After Watching The White Lotus Season 3 Premiere, I Have 6 Huge Theories About Where It's Going

After two years, The White Lotus officially returned to HBO, and your girl’s got theories.

Like the monkeys of Thailand featured in the premiere episode, The White Lotus Season 3 swung onto our 2025 TV schedule with a luxury-filled February premiere. We've now finally met the cast of characters that we'll no doubt get to know very well over the next several episodes. With all the casting announcements over the years, it’s about time we got to see all these actors in action while making grand predictions about them.

Because as is the case with any The White Lotus season, theories begin to take hold the moment the first episode starts, and Season 3 has me in a chokehold already. Let’s get into the six massive theories for what I think will happen this season.

The Girl’s Trip Will Dissolve Into Everyone Admitting How Much They Actually Hate Each Other

There’s a reason why there’s a stereotype out there that girls' trips tend to dissolve into chaos. And I have a feeling that's where things are going for Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon and Leslie Bibb's characters.

From the moment we meet Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie, there’s something...off about the trio. It feels as if they’re excited for this vacation, as anyone should be, but the more interactions we see even on just the first day, the more it feels as if there’s a massive disconnect between all three of them.

Or at the very least, Laurie is the the odd one out. As we see, she literally excuses herself from the table at one point to go and drink while sobbing in her room. That’s not necessarily the right way to start a good girls' trip. But it’s really because all Kate and Jaclyn are so complimentary about each others' lavish lives, while Laurie is left out of it.

But I also think the former two are engaging in passive-aggressive types of compliments, and that each is probably secretly jealous of the other’s life. Which will no doubt lead to some big blow-up between them, presumably sparked by Laurie unleashing a comment that leads to all three cracking. Childhood bonds sometimes stick, but with these three, I’m not feeling it, and I know they’ll fall apart.

Those Brothers Are Going To Have Sex – Or At The Very Least, Something Sexual

Look, this is HBO., so I’m not even going to sugarcoat it. What’s an HBO drama without a bit of incest? It usually happens in the channel's best fantasy shows like Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, but others like Six Feet Under have introduced it into a more modern reality, so why not here?

As jokey as this might sound, I do think something is going to happen between Sam Nivola's Lochlan and Patrick Schwarzenegger's Saxon. (Who names their boys that? What?) There wouldn’t have been as much tension around the conversational focus on sex, I wouldn't think. And Lochlan's lingering look at his sibling's nude body wasn't there for frivolity's sake.

I think the more prominent way this theory plays out is with the reveal that Lochlan isn’t biologically related to Saxon and Piper, and will be adopted. I think Piper and Saxon are Timothy and Victoria’s biological children, but I also think something feels kind of off with Victoria (played by Parker Posey, whom we already adore) - I’m not sure what. Still, maybe whatever it is led to them adopting a third child instead of conceiving one, and it’s perhaps why Lochlan has such weird, seemingly sexual energy with Saxon.

Either way, these two are definitely going to do something. I don’t know if it’ll be sex, but there’s something that will go down. Cough, cough. Wink, wink.

Chelsea And Chloe Will Conspire Against Their Middle-Aged Men

Okay, so Chelsea is already my favorite The White Lotus cast member, and I say that with full transparency because I get such sweet vibes from her. It feels like she genuinely wants to help Rick, but he’s just…middle-aged and grumpy about not meeting up with the man he traveled there to see.

But there’s something about this suddenly bursting friendship between Chelsea and Chloe – the model who is dating Greg, the White Lotus Season 1 cast member who was Tanya’s lying husband – that I love.

I know a lot of people assume that it’ll turn into a romance or something between them, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think these two are going to conspire against their lovers. Not to the lengths of killing them, maybe, but still working together to force their respective partners into treating them right, or taking their money as an alternate.

I don’t know—maybe it’s just my inner girl-lover persona who wants to see them fight back against men who treat them so terribly, but I want to see them work together.

A Big Confrontation Is Coming For Timothy And Rick

We only got two moments between the two, but I am full-steam ahead on an impending confrontation between Rick and Timothy.

We still don’t know what the heck Rick does, but it's clearly enough for him to have shelled out the money to come to this resort. Meanwhile, Timothy is already going through some kind of tricky thing at work, indicated by the call about a Wall Street Journal story. So tensions are running high.

So while I’m not sure how it will go down between these two, it feels like there’s going to be a lead-up to them getting into a fight, presumably started by Rick flicking a cigarette into the other man's face.

Belinda ISN’T Going To Die

I know the premiere's cold open alluded to it, but I stand by the idea that Belinda isn’t going to die in Season 3, and that definitely wasn't her body.

When we all found out Natasha Rothwell would return for Season 3 of the show, we were eager to see what would happen. It was a shame what happened to Jennifer Coolidge’s character in Season 2, but I think all of us really knew deep down she might not last long with how volatile she could be.

Belinda, on the other hand, is the most peaceful person out there and legitimately would not hurt a fly. We see that she’s excited to be at the Thailand White Lotus the moment she arrives. I really don’t think they would bring her back just to kill her off this season, especially when we just met her son, Zion, and it was hinted at but not confirmed.

Maybe I’m just being over-optimistic and thinking that somehow everything will work out with her coming back, but I really don’t think she’ll die.

But One Of The Women On The Girls' Trip Is Doomed

That’s my final bet. I don’t just think the girls' trip will fall apart – I think it’ll end in death.

I think pointing to Laurie would be an easy guess since it’s clear that she’s already a little unstable with how she feels around her friends. What I think might happen is that Jaclyn or Kate is going to snap and somehow get a gun, and one way or another, one of them is going to die.

But as we heard in the beginning, there were multiple gunshots, so maybe it’s not them pulling the trigger – it could be someone else entirely. Perhaps there’s a hitman out there or another guest that just snaps – Rick, maybe? Since we have no clue who he is? I don’t know, but I think one way or another, one of these women is going to bite the dust.

Critics have been calling The White Lotus Season 3 unique in many ways, and already, given its exotic location, I’m eager to see where it goes. I’m not sure how the story is going to play out, but I am here for the drama and the murder mystery. We’re back to White Lotus Sundays!