Reasonably Certain

BONUS EP! The White Lotus S3 E7 Analysis

• Ellen Larson • Episode 41

Share episode

EP #41: In this bonus episode of Reasonably Certain, Ellen dives into a discussion of White Lotus Season 3 Episode 7. She shares her thoughts on the show's pacing, character dynamics, and the thematic elements woven throughout the season. Get ready for a lively conversation filled with predictions and insights as we approach the finale of The White Lotus!


FOLLOW ELLEN:

https://www.instagram.com/larsonellen/

https://www.tiktok.com/@larsonellen

https://www.youtube.com/c/ellenn

https://bento.me/ellenn


TO BE FEATURED IN REASONABLY CERTAIN:

☆ Q&A with Ellen: https://forms.gle/onN4potuyDm4hn6g8

☆ Dating Mishaps and Wholesome Moments: https://forms.gle/vDVZVcauc3JypcDE9


FOLLOW REASONABLY CERTAIN:

https://www.instagram.com/reasonablycertain/

https://www.tiktok.com/@reasonablycertain

https://linktr.ee/reasonablycertain

Follow on Spotify: 

https://open.spotify.com/show/0suDCk9ZpKFby2QKm54pdY?si=8fecd442bd014907

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reasonably-certain/id1755043636



WATCH REASONABLY CERTAIN ON YOUTUBE:

https://bit.ly/45VSnBh



Business Inquiries: reasonablycertainpod@gmail.com


Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.


>> Ellen:

Hey, guys. Welcome back to Reasonably Certain. My name is Ellen. This is episode 41, and I'm actually doing two episodes this week. So this is kind of like a bonus episode for this week, because if you didn't catch the previous episode, episode 40, I had my friend Marley on the podcast, and we got to learn all about who she is. She's from the Netherlands. She lives here in Barcelona, and she's a makeup artist. So if you want to learn more about, like, makeup artistry and her journey from moving from the Netherlands to Spain to Barcelona, then check out that episode. But, yeah, this is a bonus episode because, I mean, I have to follow up on the White Lotus Episode 7. Hello. Because the finale is in two days, I'm filming this on Friday. I wish I would have filmed it earlier in the week, but, girl, I have a regular job. I have other stuff I gotta get done. So I'm filming this on a Friday evening, and hopefully I can edit and, you know, have this up quickly, you know, because the finale is in two days. Before we get into that, though, I will give you a quick recap of my week for anyone who cares. Well, in Barcelona, the sun finally came out. I mentioned it last episode with Marley, but the sun is finally out. I think we had, like, a whole year of rain in the last two months. So, like, I'm just very much ready for spring and summer to be here. I'm ready to be outside. I'm ready to be on rooftops. I'm ready to be getting a tan. Like, I'm just ready for it to change seasons. So I went to a rooftop with my friend Imogen on Sunday, and I got sunburned. Yeah, I didn't wear sunscreen on purpose because I was like, I'm letting the sun hit me, hit me, and I was only in the sun for, like, an hour and a half. And, yeah, I mean, my sunburn did already go away, so it will take a few burns to build it up. That's not a good way to go about it. But I'm always confused about, like, what my, Oh, the Fitzpatrick skin type. Okay, I knew there was something. So the Fitzpatrick scale classifies skin types based on their reaction to UV light, with type 1 being very pale and never tanning, and type 6 being very dark and always tanning. So I never. I can never decide what, like, skin type I have, because I can get pretty tan, but it's not easy. Like, I have to work at it, but I can develop a pretty deep tan. It's just, like, my dad goes out in the sun for half hour when he's mowing the lawn, and, like, his neck is, like, brown and red. But I can't, like, it takes a lot of effort for me, and I feel like I have to really, like, It takes planning and effort for me to want to get a nice alliver tan. It's not something that just happens. Like, I go out in the sun for an hour or two, and I'm just like, oh, nice. It takes/ort. So type 1 means you always burn and you never tan. Well, that's not true for me because I do tan. It just takes a while. Type 2 is fair skin that tans lightly and burns easily. That's probably me because then type 3 is fair to medium, and it tans after an initial burn. Well, wait, then not. Am I type three? Okay, well, whatever I am, I'm in between a two or a three, because I do burn easily. I burn very easily. But I also do tan. It's not like I don't tan. And I do usually tan after a bit of a sunburn. But I just think, like, the initial burn of the year. Yeah, I'm not getting much color from it, but I think after I go out in the sun for, you know, it would probably take two or three days of, like, two or three hours each day to build up a tan. So whatever that means. Let me see if I can learn more about this, actually. Oh, this. This westdermatology.com has a very. Has a test. Let's take it. Okay. what color are your eyes? So hazel's just not an option, I guess. Okay, so I'm gonna go with three green. Sorry, three dark brown. Right. Like, they didn't give me an option for hazel. What the f. They just have light blue, blue, green, blue, dark brown, brownish black. I guess I'm gonna go dark brown. Okay. I'll do two for hair color. Add up your numbers or. Okay, add your numbers and check your score. So we have three and then two. So we're at five. What colors is your skin in? Places where it's not exposed to the sun. I mean, very pale. So 1. 6. How many freckles do you have on unexposed areas? Zero. Okay, so four. That's 10. What happens when you stay in the sun too long? I mean. Yeah, well, how long? That's very subjective. Could. I could stay in the sun for 20 hours and I'basically die. U probably zero. So let's stick with 10. to what degree do you turn Brown m I can get a reasonable tan. Mean I will say two. So then what is. We're at 12 turn. Do you turn brown after several hours? after several hours of sun exposure? I mean, I'm talking 10 to 15 hours of sun exposure spread out over a couple weeks, maybe. But very strategically, I have to apply just the right amount of sunscreen so that I don't burn so that I do get a tan. It's. It's strategic. I can't just go out with sunscreen on and tan up super easily or it will take so long anyways. You guys don't care. Okay, so it says I'm type three, but I'm like, okay, that makes sense. I'm like, just into the type 3 category, but not very far into the type 3 category. So I think that makes sense, actually, becausee that's kind of what I was guessing. It says your skin is white, your hair is blondeer brown, your eyes are blue or brown. You t after you burn and you may freckle. Yeah, that actually makes sense. Okay, well, now that that's settled, guys, I'm a Fitzpatrick type 3. So anyways, I'm just excited for the sun to come out. I'm ready to just be outside. And, I just went to dinner a couple times