Greg hosted a party in The White Lotus season 3 episode 7, and it felt like a murder might not be too far. Belinda could already sense foul play, and she was inclined not to attend the party, but her son, Zion, thought knowing what they were dealing with was better than avoiding the trouble altogether. The mother and son were not the only ones planning on attending the party; Saxon too looked forward to it, though he was clueless about Chloe and Greg’s plan. Other than worrying about Rick, Chelsea did not have a lot going on, and a party was just what she needed to keep herself distracted. Speaking of distraction, the Lorazepams are not enough to help Timothy forget about the trouble he is in, and with every episode, it seems he is losing his will to live anymore.
Spoiler Alert
Why was Saxon so desperate to impress Chelsea?
The last thing Saxon wanted to do was rot in his villa, so when Chloe invited him to Greg’s party, he took the opportunity to keep himself busy. Lochlan was with Piper at the monastery, and that helped Saxon not to think about the previous night. Timothy and Victoria tagged along with Saxon to the party, even though they couldn’t care less about, as Victoria had described, “the boat people.” Timothy took the opportunity to gulp down a couple of pegs of whiskey while Victoria was horrified to find out that the young girls dating the older men at the party were actually in love and that their relationships were not entirely transactional.
Saxon had been noticing Timothy’s behavioral changes, and he decided to finally ask his father the difficult question. When he asked Timothy if there were any problems at work, his father responded that everything was just fine. Lately, Saxon had realized that his sole personality revolved around being a young businessman following in the footsteps of his successful father. But the moment that (the business) would be in jeopardy, he would completely lose his identity. After seeing his father behave strangely, he was worried that maybe the one thing that best defined him had been affected, and he was momentarily relieved when Timothy told him everything was okay. But for how long? One day (possibly the next episode), Saxon will find out that they are broke and his father is about to be sent to prison. Just like his mother, will Saxon too prefer dying to building his life from scratch? Or will the whole fiasco take him on a spiritual journey that will help him build character and understand life a little better? Saxon could not get over Chelsea’s comment from episode 6, where she mentioned that he was soulless. It got him wondering why she thought that way and if he truly lacked an interesting personality.
Convincing Chelsea to open up was a challenge Saxon was willing to undertake, but Chelsea had repeatedly expressed that she was in love with her man, and had no interest in sleeping around just for the sake of it. Saxon seemed to be genuinely interested in becoming a better person. After the yacht party, he probably started to care about why he was perceived as just a ‘fun’ guy and not someone worth spending time with. He wanted to be better, but was it just to impress Chelsea or did he actually care? That remains debatable.
Saxon refused to participate in Chloe and Greg’s cuckolding scheme. Greg wanted an exciting sex life that involved replaying his childhood fantasy of experiencing voyeuristic pleasure while watching his parents make love. It was his way of dealing with his Oedipus complex, with Chloe playing the role of his mother. Saxon was disgusted when Chloe explained how he could help her feel closer to Greg, and he decided to leave the party. Chelsea was surprised when she learned about Greg’s fantasy, but she refused to be judgmental. Later, Saxon walked Chelsea to her room and begged her to teach him her ways to connect with people on a spiritual level. Chelsea tried to teach Saxon the basic rules of meditation, but clearly he was more interested in getting intimate with her. She decided it was time for him to leave her room when he held her hands. She offered him a few books on spiritualism, and Saxon walked back to his villa, defeated. Chelsea was worried about Rick, and she repeatedly called him, but he didn’t respond. Will the extent of his detachment push Chelsea to go against her beliefs and give Saxon a chance? Or will she wait for Rick to return to explain himself? Also, can Rick make it back to Koh Samui before the firing begins? Well, all our questions will be (hopefully) answered in the finale.
How is the random hookup going to affect Laurie?
Laurie, Jaclyn, and Kate struggled to get over the awkwardness. Laurie refused to apologize for her behavior, and Jaclyn didn’t hesitate to point out that maybe the reason why she was so upset about her sleeping with Valentin was because she was frustrated. Jaclyn believed that if Laurie wanted to have a good time with Valentin, she could have done so instead of getting all bitter when her friend decided to have fun. Kate agreed with Jaclyn; while she didn’t mind gossiping about Jaclyn, she thought a confrontation about the choices Jaclyn made in her personal life was a little too much. Laurie was surprised when Jaclyn and Kate hinted that her underlying frustration with her job and her failed marriage were the reasons why she was always upset. They believed she blamed others for it because she was incapable of admitting that she had made some wrong choices in life. Instead of trying to make her life better, Jaclyn and Kate strongly felt that Laurie preferred holding onto her anger and frustration. Laurie had had enough; she accused Kate of being fake and pretentious, and she called out Jaclyn for her attention-seeking behavior. Instead of spending time with people who talked behind her back, she decided she must attend the Muay Thai fight show with Valentin, Vlad, and Aleksei.
