty of symbolism and motifs to figure out.
He’s essentially bread-crumbing us with little clues each episode and look, I’m not complaining.
So, without much ado, let’s jump straight into what the The White Lotus fandom thinks they’ve figured out so far. (Also, spoiler alert!)
Clues in the opening song
Like many others, I was quick to jump on the bandwagon of hating on the season three song. But four episodes on, I’ve got to admit it’s growing on me.
I should also admit all the hate might’ve blinded me from the fact there might be some hella clues (or spoilers??) in this sequence. In case you missed it, plenty of eagle-eyed fans reckon they’ve spotted clues to each character based on what appears beside the actors’ names onscreen.
For example, Leslie Bibb (who plays Kate) is credited along three elephants, just as we see the character with her two other friends. Elephants are also typically known for their long memories — is that a hint ol’ Kate might know more than she’s letting on?
Meanwhile, Carrie Coon (Laurie) seems a little more ambiguous. Is she the elephant being cornered? Or could she be one of these odd bird creatures, ostracised and watching from the outside?
Moving over to Walter Goggins (Rick), we see a solitary figure crouching away, which kinda seems pretty on-point for this grouch.
Another on-the-nose reference could be Sarah Catherine Hook (Piper) who’s credited alongside a monk seemingly meditating.
As for Jason Isaacs (Timothy), we see his name pop alongside — get this — a man seemingly trapped in a tree of knives, probably mirroring the shit-show he’s in for. His on-screen wife and notorious Lorazepam fan Parkey Posey (Victoria) also shows up as we see two monkeys seemingly getting high.
Additionally, this season’s horniest character courtesy Patrick Schwarzenegger (Saxon) is pictured creeping on women, go figure.
Personally, one of my favourite potential clues could lie in Tanya McQuoid‘s former partner John Gries (Gary / Greg) who turned out to be a surprise addition this season. In the opening credits, punters reckon he might have something to do with a crocodile that appears moments right before Natasha Rothwell‘s (Belinda) name appears onscreen in the opening credits.
“I think the fact the crocodile has no name credited next to it is because [Greg] being a surprise means he was not credited. So they left a space where his name would be – and the fact he is preying on Belinda’s character makes sense,” offered one social media user. I mean??!?
Here’s the opening theme so you can decide for yourself:
What does Gary / Greg’s return in season 3 mean?
Ol’ mate Gary / Greg is as suss as they come and fans are pretty convinced we’re about to see something go down with him and Belinda, the only one in Thailand might know about his questionable past. We saw her approach him in episode three only to get shut down and in episode four, she finally did some sleuthing (aka Googling him) in search for answers.
In the latest episode, there’s also a tell-tale interaction with Gary / Greg and Timothy Ratliff on whether they’re running from something, leaving plenty open to interpretation.
But could Gary / Greg turn out to be the shooter? Or maybe the character who dies? We’ll just have to see.
Will Rick’s past play a part this season?
Rick’s been pretty damn secretive so far and we’ve finally learnt a little bit about his keen interest in the White Lotus Thailand owners Sritala (Lek Patravadi) and Jim — in a good ol’ revenge plot, Jim might be the man who killed his father all those years ago and he’s in search for some answers.
Pretty invested in this storyline tbh. (Image source: Instagram)
Will this end badly for Rick? Maybe. But according to some fan theories, there’s a sneaky little Princess Bride reference in episode four when Aimee Lou Wood‘s Chelsea asks if this is a bit ‘You killed my father, prepare to die’ — because in the movie, protagonist Inigo does avenge his father and survive the duel. Could Rick share the same fate?
Meanwhile, another theory floating around suggests Jim might’ve even left Rick and his mother to run off to Thailand.
“Sritala’s husband is actually Rick’s dad. Rick said he never knew his father and they never found a body. Rick’s dad abandoned him and his mother and ran off with a Thai wife and a new life. Now Rick will go to Bangkok to kill his father’s murderer, but might instead end up killing his own dad,” according to one Reddit user.
Don’t tell me Mook turns out to be a villain. (Image source: Instagram)
Is there more to The White Lotus’ staff Mook and Valentin?
In a pretty cool acting debut, K-pop star Lisa Manobal plays hotel staff Mook who’s in a will-they-won’t-they storyline with resort guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong). But according to some fans, there’s more to her than meets the eye and it’s got something to do with masseuse/butler Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius).
“Mook and Valentin are boyfriend and girlfriend or just in the same gang, and Mook’s job is to distract Gaitok so Valentin can do his robbing and stuff or whatever they’re up to,” one Reddit user offered.
Will we see clues around the store robbery come up again? We’ll keep you posted.
Do we know Laurie’s ‘cool’ daughter from a previous season of The White Lotus?
In what seriously seems like a girl’s trip from hell, we’ve met the three girlfriends oozing with passive-aggressiveness and some late night gossiping. It’s pretty clear Laurie might be a bit of an outsider here as animosity bubbles under the surface between the three old friends, but is it possible any of them might finally snap and turn out to be the shooter?
Another fan theory even suggests Laurie might have a link to a previous season through her ‘cool daughter’ who is — wait for it — none other than Haley Lu Richardson‘s Portia from season two. Now there’s not as much to back up this one, but I’ll be gagged if it’s true. And with Greg / Gary in the picture, is it so out of the realm of possibility??
Now where have we seen a hat like that before?? (Image source: IMDb)
Another callback to season two comes from a less-popular theory that Michelle Monaghan‘s (Jaclyn) partner might even be Leo Woodall’s Jack (you know, that guy who whisked Portia away in the scheme to kill Tanya). What a messy one that would be, but I’m lowkey here for it.
What’s up with The White Lotus‘ monkeys?
With the series set in Thailand, there was bound to be plenty of monkey references, both in the episodes and in the opening song (see above). Counselor Amrita (Shalini Peiris) even has some pointed words for Rick, stating “let’s calm our monkey chattering minds.”
But this isn’t the first time we’ve seen monkey motifs in the series, given a season one episode was titled “Mysterious Monkeys”, as noted by Screen Rant. And if that wasn’t enough, Steve Zahn‘s Mark Mossbender even mentions “there’s the man and the monkey and you’ve got to be man enough to face down the monkey” during the season.
Could one of the Ratliff kids turn out to be shooter? (Image source: IMDb)
In season three of The White Lotus, we’ve seen pretty varied reactions to the creatures, from Laurie’s fascination to Belinda’s fear — so is there a symbol here about getting out of our ‘monkey minds’ and primal urges?
There’s also the monkey reference from the Ratliff children early on, mimicking the ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ saying.
So what do the monkeys mean?? And could one throw a spanner in the works and actually be the killer??
There’s plenty of questions and still very few answers at this point in the season, but you bet we’ll be updating this as we go.
Lead image: IMDb / Instagram
