Shortly after its predecessor's conclusion, Tim (portrayed by Jason Isaacs) swiftly pulls the trigger, directing the bullet towards his own temple. The sound of the gunshot jolts Victoria (played by Parker Posey) from her slumber, her piercing screams echoing over her fallen husband's body, drawing their daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) into the scene, who promptly joins her mother in a symphony of weeping and wailing. This harrowing moment serves as a stark, deceptive twist by "White Lotus" creator Mike White, as it is merely a grim fantasy conjured by Tim, still grappling with suicidal thoughts. Acknowledging the chaos his demise would unleash, Tim resolves to carry on for at least another day, concealing the firearm he pilfered from Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) in a cabinet drawer, albeit one that is far from discreet.
Returning to the warmth of his bed, Victoria reassures Tim that Piper's fascination with her Thai gap year will fade once they return to Durham. Tim, appearing indifferent to his daughter's aspirations, brushes her off with a casual, "I'm not worried in the slightest." Whether Victoria is oblivious or simply in denial, the rift between them has never been more pronounced, and her every misplaced word only widens the chasm. Meanwhile, Lochlan (Sam Nivola) and Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) find themselves in an unprecedentedly close proximity, albeit under dire circumstances. The aftermath of their moonlit, intoxicated bash with Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) leaves Saxon waking up nude alongside his younger, equally nude brother.
Saxon strives to shake off the eerie discomfort lingering from that fateful night, yet the memories cling to him tenaciously. Horrifying recollections surface – of a threesome with Chloe and Lochlan – and Saxon initially assumes he masturbated while watching them, a thought alone sufficient to induce vomiting. Later, Chloe's revelation that it was Lochlan engaging in double penetration, rather than Saxon indulging in solo pleasure, plunges Saxon into a whirlwind of disgust and distress. Schwarzenegger masterfully portrays his character's escalating revulsion and discomfort, striking a balance between exaggerated horror and absolute plausibility.
Throughout this turmoil, Chelsea remains a detached observer, dropping casual one-liners such as, "God, I don't think there's a drug in existence that could convince me to hook up with my brother."
When it comes to unsettling revelations, Kate (Leslie Bibb), catching Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) sneaking Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius) out in the hush of dawn following their clandestine late-night encounter, couldn't even wait for breakfast to spill the beans to Laurie (Carrie Coon). Pushed by Jaclyn into chasing after Valentin, Laurie is justifiably peeved by her friend's self-centered antics. "She hasn't budged an inch," she remarks, as Coon, an actress renowned for her all-in performances, launches into a tirade against Jaclyn, savagely slicing through a fruit platter with each word.
Later, when Laurie confronts Jaclyn, her friend deftly sidesteps the issue, claiming that nothing transpired between her and Valentin, a tale as plausible as a mirage. Jaclyn attempts to reverse the dynamic, making Laurie and Kate feel as though they have no cause for distress. Kate, striving to steer clear of conflict, inadvertently leaves both Laurie and Jaclyn feeling more isolated than ever.
Over on Chloe's end of the boat, the atmosphere is scarcely warmer. She spends her morning engrossed in anxieties about Gary/Greg's (Jon Gries) potential retaliation for her infidelity. "Gary's going to dump me. Or something worse," she confesses to Chelsea, who reassuringly asserts, "Better prospects await beyond Gary." Yet Chloe harbors no desire to seek out a new, lucrative partnership. She bribes the deckhands to keep quiet, but upon her return to Greg's mansion, he confronts her head-on, branding her a liar and demanding to know which Ratliff brother she bedded. Chloe, donning the world's worst poker face, refuses to divulge, prompting Greg to instruct her to invite her lover to dinner. "I'm having guests tonight," he declares. "I need to address something, and I need your assistance."
Similarly, Belinda's (Natasha Rothwell) morning begins on a cringe-worthy note as her son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) arrives in Thailand, only to catch his mother still entangled in bed with Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul). Over breakfast, Zion laments his love life's non-existence. Belinda responds with advice straight out of "Scarface": "First, you acquire wealth; then, power; then, the woman." He jokes back, "So, you're turning gangster on me now?" She retorts, "Gotta get gangster around here," hinting at her escalating paranoia regarding Greg, a detail she refuses to elaborate on. Their conversation is abruptly halted by Fabian (Christian Friedel), who invites Belinda to his dinner performance. Fabian, seriously, read the room!
For the record, Bibb steals the episode's best line. When Coon's Laurie insists that confronting Jaclyn is imperative, lest she be deemed fake, Kate counters with, "What one person deems fake, another might consider good manners."