Laurie had a gala time with them and ended up spending the night with Vlad. She possibly regretted her decision when Vlad asked her for ten thousand dollars to pay off his mother’s medical bills. Laurie could sense that she’d fallen into a trap, and she didn’t know how to escape from it because Vlad got a little agitated when she came up with an excuse the first time he explained his situation. Thankfully, his girlfriend started banging on his bedroom door, and Vlad asked Laurie to hide. Laurie ended up jumping out of the window, and it was definitely not the way she wanted her night of fun and frolic to come to an end. It possibly brought her back to reality, where bad things could’ve happened to her, and not addressing her life problems would only make things worse for her.
Even though the three friends have a lot of unaddressed issues, I truly hope they find a sense of camaraderie that will help them overcome their shortcomings. At the end of the day, they were in the same age group, and each of them could really understand what the other was going through if they honestly poured their hearts out instead of keeping up with the pretense, but first they really need to stop judging one another. Or, they might end up not being friends anymore, but that will just give into the stereotype of how female friends drift apart after a certain age. It will also not be surprising if they go back to their usual ways, because pretense is easier than confrontation, and they might just keep in touch for the sake of it.
Will Gaitok take action against Valentin and friends?
Gaitok recognized the tattoo on one of Valentin’s friends, and he remembered Valentin distracting him when the robbers entered the resort. He realized that Valentin had orchestrated the robbery, and it was up to him to decide what he would do about it. Gaitok could inform his seniors, but without any evidence, his testimony might not be taken seriously. He might confront Valentin all by himself, and who knows, he might be forced to act violently in the face of danger. When Laurie was leaving Vlad’s house, she’d noticed the stolen jewelry at his place. She could possibly inform the general manager about it, but she might choose not to because she’d figured out that Valentin and his friends were dangerous. Explaining what she was doing at Vlad’s place and becoming the target of a gang was not something Laurie was up for.
Why did Rick choose not to pull the trigger on Jim Hollinger?
Rick had been waiting all his life to face the man who’d shot his father. He’d been mentally preparing for the day, and he had probably thought of a dozen ways to kill Jim. When Rick sat in front of him while his friend, Frank, pretended to be the director interested in casting Sritala, all he wanted was to find the opportunity to take the man aside and tell him how he’d ruined his life. Rick managed to convince Jim to take their discussion on business in Thailand to his study room. He had his gun ready, and he eventually started narrating how Jim had destroyed his life by killing the man who had dared to stand with the locals and protested against his expansion plans. Jim struggled to recall the incident, and Rick was clearly frustrated. He pulled out his gun and had pointed it in Jim’s direction. He wanted to pull the trigger, but he couldn’t; he wanted to beat him up, but something stopped him. He ended up doing the childish thing that he perhaps didn’t think of in his wildest dreams— he simply pushed Jim Hollinger off his chair and ran out of his room. On his way out, Rick informed his security guards about it and left. He later told his friend how Jim was not what he’d always pictured him to be. He was an old, frail man, powerless in front of him, and in that moment, he realized that killing him would not bring him the peace of mind that he was searching for. He simply wanted to confront him, and he felt good that the weight had been lifted off his chest. The two friends ended up getting drunk like old times, and Rick finally felt relieved for the first time since he’d landed in Thailand.
Is Belinda making the wrong choice?
Towards the end of The White Lotus episode 7, Greg offered Belinda money in exchange for her silence. He requested Belinda to sit with him to discuss their situation. Belinda was hesitant at first, but she eventually agreed. Greg explained that he’d moved to Thailand for his peace of mind. Even though he had nothing to do with Tanya’s murder, he was constantly harassed by the cops, and he chose to get away from the chaos. He mentioned that Tanya regretted not helping Belinda with her business, so he offered Belinda ten thousand dollars to work on her dream. He believed Tanya would’ve been happy with his decision, and he was also hopeful that Belinda would not make his life any more difficult after accepting the money. Belinda wanted to sleep on the proposal and tell him her decision after some time. Zion encouraged his mother to accept the money, because she would be in trouble anyway if he refused. He thought it was better to start her own therapeutic center than end up getting murdered to bring justice to someone who didn’t mean much to her. But for Belinda, the choice was not as cut and dry; she couldn’t get over the fact that it was not the morally right thing to do, but the fear of getting killed also haunted her.
The ending of The White Lotus episode 7 also hints at the possibility that Piper might be struggling to make peace with her modest accommodation. Victoria had challenged her to spend one night at the monastery, and it seems she found the change (from abundance to bare minimum) a little difficult to cope with. On the contrary, Lochlan didn’t mind staying at the monastery. He rather found the entire experience enlightening and was wondering if he could possibly spend a year there with Piper. His sister was not pleased with his decision; maybe she was envious and wondered why she could not adjust, especially when Lochlan, who previously had no interest in Buddhism, could. It seems Victoria could’ve possibly been right!
