10 Clues To The White Lotus Season 3 Finale's Twists That You Might've Missed
Warning! This article contains spoilers for The White Lotus season 3.
The White Lotus season 3's finale featured many twists, with several of them being teased via clues and hints throughout the season. The ending of The White Lotus season 3 was suitably tragic, in the way most installments of the show had been. The various twists and turns of the show, be it Chelsea's death in The White Lotus or Rick's similar fate, were heartbreaking. Frustratingly, this left some of the most deplorable members of The White Lotus season 3's cast alive and well, as has been a constant for the show's three seasons.
For this reason, among others, season 3 seems to be at the bottom of the pile regarding The White Lotus' season rankings. That said, the show still proved to be better than most seasons of modern television, thanks to the exploration of spirituality, morality, wealth, and a variety of other thought-provoking topics and themes. Many of these themes came to a head in the finale in shocking ways, yet The White Lotus season 3 had sprinkled clues to each resolution throughout the preceding seven episodes.
10 Chelsea Said Bad Things Happen In Threes
After Her "Near-Death Experiences"
Perhaps the most overt clue that Chelsea would end up being The White Lotus season 3's victim came earlier in the season. When the titular hotel was robbed, Chelsea was in the store, before another episode showed her being bitten by a venomous snake and taken to hospital. After this, Chelsea kept remarking that bad things happen in threes, with the third apparently being her death. Nothing of note happened to Chelsea after the snake bite until the finale, when she was caught by a stray bullet and died, proving that The White Lotus' three-bad-things warning was a clue, after all.
9 Chelsea Wore A "Stay Gold" Necklace
Referencing The Outsiders
Image via Max
Another clue that pointed towards Chelsea's death in The White Lotus season 3 was her necklace, which read "Stay Gold." This necklace is similar to one worn by Johnny Cade in the film The Outsiders. Johnny dies in this film, with his death scene featuring him reciting lyrics from a poem by Robert Frost about staying innocent and pure. This can apply to Chelsea, given that she is one of The White Lotus' few pure and innocent characters, with the "Stay Gold" necklace teasing she would meet a tragic end, as Johnny Cade did.
8 The White Lotus Season 3 Had A Lot Of Snake Symbolism
Theorized To Link To Rick's Trauma
Image via Max
Throughout The White Lotus season 3, snakes were featured at various points. One of the ornaments stolen from the hotel in the aforementioned robbery scene was modeled after a snake and there was the episode in which Chelsea was bitten by a snake after Rick set them all free. Beyond that, there is snake symbolism in The White Lotus season 3's credits.
Why Walton Goggins' Rick Frees The Snakes In The White Lotus Season 3, Episode 3
One of Rick’s main scenes in The White Lotus season 3, episode 3 saw him releasing venomous snakes from their cages, leading many to wonder why.
These various snake depictions were theorized to link to Rick's trauma in The White Lotus season 3, which surrounded the deaths of his mother and father. This trauma is what led Rick to shoot Jim Hollinger in The White Lotus, before realizing the latter was actually the former's father. Both Rick and Chelsea's deaths spawned as a result of this trauma, explaining why the show continued to showcase the symbolism of snakes.
7 The Suicide Tree Was Teased In The White Lotus Season 3, Episode 1
Before Coming Back In The Finale
The White Lotus' Ratliff siblings were a big focus of season 3, as were Timothy and Victoria, their parents. Throughout the season, Timothy is shown to struggle with crimes he committed that will inevitably result in his family losing their wealth. As a result, Timothy plotted to kill his family members and himself as he knew they could not live an unprivileged life, with his method of murder-suicide being the fruits of the local pong-pong tree, colloquially known as the suicide tree.
The White Lotus Character | Actor |
|---|---|
Timothy Ratliff | Jason Isaacs |
Victoria Ratliff | Parker Posey |
Saxon Ratliff | Patrick Schwarzenegger |
Piper Ratliff | Sarah Catherine Hook |
Lochlan Ratliff | Sam Nivola |
Timothy did not go through with this, but the tree was teased in the Ratliff family's very first appearance at their White Lotus villa. In The White Lotus season 3, episode 1, Saxon picks up a fruit from the tree, with Pam telling him that the seeds are poisonous and would kill a human if ingested. This teased Timothy's eventual method of attempted murder long before it even happened, proving to be one of The White Lotus' earliest clues.