Piper harbors no regrets akin to those of many other characters in this episode, yet she does face a daunting prospect this week. She is compelled to accompany her mother and father to meet Luang Por Teera (Suthichai Yoon), the esteemed head monk of a nearby monastery. Upon his consent to receive her parents, Tim ventures in alone. When Tim voices his bewilderment over Piper's aspiration to relocate to Thailand, the monk enlightens him, "Many young souls from your homeland find solace here. Perhaps, it is due to a spiritual void." His profound words, echoing the inescapable pangs of existence and the hollow joys of "money-chasing," resonate deeply with Tim, whose impending arrest has plunged him into a whirlpool of introspection about his future, past choices, and the trajectory of his life. preceding night: "What do you believe transpires after we breathe our last?"
The monk responds with poetic wisdom, "Upon birth, you are akin to a solitary droplet ascending, detached from the vast, unified consciousness. Upon death, you descend, merging once again with the ocean. No more separation. No more agony." His soothing words intertwine with close-ups of Tim's desperate visage and slow-motion visuals of waves cresting and crashing, creating a spiritual tableau of transcendent beauty—a stark contrast to the indulgent images of affluence that permeate "The White Lotus." This moment of enlightenment prompts Tim to grant Piper his blessing to embark on her monastic journey, perhaps even intensifying his contemplation of suicide as a means to terminate his own "suffering."
Victoria stipulates that she will only endorse Piper's plan if she spends a night embodying the monk's lifestyle within the monastery. Piper concurs, somewhat reassured by Lochlan's offer to accompany her. (However, this turns out to be a misstep as the monastery's meditation session jogs his memory of an intimate encounter with Saxon and Chloe.) Meanwhile, back in the Ratliffs' suite, Posey delivers humorous yet insightful remarks, including, "She [Piper] must learn to dread poverty, Tim! Like the rest of us. That's how she'll make wise decisions."
The conversation takes a somber turn when Victoria confesses that she would prefer not to live if her family were stripped of their wealth. "Why would you utter such words?" Tim asks, hurt and perplexed. "I just don't fancy living a life of discomfort at this stage," Victoria responds nonchalantly, as if oblivious to the possibility of ever losing her possessions. Her revelation alters Tim's subsequent suicidal reverie, where he envisions first mercifully ending her life while she sleeps before turning the gun on himself.
While we know this vision is mere fiction, as Gaitok successfully retrieves the gun from Tim's suite while the Ratliffs are absent, it is still troubling. It signifies a shift in Tim's mentality—he now considers violence not only towards himself but also towards others.
As Tim and Victoria make their way back, Gaitok manages to slip away from the Ratliffs' suite undetected, unaware that his exit has left him momentarily without his preferred means of self-harm. Fortunately for him, he retrieves it just as his supervisor, recognizing his potential, invites him to a shooting practice session at the gun range after his shift. To everyone's astonishment, including perhaps to those versed in the complexities of "White Lotus," Gaitok proves to be remarkably adept at shooting. Could it be that the affable, love-struck gatekeeper harbors a more sinister edge than meets the eye?
Near the conclusion of their session, Gaitok's supervisor poses a probing question: does he possess the "killer instinct" required to excel at his role with the necessary ferocity? "I think so," Gaitok replies confidently. Yet, he is not alone in this season of "White Lotus" when it comes to harboring a perilous killer instinct. Enter Greg, the widowed and murderous husband of Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge), whose sudden appearance at the White Lotus resort sends shivers down Belinda's spine.
He approaches her out of the blue, inviting her to a dinner party at his house that same evening, an event also attended by Saxon, Tim, and Victoria. "I think we should talk," he says cryptically, leaving Belinda reeling with unspoken fears. Despite her attempts to decline by mentioning her son's visit, Greg insists she bring Zion along, leaving her with no choice but to return to her suite trembling, her fear evident even to her son. Belinda's situation, already uncomfortable, begins to tighten and darken with each passing moment.
Elsewhere, Rick (Walton Goggins) executes his long-planned confrontation with Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn). His strategy involves first persuading Sritala (Lek Patravadi) to agree to a visit at her home and then convincing Frank (the welcome return of Sam Rockwell) to pose as the director of a fake movie Rick has told her about. Though Rick assures a hesitant Frank that he won't bring the gun he gifted him to the meeting, Frank catches a glimpse of a gun-shaped object tucked in Rick's suit pocket just before they disembark the boat in front of Sritala and Jim's compound.
As the episode concludes, Sritala introduces herself and her husband, whose figure remains obscured from view, to Frank. Meanwhile, Rick takes a moment to glare at the man he believes ruined his life before stepping into their home. Rick may deny it, but murder clearly looms heavily on his mind, and he is far from being the only character in this season of "White Lotus" whose thoughts turn to lethal intentions.
