Ryan Kirksey
The following recap contains spoilers for The White Lotus S3E5, “Full Moon Party” (written and directed by Mike White)
Well, I may have found the White Lotus management philosophy that is leading to a series of grizzly murders, thefts, and all-around debauchery at their world-class resorts. In the conversation where Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) tries to warn Fabian (Christian Friedel) about Gary/Greg (Jon Gries), he says one specific thing to her when she recommends calling “Thai police, the Americans, Italy! All the police!” Fabian says to her:
“We are not calling the police…We shouldn’t even be gossiping. It’s bad form to talk about a guest in this way. Some people have colorful pasts. It’s really not wise to stir anything up. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
Fabian, dude, just check out the White Lotus employee Slack announcements just once, buddy. You have had a string of murders at your resorts over the last few years and your jewelry store was just robbed not two days ago. You have a PROBLEM on your hands. Listen to Belinda, someone who has been through this. You’re going to want to have the police at your resort sooner rather than later.
While “Full Moon Party” may not have had the full-blow chaos and treachery that was telegraphed in Episode 4, it’s clear we are inching very close. It’s clear we all have something to worry about.
Tim, Victoria, and Piper Ratliff
It doesn’t take long for Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) to find out that Tim (Jason Isaacs) stole the gun out of the security office at the end of Episode 4. Not that any of that matters because Gaitok, petrified with fear, confronts Tim but lets him get away with the old “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about” line. Nice security work there, Gaitok, letting a spiraling guest walk around with a handgun.
The gun stays safely put away for most of the episode because Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) tells her parents that there is no thesis on Buddhism and that she really just wants to visit the temple because she wants to move to Thailand for at least a year after graduating college. Victoria (Parker Posey) doesn’t buy for one second that Piper has bought into this Buddhist “cult” because everyone they know is Christian, and the monk at the temple looks like a Hare Krishna.
And don’t think just because the monk has written a book on peace and kindness that makes any difference. “Charles Manson wrote a book. Hillary Clinton wrote FIVE books!” Victoria reminds Piper. She goes on to admit she is worried Piper is going to end up in a sex cult as a concubine for some leader with a bunch of sister wives.
While Victoria is downright certifiable, she does admit that now she is going “to have to drink myself to sleep.” Who among us, right? Sometimes these characters can be relatable.
Meanwhile, Tim barely mumbles a word. He waits until Victoria goes to bed to tell Piper it’s just all a lot to process (and of course, Piper doesn’t know the half of it). Tim, once an altar boy, now looks like he wants to sacrifice himself if it means saving some semblance of his family. He even writes a note and is about to pull the trigger before Victoria interrupts him. Sorry, Tim, in The White Lotus, the worst of the worst don’t get to make it out that easily.
Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie
The most dramatic and plot-twisty thing that happens during the night of the full moon was when Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb), and Laurie (Carrie Coon) decide to go out on the town with Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius) and his two buddies from Vladivostok. These three slippery and muscly Russians fill the ladies up with booze and a night of sensual dancing, while Jaclyn continues to heavily imply Laurie and Valentin should hook up.
After several of them play a game of “find my swimsuit” back at the resort pool, Kate gets in her pajamas, indicating she is ready to go to bed so everyone else should too. Reluctantly, the party breaks up and while Laurie stumbles to her room alone, it’s Jaclyn who leaves the door open literally and figuratively for Valentin to come into her room for some “my boyfriend hasn’t called me back in three days” sex.
This will raise an issue among the friends, clearly. There is no way this remains a secret, but will Laurie really be upset? Did she want Valentin? She had her chance and could have invited him to her room, but did not. Was she sending signals and Valentin wasn’t picking up on them? And then there is the issue of Kate. Kate loves to be in the middle of the topic of discussion, and now she will surely be armed with enough ammunition to play both sides against each other and set herself up as the confidante of both her friends. From what we’ve seen so far from Kate, that’s where she has wanted to be all along.