6 Mook & Gaitok's Entire Relationship Teased Rick's Death
Making This Clue A Season-Long One
After shooting Sritala's guards and carrying Chelsea's body away from the scene, Rick was shot twice by Gaitok in another big White Lotus season 3 twist. This twist was also seeded throughout the season via Gaitok's relationship with Mook. The latter showed more interest in the former when he was slightly more ruthless in order to improve his standing in the world of employment. Gaitok's feelings for Mook meant he took her feelings very seriously, meaning, without them, Gaitok may not have taken the extra violent step needed to shoot Rick.
5 Jaclyn, Kate, & Laurie Never Had Any Real Arguments
To Tease An Unexpected Ending
Another primary batch of characters in The White Lotus season 3 were Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie. The trio were shown to be poor friends to one another, with these many scenes leading audiences to expect a major fallout in the final episode. However. one twist of The White Lotus' finale is that this big blowout did not come to pass, with the trio instead tearfully making up and accepting that their relationships are simply how they are, and loving each other regardless.
This lack of arguing was a clue that their relationship would not end in a big blowout...
Despite not being a massive moment like a death or a shootout, this was still a twist given that it subverted the season-long expectation of a major argument between Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie. Interestingly, this more amicable ending to their storyline was teased throughout the show. After all, a large, angry, vitriol-infused argument never once took place between the three, with only the tensions over Jaclyn sleeping with Valentin providing some discomfort. This lack of arguing was a clue that their relationship would not end in a big blowout, but instead a tearful monolog from Laurie.
4 The White Lotus Season 3's Cold Open Teased Rick's Death
Because Of Zion's Involvement
The cold opening of The White Lotus season 3 showed Rick's shootout from Zion's perspective, with the gunshots interrupting his wellness session. In the finale, Rick initially wanted a wellness session with the woman who was giving one to Zion. This led Rick to wait before seeing Jim Hollinger, causing his anger to spike and his eventual shootout. The White Lotus season 3's cold opening was a clue to Rick's death; if Zion had not been there, Rick's fortunes may have been changed via the wellness session.
3 Chelsea Said Rick Would Be The Victim Of His Own Decisions In Episode 1
Which Eventually Came True
In the premiere of The White Lotus season 3, Rick and Chelsea's relationship was first outlined. At one point, Chelsea tells Rick that he will always be the victim of his own decisions. This proved to be a clue that teased both of their deaths. Rick's decisions led him to kill Jim, then the ensuing shootout which resulted in Chelsea dying and Gaitok shooting him. As Chelsea told him in the premiere, Rick became a victim of his own choices, as did Chelsea.
2 Timothy's Visions Of Death Teased The True Ending Of The Ratliff Family
Timothy's Decision Was A Twist
In a way, Timothy's decision not to kill his family and stop them from drinking the poisoned cocktails was a twist of The White Lotus season 3. Throughout the prior episodes, Timothy's visions seemed to imply that the family would die. However, these visions were also viewed as a red herring by many.
Tim's Visions Of Dying In The White Lotus Season 3, Episode 6 Explained
The White Lotus season 3, episode 6 includes several visions of Timothy dying, with the reason why linking to his overall arc thus far.
The thought of the audience was that, if the Ratliff family was truly going to die at the end of the show, The White Lotus would not have been so obviously setting this up. Therefore, the various visions Timothy had can be retroactively viewed as a clue that the family was never in any real danger.
1 Chelsea Said Her & Rick's Fates Were Intertwined
The White Lotus' Ending Proved They Were
Image via Max
The final major clue to the big twist that both Rick and Chelsea died in The White Lotus came in the show's finale. Chelsea was shown talking to Rick at dinner, telling him that their fates were intertwined. She states that what happens to him will happen to her, and vice versa. As proven, Chelsea's death by gunshot eventually led to Rick's demise via the same method. Therefore, Chelsea's words to RIck in The White Lotus season 3's finale proved the final clue to a tragic twist.
The White Lotus
- Release Date
- July 11, 2021
- Network
- HBO
- Showrunner
- Mike White
- Directors
- Mike White
- Writers
- Mike White
Cast
Jon GriesGreg Hunt
Natasha RothwellBelinda Lindsey
- Creator(s)
- Mike White
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