this week, and, Yeah, yeah, that's about it. So, anyways, I am looking forward to next week because my parents are coming to visit. That'snna be exciting. All right, so let's move on. White Lotus Season 3 Episode 7 let's Talk About it so, like I said, it's two days until the finale, and I think a lot of people have been expecting more and more to happen, and, like, the build up is feeling, like, painstakingly long. However, I heard that the finale is going to be an hour and a half long, so I'm really excited for that. I hope it's true. And I've noticed myself doing this, and I think the Internet has really ca on to the white lotus this time because, like, the last season it was on. It wasn't, like, such a big deal to, like, break down TV shows on TikTok as it is now. And even though it's not, a WhoUnit TV show, it also kind of is because, like, the whole week, or, like, the whole season, the whole week while the characters are at the resort, you're wondering who did it. Even though it's not, like, the point. It's not like a murder mystery show. But we know that Mike white, like, has so Many Easter eggs everywhere that it's like. That's my favorite part is, like, paying super close attention and wondering, like, was this intentional? Is this important to pay attention to? But yeah, part of the fun for it for me is like, finding all the Easter eggs or at least trying to, and like, coming up with theories based off of what you think. Like, Mike White is writing. and yeah, for me it's just fun to do that. So I don't really mind if it turns into like, a whodunit and that people are overanalyzing. But I've seen on TikTok that people are getting annoyed at the pace of the show. And I have gotten a little bit annoyed because this show or this season is definitely a little bit, like, darker. And so I think because of like, the darker theme, it feels a little bit more like a whounit murder mystery. And so that's why I think, like, everyone's kind of like chomping at the bit for more to happen. But I think if we were watching this show, like, without the entire commentary of the Internet and you were just watching it in one go, like on your own, it would probably feel a lot different than us, like, waiting each week and like, over analyzing and getting all these theories. Like, if you're just watching it all the way through, it would feel probably a lot different. because the whole point is it's kind of like a satirical look at, ah, extremely rich, out of touch people, like, going on vacation and like, being a fly on the wall. It's not supposed to be like riveting action, like plot twist scenes every. Every episode. Because it is kind of just like a look at maybe like the interpersonal relationships and the tension and the dynamics and like the sociological study of just, like, rich people on vacation. That's really what the point of the show is. And then like, the extra fun part is like maybe a plot twist or like some funny lines or like some iconic scenes. But that's not. The show's not supposed to be like, jam packed, you know what I mean? Like, it's supposed to be like you're a fly on the wall to these people's vacations, you know what I mean? So anyways, I think we forget that a little bit. I even had to remind myself. Anyways, let's discuss the episode. So we start episode 7. Rick finally sees Jim Hollinger, what we've been waiting for, like, all season. And he's just some old guy. We don't know really anything about him. Still at this point, he Just is some old guy that's married to Suala and they live in a really freaking nice house. That's not really surprising. So Rick and Frank go up to the terrace to talk with Sritala and Jim and like they didn't do any research or come up with any story beforehand. I'm like, are you guys like actually this stupid? Like you're actually this dumb like Rick? Okay, a little bit of an oversight maybe he was a bit impulsive. Like we already. He's been impulsive basically this whole trip. But he was a bit impulsive meeting with Suala and not having a story already. He just had a very, very high level story that he's a producer and that his friend is a director and whatever, but that's it. Like he didn't do any other research. So he had time between his one on one meeting with Swala and this meeting where he brings Frank Steve with him. Like they had time to prepare a story and he just didn't. So honestly this could have been pulled off like so well and they just didn't. They didn't prepare. Like it's just they're stupid. Frank immediately ditches his tea for whiskey. Cause at first he's like yeah, I'll have a tea. And then he's like yeah, you know what, bring me a whiskey. I'm like oh, okay, Sobriety just over for the day. Or like you know, what are we doing here? He's already going off script. They don't have a script actually, so it doesn't matter. But he's already going off the rails with his sobriety. We don't even know like is he that serious? Has he truly been sober for 10 months or is he just telling that to himself to feel better about it and like sleep at night? I don't know. Then Rick chugs his whiskey and Jim says, my kind of drinker. So I think I was like not thinking that Jim was go going toa be Rick's dadd. Cause I'm like no, that's too on the nose. Like it's too obvious. But now that we're in this episode I'm like okay, actually Jim probably is Rick's dad now that I think about it, because they do kind of look like they could be father son. And then Jim says, my kind of drinker. So they have similar drinking habits. I mean that's not that out of this. Like that's not that crazy. But