Chloe, Chelsea, Saxon, and Lochlan
Despite Saxon’s overbearing confidence that Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) are all about wanting to hook up with Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola) at the Full Moon Party, the reality is Chloe and Chelsea are only with them for two reasons. First, they’re available. Second, they’re young. The same can not be said of Gary and Rick (Walton Goggins), unfortunately, so Saxon and Lochlan will have to do.
They are at least, it seems, impressionable and willing to follow wherever these girls lead like they are their two high-class, obedient puppy dogs. Saxon doesn’t do drugs, but he will take ecstasy when the girls beg him. Lochlan doesn’t have confidence, but he will tell Saxon one day he is going to “take you down” after a few hours with the girls. Chelsea even begs Saxon to stop being weird, but then puts them in a spin-the-bottle situation where they make Saxon and Lochlan share a very passionate (and incestual) kiss.
This was the group that I thought had the most potential for disaster as they were headed for a full moon party with plenty of drugs and alcohol involved, but it appears the worst that has happened so far is Saxon and Lochlan smooched, something they both may have wanted anyway.
Saxon’s confidence never wavers, and he continues to think he is the one in charge and the answer to these two girls’ prayers. “I’m a fresh breeze, baby!” he tells Chelsea. Actually, Saxon, you’re a stiff standing in the wind, but no one has had the balls to tell you yet.
Fabian, Pornchai, and Belinda
We’ve already seen how Fabian responded to Belinda’s concern about Gary/Greg, and how Fabian dismisses his interaction with him as nothing more than just curiosity. When Belinda doesn’t get what she needs there, she turns to the person who she probably should have flagged down in the first place: Pornchai.
Over wine, Belinda tells the story, and Pornchai not only proves to be empathetic, and a good listener, but he also promises to keep her safe. Part of that role is immediately put to the test as Pornchai proves to be adept at getting the creepy-crawly lizards out of Belinda’s suite that have been lurking around for a couple of episodes.
The two share an intimate kiss and it’s equal parts clear that these two are meant to be together and that something will happen that won’t allow that to happen.
(Side note: if someone knows where to find that linen drawstring hoodie Pornchai is wearing, hit me up in the comments.)
Rick and Frank
Rick arrives in Bangkok to meet up with an old colleague, Frank (Sam Rockwell), who passes off a bag with some items Rick will need in his confrontation with Jim Hollinger in his attempt to avenge his father. That will all have to wait, however, as Rick’s question about why Frank is drinking chamomile tea instead of alcohol leads into quite the story about Frank’s evolution into Buddhism and celibacy.
Apparently bedding a different Asian woman every night (including a couple of “ladyboys”) became less and less fulfilling, so Frank now has a testimony of sorts that has led him to clean living and no ladies. Rockwell (who is dating Kate’s Leslie Bibb in real life), is a funny, slap-in-the-face cameo, but the real winner in these scenes were the faces Walton Goggins makes as Rick listens to these stories.
If there is an award for making a face that reads half “Get me the hell out of here” and half “I have never been more interested in anything in my life,” Goggins wins it by a landslide. Apparently, we will have to wait until Episode 6 for Rick’s confrontation, but will he be persuaded by Frank’s conversion and Chloe constantly trying to call and talk him down? I kinda hope not. I want to see the angry Rick performance that Goggins can deliver.
Most Likely to End Up Dead in the Water
In the same conversation when Fabian tells Belinda not to worry about Gary/Greg because he is just “curious,” he tells Belinda, “I think you’ll survive.” The phrase “I think you’ll survive” is like the middle free square on you’re-not-going-to-make-it The White Lotus bingo card. We don’t normally see people come back from that.
However, I actually don’t predict Belinda will die in the end-of-season gunfight. No, Belinda is the one who is a through-line of pain in this series, and who is clearly meant to suffer through no fault of her own. She still represents what Mike White so clearly wants to communicate, which is this idea of class that exists and so often separates us. What does that mean for her going forward? We know Zion, her son, is not the one killed in the shootout based on Episode 1. That leads me to believe her newly discovered romance with Pornchai might be perilously short-lived.
Belinda does not belong in this White Lotus universe; she clearly belongs in a better one. But as long as she tethers herself (or is forced to tether herself) to this miserable place, sadness is going to follow her. At least that’s my latest prediction.
