The White Lotus: Season 3 Finale Review

With season 3 of The White Lotus wrapped up, fans seem to have mixed feelings about how the season played out and how it ended.

As an ensemble-driven series, The White Lotus takes on the challenge balancing its main characters each season. After 3 seasons, it seems to be inevitable that some storylines are stronger than others each time. While the strength of each storyline can be subjective, the finale overall was not terrible by any measure.

Mike White explains in his post-episode interview that he meant for some characters' endings to be ambiguous, while completely tying up others' at the very end. In doing this, it leaves viewers feeling unsatisfied, but mostly because it didn't end the way they wanted it.

That's not to say that this season was perfect, because it wasn't. Several storylines ended up going absolutely nowhere, while others felt like they ended on a weaker note than it potentially could have.

Kate and Victoria's single interaction where it is hinted that they have met before was mentioned once. It was a hot topic for fan theories online as to how they know each other and how their connected past will play out, but for some reason it was never mentioned again.

Gaitok finally discovered who robbed the hotel and even had Valentin begging him not rat them out. This would have been a great storyline to delve more into considering that Gaitok had admitted that he is not a violent or confrontational person and knowing this information placed him directly into his worst nightmare. But that was all glazed over due to the bodyguards that committed the robbery being killed in the shootout with Rick. Granted, Gaitok being forced to kill Rick and taking over the bodyguard position like he always wanted made for a compelling end to his story, but including the fact that he had the chance to catch the thieves that complicated his job for this entire season just felt a bit disjointed.

Kate, Laurie, and Jaclyn always seemed like they would either play a bigger part in the overall story of season 3, especially with Kate and Victoria's mysterious connection that was never mentioned, but it pretty much ended with them apoligizing and opening up to each other after all of their internal conflict within their group. The idea that their friendship is still up in the air after their trip is one of the better ambiguous endings of all of the seasons, but it definitely isn't the strongest.

The Ratliffs' storylines were perhaps the most anticlimactic. Tim spent the entire season fantasizing about taking out his family and himself got a little repetitive as the episodes went on, but the ending with him deciding not to poison them at the last second was fine. People seem to be upset that they didn't show the family's reaction to their discovery that they are now broke, but Tim deciding to face his future with his family by his side had an element of sincerity to it. It probably isn't as interesting of an ending compared to if he had actually gone through with killing his family, but it was a respectable decision on Mike White's part.

Rick and Chelsea's storylines were probably the most well fleshed-out of the characters this season, but they still came with imperfections. Rick deciding not to kill the man who killed his father was great because we were then eager to watch the repercussions of his decision once hee returned to Thailand. Even the confrontation they had was a great addition to Rick's storyline and added further tension. The issue came more from when Rick did decide to kill him and it is revealed for a split second that he was actually his father. It seemed like a cheap way to reveal something that should have been of greater importance, but Rick was forced to quickly move on without getting to process it. Chelsea dying in the shootout next to him made for a tragic ending to their story; one that was reflective of Greek tragedies revolving around losing one that you care about due to your own destructive actions.

Belinda's storyline got somewhat overshadowed at times throughout the season, but it was good to see more of her and Greg's conclusion. Belinda having to leave behind Pornchai the same way the Tanya left her in the first season was heartbreaking, but it really did feel like it was Belinda's only choice. It was a bittersweet ending since she did get loads of cash, but it costed her relationship with Pornchai. Not to mention that Greg still got away with everything from season 2.

Overall, it wasn't a bad season, but it was really just fine. The fact that this season's end elicits so many uneasy and indifferent emotions from its fans proves how effective it was, but the execution was definitely lacking at times. The White Lotus is no stranger to ambiguous and unsatisfactory endings, of course, but this one just felt little harder to stomach that the first two seasons.

It's not clear if any of these characters will return in future seasons, although it might be best if their stories are left the way they are.