I do kind of get the vibe throughout this episode that like Jim is probably Rick's dad, I don't know. So Sital la is like, well, what have you directed? And Frank Steve is like, what heaven't I directed? Like, he didn't even come up with any stor. It was so hard to watch. Rick comes in, he's like, oh, don't worry. The character, she sings. So he saves it a little bit. That's when Jim makes the comment about Rick's drinking. My kind of drinker. And then we get into this, like, Luangport Tira speech at the temple with, like, a montage. And so Lang Port Tira's speech I thought was really important, but he says, every one of us has the capacity to kill. Buddhist scripture condemns violence in every form. Violence, aggression, anger, stem from the same source, fear. The only good faith response is to sit with your feelings. Violence does spiritual harm to victim and perpetrator. Buddhists always believe nonionce. So that's kind of the theme for the season as well. we know that Frank Steve has followed Buddhism for at least the last 10 months. We know that Piper has taken on Buddhism. We know that Gaitok is a follower of Buddhism. So there's quite a few Buddhists, Buddhist characters in the show. And I think that all just very much like, plays into how they interact with the other characters. So let me see the Rat Liffs. We finally see their Lorazepam again. Last episode, I was like, where's the lorazepam? Did it just disappear? Did they run out? I saw someone on Tik Tock, like, counted all the loraazzepam pills taken during the week. I think we actually only saw Victoria take two pills. And I think up until this episode, Tim has taken 12, if I'm not mistaken. I think there's been 14 pills so far throughout the season. I feel like that's quite a lot. I don't know what a typical lorazepam prescription is, but we've. We've got to be getting towards the end of the bottle, I assume, right? I don't know. But anyways. So then we get the funny line from Victoria where she's like, oh, no, not the boat people. And then Belinda and Zion are discussing Greg and his dinner invite. And Zion is like, let's go find out. Let's just get it over with. And Belinda is like, obviously not wanting to go, but Zion doesn't. I don't think he understands, like, the gravity of the situation. And Belinda's like, okay. And of course we don't want them to go, but you know, we find out how it goes. So the girlfriends sit down for dinner, and you can 1 million percent feel tenention. Also, they have outfits on that, like, mirror the situation that's going on with them right now. So you first see Kate. She's in, like, a blue and red and peach dress. And then you notice in the next scene, Loie is wearing, like, a dark red dress, and then Jacqueline is wearing a blue dress. So you can see that, like, Lori and Jacqueline are very much like opposites right now. And Kate is the friend that's kind of trying to bring them together. So I thought that was a nice touch that, like, Kate is wearing quite literally a mix of Lori and Jacqueline's dress colors. And I love it. I love the dresses on all of them. I think they all look so good. But, yeah, you can, like, really feel the tension. You know, if you've ever been in a girl group, like, you know that there's just times where you're all a bit like, the claws are out. You're all kind of, like, fighting, and you still. Maybe you're even on a trip together and you have to go hang out still. Like, it's so awkward. Oh, but I love that it's just so true to how it actually happens. Like, that is. It's so true. so they sit down. Lori's like, claws out again. Like, she's just like, oh, where's these? Like. Like, she's already. She's a different Laurier than we saw for the beginning of the week. So we're back at Suiteala and Jim's house. Frank to the waitress that brings him his whiskey. He's like, what's your name? You're lovely. Like, he's going downhill so fast. He's got whiskey. He's already trying to hook up with a girl if he can get her number. Like, it's crazy. Suala says your producer says you've been watching some of my films. What films did you watch? And then, of course, like, Frank is trying to, like, stumble over, like, O. And she's like, well, they're entirely in Thai. So anyways, somehow Frank manages to save that conversation and not make her extremely suspicious. And then Rick asks Jim to hear more about how he, quote, unquote, conquered Thailand. And then Rick calls Frank Frank instead of Steve. So they're both just slipping. Like, this is a messy mess of a situation. And somehow that still didn't tip them off to the fact that they're, like, two con men in their house right now. but yeah. So then Jim says, let's take it to the Den, and they go off together. And Frank somehow is still talking to Sritala as Steve. And then we see Chloe inviting the Rat Liffs into their home. Chloe, her outfits are just so good. Like, she looks so good. I'm obsessed. She's like, yeah, where's your brother? And they're like, oh, yeah. You know, Piper and Lahlin are at some, like, Buddhist temple, and Victoria's like, it's a cult. And then she goes over and meets Rupert, and I don't think I. They never say her name. What is her name? Is her name Priya? I'm, like, deep in IMDb right now. Anyways, I think her character name might be Priya. But anyways, we know his name is Rupert, and apparently maybe his girlfriend's name is Priya. But I just wanted to give her a name because, Or, like, find her name because I feel weird as just referring to her as, like, his girlfriend. But anyway, so we're gonna call her Priya. Maybe I'm wrong, but for this