Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t caught up with The White Lotus Season 3 on HBO or with a Max subscription, so be warned!
Even though it feels like we just pulled up to the welcome dock at The White Lotus’s Ko Samui resort, and somehow our erotically disturbing and stress-swept journey has only one last leg to go during the 2025 TV schedule in the form of the Season 3 finale, "Amor Fati." So many storylines need to be wrapped up in the installment, which will be around 90 minutes in length, with the mystery shooter situation still the biggest question mark.
But before it can all get laid out for us in full for another delightfully twisted night of HBO programming, let’s make a few weighted guesses about what definitely won’t happen before the finale’s credits roll, as well as a couple of things that likely will.
Definitely Won't Happen: Gary Reveals That He Actually Is 100% Innocent Of Everything That Was Ever Suspected Of Him
To see actor Jon Gries in interviews and in lighter roles from his career, and it's almost shocking how quickly he becomes the guiltiest-looking person in the room while in the role of The White Lotus' name-switching Gary. Through all three seasons so far, the slow-moving character has earned the ire of every Tanya-adoring viewer, but all without the show every fully proving him to be a black widower culprit.
His explanation to Belinda in Episode 307 almost seemed like it could have been sincerely true, if only it had been uttered by anyone else but Gary. I don't fully suspect that creator Mike White will tip his hat 100% in the direction of Gary's guilt, but I am entirely convinced that the show will not wrap up this storyline by revealing that Gary-as-Greg hasn't ever done anything wrong or put anyone else in danger, and that his health issues have been entirely authentic. Not gonna happen.
Probably Will: Tim Keeps The Family In Thailand As A Fugitive
The White Lotus has been almost uncomfortably content with showing audiences exactly what it would look like if Jason Isaacs' tension volcano Tim murdered his entire family before turning a weapon on himself. (To the disgust of Duke representatives, among others.) But even if Gaitok hadn't already stolen the gun back without Tim's knowledge, I still don't think it's in the Southern-bred pill-popper's nature to go out on such a sordid and headline-making note.
Instead, I think Tim will come to the realization that his best attempt to avoid all of his legal troubles and financial woes stateside is to avoid going back home altogether, with his family necessarily staying near to avoid their own investigations. Granted, all of their assets have likely been frozen, and I doubt any of them are keeping giant cash bags around, but it’s far easier to envision Tim embracing Buddhist minimalism than to picture him opting for murder-suicide.
Definitely Won't Happen: Laurie Makes Three Wise Decisions In A Row That Benefit Her Mental Health, Job Life, And Friendship Choices
I think we all know someone like Laurie who seems to only make the kinds of decisions they know they’ll regret later. Even if that assumption is largely influenced by Jaclyn and Kate’s smack-talk, Carrie Coon’s character certainly hasn’t tried to buck their expectations at all, with her ill-considered sexual conquest as the latest example.
Granted, I think that festering resentment stems from her having previously been in love with Jaclyn’s husband, and that the latter’s infidelity reopened some of Laurie’s old wounds. Regardless, The White Lotus’ finale will most definitely not feature a good-decision montage in which Laurie permanently elevates her sunny disposition, makes the best possible job change, and finds a set of new friends whom she doesn’t harbor ill thoughts towards. I think she’s stuck in her unfortunate-but-relatable friend triangle for the long haul.
Probably Will: Jim Hollinger Fucks Rick's World All Up
Fresh off of playing Vince Vaughn’s father in Bad Monkey, Scott Glenn entered the monkey-focused White Lotus as a bad man responsible for killing someone else’s father. (Impossible to typecast this guy.) But despite Jim Hollinger arrival being prefaced with allusions to health problems, and despite the performance feeding into that, Glenn isn’t the actor one casts to flinch and cower and fail to respond when another man pushes his chair over.
No, Glenn is the dude who gets cast to show up out of nowhere and rain untimely hell onto whoever is most deserving. And with Rick utilizing Sirita to find her hubby, she knows exactly where he’ll be going after leaving Bangkok. I fully believe that Jim faked his feebleness more convincingly than Sam Rockwell’s Frank faked being a movie director, and that he will return in the finale to brutally wipe the contented smile from the face of Walton Goggins’ character. And that Aimee Lou Wood’s scene-stealing Chelsea will be amazing as it all goes down.
Definitely Won't Happen: Saxon And Lochlan Explore Their Incestuous Feelings Via Family Meeting
Perhaps The White Lotus’ biggest shocker came when Patrick Schwarzenegger’s Saxon proved himself to be a three-dimensional human in the aftermath of getting freaky to the deaky with Lochlan. That said, the ego-maniac came to the self-realization that he’s but a hollowed-out husk without the dependable comforts of a wealthy hetero lifestyle, while Lochlan didn’t exactly seem very normal when visiting the temple with Piper. This trio of offspring could definitely do with an endless cycle of therapy.
That said, I certainly do not foresee Saxon and Lochlan addressing their complicated feelings head-on with each other, which makes the eventuality of the entire Ratliff family talking about their brotherly love about as likely as Parker Posey’s Victoria growing a second head just to show off her hats. One can only hope that learning about the horrors awaiting Tim back at home completely overshadow every single atypical moment that went down on Chloe’s boat. It’s fine (and deserved) if he still remembers Chelsea repeatedly turning him down.
Other Quick-Take Predictions For The White Lotus' Season 3 Finale
- Belinda will get, and keep, Pornchai's number.
- Zion will not agree to have sex with Chloe for the sake of Gary catching them in a fit of horny jealousy.
- Chloe will find someone to volunteer after Zion says no.
- Jaclyn will not reach self-awareness about her own destructive behavior.
- Kate will end up giving one of the Russians money that they lie about needing.
- Valentin will not ever watch any of Jaclyn's movies.
- Victoria will discover Tim took all her pills and will illogically try to make him throw them back up.
- Piper will not think Buddhism is cool anymore after Tim and Lochlan have shown interest.
- Gaitok will risk his life to save Mook's, only to realize she is not the perfect match like he imagined.
- Frank will continue to abuse substances until it kills him.
- Fabian will not land a record deal or Las Vegas residency.
- Chelsea will realize that trying to be a motherly protector to Rick is on the same spectrum of weirdness as Saxon and Lochlan's mess.
Join me in making a home-crafted checklist for all of the above to keep score on Sunday night when The White Lotus finale hits HBO and Max at 9:00 p.m. ET.
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