Warning: Spoilers ahead for season three of The White Lotus
“I’m gonna help you get your joy back, even if it kills me,” Aimee Lou Wood’s happy-go-lucky Chelsea promises her older, far grumpier boyfriend Rick (Walton Goggins) in the White Lotus season three premiere. It’s a throwaway line, but worth noting at this early stage in series creator Mike White’s new, Thailand-set season.
One hour into the new getaway, viewers know only that the tranquil wellness center will eventually erupt into gunfire. And Zion (Nicholas Duvernay), son of visiting spa center manager Belinda (a returning Natasha Rothwell), is the only cast member we know will be safe from the violence (as it begins, anyway). We don’t know who is pointing the weapon, and which unlucky vacationers will check out of the resort in a body bag.
As we did in Italy, Vanity Fair will be on the hunt for all White Lotus callbacks to seasons past, as well as potential clues about who could be this season’s killer or victim(s). If you’re watching weekly—especially you, Parker Posey!—come back after each episode for a breakdown of all the Easter eggs scattered throughout the series’ third season.
Episode 1: Same Spirits, New Forms
Belinda’s Turn
The first character viewers meet in The White Lotus’s latest season is Zion, the teenage son of Natasha Rothwell’s Belinda. Fans will recognize her from the show’s Maui-set first season, where her transformative spa treatments caught the fleeting attention (and cashflow) of Jennifer Coolidge’s now dearly departed Tanya. Belinda has traveled to Thailand to learn some new wellness techniques, and extended an invite to Zion, who hopes to escape from the stress of finals and some other stuff he’s not divulging just yet.
In the season’s opening moments, Zion hears gunfire within the resort, and says a prayer for his mother’s whereabouts. The action soon flashes back to a week earlier, where Belinda lands in Thailand for what is meant to be a three-month stay. “I wanna learn everything I can and bring the magic back to Maui,” she declares upon her arrival.
A Dirty John Descends
Thought you knew every actor who was making the trek to Thailand? The surprise appearance of Jon Gries, a.k.a. the man who conned Tanya in season one before marrying her, reappears in The White Lotus’s third season. Only this time, Greg is joined by his much younger girlfriend Chloe (played by Charlotte Le Bon), who refers to him as “the bald guy with the orange shirt” while bonding in the hotel bar with Aimee Lou Wood’s Chelsea.
Chloe and her boyfriend of roughly a year aren’t guests at The White Lotus, but they live up on a hill near the establishment, often dropping down to dine at the resort’s restaurant. Perhaps it’s because they want to mingle with the guests—and get away from each other. “He just tells me to get lost because I get on his nerves,” Chloe tells Chelsea. “But honestly, he’s so fucking boring. I almost don’t even care.”
Her disdain is a reminder of Greg’s unsavory feelings toward Tanya in season two. Early into their Italian getaway, it’s apparent that Greg is lying to his wife, as he can be heard whispering on the phone just out of her earshot: “Yeah, she’s clueless as usual. I’ll be home tomorrow.” Greg, who we learned last season has been married four times, also deserted Tanya shortly before she was targeted by a group of “gays” angling for her fortune. And Greg, who signed a prenup with Tanya, was part of the plan all along. “It did look like Greg ended up with all the money, unfortunately,” Coolidge told VF in a post-finale interview.
It’s unclear just how much Chloe knows about her boyfriend’s past. But considering that Greg met his dead ex-wife at The White Lotus in Hawaii, and that she wound up dead at the resort’s Italy outpost, she could have stood to do a Google search before agreeing to settle with him just outside of the White Lotus in Thailand. Chloe, you’re in danger, girl!
This post will be updated.
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