episode's sake, her name is Prya. So Victoria meets Rupert and Pra. She's like, I don't know, just pretending to be so nice, but it's so funny that she's like, oh, yeah, Hello. Like, yeah, Saxon sits with Chelsea, and I'm loving the vibe between them this episode. Like, I still love Chelsea and Rick, but now that we're getting to see more of her without her just conversing with Rick, I think, like, this episode, she starts to see a lot of her, like, hypocrisy through talking with Saxon. And even though, like, Saxon is, you know, still dumb in his own ways, like, Chelsea is like, wait, maybe I'm super hypocritical. Like, because he's saying all the same stuff that probably Rick said to her at some point. And for some reason, for her, Rick is, like, this guy that can do no wrong, and she wants to heal him. But then Saxon is, like, a dumb idiot. And then. Is it just because the age difference? Like, is it just because rick is, like, 50 and Saxon's, like, 25? Like, what's the difference? So I think she's slowly realizing, like, wait, maybe everything I told myself is actually not true. I hope not, because I do selfishly still love her and Rick together. But I do love that it's kind of poking a hole in the idea that Chelsea and Rick are so special and, like, meant to be together, because he really is just some guy and she Just, like, decided they were meant to be together, probably because they both have, like, similar wounds that needed healing. And they. Maybe they complement each other, but it doesn't mean that they're necessarily in a healthy relationship. So I think it's really interesting to see her, like, subconscious kind of, like, working through that, through her conversations with Saxon. So they sit down, and Saxon's like, oh, they all have these hot girlfriends, and it's just because they're loaded. And she's like, well, that's goingna be you in 30 years. And he's like, why are you so mean to me? And she's like, I'm not trying to be mean, but that's what you give off. And he's like, and you're dating some old bald dude with a bunch of money. And she's like, no, it's not the same. That's not the reason I'm with him. The first day we met, he told me his whole life story, and I just knew we were meant to be together. He has this sadness. It really touches me. I want to heal him. And then she says, it's like we're in this ying and yang battle, and I'm hope and Rick is pain, and eventually one of us will win. And then she's like, I need to call him. You can go away now. But, like, that is so true. Obviously, like, she's not stupid. Obviously. They do have this, like, yin and yang sort of thing. and obviously she is a bit more healed in certain ways than Rick is because, like, they do compliment each other in that way. But, like, I think she's just starting to realize, like, oh, maybe it is kind of toxic. I also, like, zoomed in on Chelsea's cell phone case because she has, like, the evil eye charm. And then her cell phone case is, like, mushrooms and flowers. And I wanted to see if there was anything important there. But I think it mostly just fits her character very well because she is, like, a bit whimsical, a bit hippie, a bit, like, mystical into the astrology and, like, metaphysical. So I just found it very fitting. But I always, like, stopping on those details because they do really think of, like, every little thing. And then we see Tim sitting next to Greg. he is just, like, fucking zonked. And he asks Greg about, like, if he knows the temple and, like, the Buddhists there. And Greg's like, no. And then Tim's just, like, seems like the real deal. And he only talked to him for, like, two seconds, did no other research, like, for all we know this could technically be a cult. Like, there are also cults that are religious and that they probably seem good on the outside, but, like, religions tend to also turn into cults in some. Some situations. So for him to just have, like, the one conversation with him and be like, yeah, seems like he's the real deal. He knows what's going on. Like, is this the amount of research you do with everything in your life? Because then, maybe that makes sense why you are here where you are. Because you did. You just had one sentence conversation with him, basically, and you were like, yeah, this is it. And then Saxon comes over and asks to speak with Tim, and then Belinda and Zion walk in, and I just. I have to notice, like, every time in this season when we get, like, a creepy Greg stare and we get another creepy Greg stare, it's gonna give me nightmares. And then we're back in Gy's den with Rick, and he's looking at the photos in a very similar manner to season two, when Tanya was in Quentin's, like, villa and looking at all of the photos, and then she saw the photo of Greg with Quentin when they were young, and she was like, who's this? It looks just like rag. So this is very similar. We're getting, like, that same vibe where, like, Rick is looking at all these photos and Jim's den. And I tried zooming in. Like, I don't know if there's any relevance here. Like, I don't recognize anyone else. Oh, wait, do we think? I mean, the photos are so grainy. It's really hard to tell. I think the main point of the photos is just to show that it's like Jim is just, like, some random white guy who's, like, with a bunch of people from Thailand on building sites. But I wonder if maybe somebody else in the cast is related to somebody else that was with Jim. I don't know. We'll have to see. But the more that they're switching back and forth between Jim and Rick, I'm thinking, yeah, this guy definitely looks like he could be Rick's dad. I'm starting to think he's probably Rick's dad. I mean, the more that we're sitting here with them between each other, I'm pretty sure it's just Rick's dad. So then they start talking. Jim is like, thailand's been good to me. And then Rick's like, but have you been good to Thailand and JY'like I'd say so. Some may disagree. You hit a roadblock. You have A lot of options. And then eventually he says you miss it when you were young and hungry and, could swing free, like, after, he's saying, like, when you're, like, king of the hill. So, so to say you eventually miss it when you had basically nothing to lose and, like, you could just knock people out of your way and, like, you were trying to get to the top, but then, when you're at the top, you get paranoid. People want to kick you off the top. Like, so a lot of things he says make sense, but also we're like, okay, so what were your methods for getting roadblocks out of the way? Were you just killing people left and right? If he's not Rick's dad, did he kill Rick's dad? You know, like, we. We don't know yet. And throughout the beginning of the episode, we just get, like, a lot of segues of the Muay Thai fight. So lots of. Just themes of fighting, maybe fighting with your own personal feelings, your own personal beliefs, your own circumstances. Are you the victim? Like, at the girls dinner? I think we didn't get to it yet, but, like, are you the victim of your own life? Are you fighting with people for just a, silly reason? Like, Rick is being a bit unhinged here? lots of segues of the Muay Thai fight. So then we see Piper and Laughlin eating dinner, and I'm like, why is Lahlin eating like that? Like, he's, like, punishing himself by, like, shoving the food in his mouth. I mean, I know it. It seems like he's a picky eater. I mean, he just gives off picky eater vibes, so. But it's like, what? All I can tell is that it's, like, maybe some rice and vegetables or, like, rice and fru. And he's just, like, shoving it in his mouth. And Piper's like, what are you doing? And I don't know why. All I can think of is that he feels so, like, effed up in the head of what he did that this is, like, the only way that he can get through eating a meal is, like, forcing himself to eat. I don't know. I don't know. Then we see Guyt talk and Mooc on their first date. Guyt talk tells Mooc that he's not getting a promotion and that he's notnna be a bodyguard. And PK thinks he's soft and doesn't have a killer instinct, and he didn't want to fight the robbers. He thinks it's wrong. The Buddha Condemns violence like we just heard in the speech montage earlier. And then Guyalk says, I never want to hurt people. I will never feel good about that. And Mooc says, it's good you have strong morals, but you have to live in this world. You have to be strong. That's part of the job. And then she says, also, I thought you were more ambitious and wanted a better job. O caught Asray. Yikes. Clearly, Mooc, even if she is, like, maybe culturally Buddhist, does not believe, like, the Buddhist principles as strongly as Gai talk does. And I'm still trying to figure out how she's involved in all this. Like, I am, still leaning towards that. She's maybe involved in, like, a bit more crime or something like that that we are not aware of yet. And obviously she's okay with viol violence, so we know that. And then we see Fabian finally performing at dinner. And I was trying to figure out what country he's from, but it sounds like he's German, because at first I was like, oh, he spoke a bit of French, but maybe he just also, like, can speak French. So I think he's German. And he just says, home may be cold and dirty, but it's still home. And yeah, he doesn't exactly give the most amazing performance, but, hey, Laie still wants to go to Muay Thai. Jacqueline says she's tired. Laurri says, oh, I bet. Then Jacqueline says, lari, why are you so bothered? And then Lari's like, just makes me not trust you, to be honest. Kate says, I agree. It's not that big of a deal. Laie says, was it a big deal when she did the same thing with Dave? Oh, my God. And ah, she says, at my wedding, she was all over Dave. I'm sure you remember. And Jacqueline's like, I was not. And that was like 15 years ago. And then she says, if you're not happy with your life, just own it. And then Kate says, I mean, I get what she's saying. It's like, you're not upset because of Valentine. And then Laie says, yeah, I'm upset because of Jacqueline. And then Kate's like, but are you? And I love how Laurie threw out that comments about Jacquen being all over Dave at Lourri's wedding. And Kate just like, never addresses it. I get it's not really the point of the conversation, but I would have been like, bitch, are you serious? What? But yeah. So then Jacqueline says, you could have hooked up with Valentine if you wanted, but you chose not to. And then she brings out this, like, very iconic, you know, little speech in this episode. And so she says, you chose to work at that company your whole career and you chose to marry Brian. If you always choose. Oof, this one's bad. If you always choose the short stick, is it bad luck? Ice cold. I'm on Laurri's side here, but Jacqueline has a point. She has a point. I'm, on Lori's side, but Jacqueline has a point. And then Kate says, oh, like, not Kate, dog piling. When Kate says, when you know someone long enough, you do start to see certain patterns. O, no. So I would. If I was Laie, I would be like, all right, yeah, I would do the same thing. All right, dinner's over. Dinner's over. Friendship probably over. But yeah, I mean, again, can't reiterate enough. I'm on Lari's side here, but Jacqueline does have a point. And then I think this might be actually my favorite scene of the episode. The scene with Victoria and Priya. Did I say her name was Victoria And Priya Roupboot's girlfriend. Victoria says, I like, I love this dialogue because also I would have probably said and looked. Had the same facial expressions and said the same thing. Maybe not quite exactly the same, but pretty close. But she says, you're such a darling girl. You're young, you're beautiful. Why are you with this middle aged weirdo? Does he have a lot of money? And then Pry was like, you can't ask that. And she's like, come to North Carolina. I could introduce you to some respectable man. They would eat you up. And then she's like, I actually love Rupert Victora. Like, are you scared of him? I could get you out of this. Oh, my God. I think that might be my favorite conversation of the whole season so far. Okay, so then Greg interrupts Belinda while she's getting food to insist that they go inside to talk. Belinda's like, ah, you know, I would rather have Zion come with me. Like, I just. He's gonna wonder where I am. And Greg's like, it'll just take a second. Let's go inside. So then we see the little side conversation with Saxon and Tim. Saxon's like, what's going on with you? Just tell me. Maybe I can help you. And Tim's like, you can't help. And Saxon, like, look, at this point, my career is totally tied to yours. So if something bad is happening, it's happening to both of us. And il ll always be seen by everyone as Timothy Ratliff's son. And I'm okay with that. I am, as long as everything at work is going good. And Tim's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And Saxon'like this is very important. But he says, I don't have anything else but this. I don't have any interests, I don't have any hobbies. Okay? If I'm not a success, then I'm nothing. And I can't handle being nothing. So that's way more weight put on Mr. Timothy's shoulders than he probably even realized. And also very interesting and not really surprising that Saxon is so obsessed with being successful that he literally self admits that he has no other hobbies and would feel worthless without his career, which I think is also very true for many men and these these days, day and age, or this day and age. Because I also watched o. I guess it wasn't really relevant for me to talk about this podcast episode. I can talk about it later. But I watched, the Diary of a CEO, like a masculinity debate earlier this week with like a girl from Hinge. And then I guess the guy's name was Scott Galloway. But it wasn't really a debate. It was like a. Just like two and a half hour long conversation about like, dating and this day and age and like the lonely male loneliness epidemic, whatever. But I think it's like so relevant to this conversation that Saxon had because, like, I don't know, I don't know that much about the inner thoughts of men. I do know that they tend to rely heavily on success and like, money and material things to feel good about themselves because they are constantly comparing themselves to other men. But I don't think that's also like, excus. Exclusively a male thing. Like, I think women do that too, so I understand why they do it. But I don't feel it's like exclusively a male thing either. But anyways, it is interesting though that like, without it, they have nothing. They feel that they. It's not true that they have nothing, but they feel so attached and put so much weight on their career and their, like, material success that quite literally he's basically saying the same thing that Victoria was saying, is that, like, I just don't think I'm meant to live an uncomfortable life. And he's basically saying, like, if I don't have my career, I have nothing. So, Timothy's whole family is basically crumbling. So then we cut to Belinda and Greg talking, and Greg says, I'm sure you already know Something very tragic happens to my wife Tanya. I had nothing to do with it. Just to make it clear, I want to live the rest of my life right here. Tanya talked about you. She always felt guilty that she didn't start that business with you. And I know she'd want you to have some money to do that. So I'm gonna give you hundred thousand dollars, and maybe in exchange, you could honor that. More money, please. More money, please. You think she can just open a spa salon with a hundred grand? Put another zero on the end of that. Put another zero, on the end of that. So we're back to Rick and Jim. We find out the Jimm Andala have two daughters. One in New York, one in Thailand. Wait, guys, I'm in the middle of editing this. How did I not think that Mooc is one of Jim's daughters? Hello. That could be possible. That could be possible now that I'm just editing this. And he's like, oh, yeah, one's in New York. Ones s here in Thailand. I'm like, is, that how Mooc is tied to all this? Okay, sorry, I just had to get that off my chest because now I'm thinking like, okay, maybe Mooc is one of their daughters. Who knows? And then, actually, maybe this is also my favorite scene from the episode. Is Frank and Sala geeking or queening out over her old films, which, like, are iconic. But I love how he's just, like, he's hamming her up. Like, he is kind of the perfect guy for this, like, role play because he's really good at just going with the flow and, like, having the charm to get through a very awkward situation. And they're just queening out, watching her old videos. I love it. Then we go back to Rick and Jim, and Rick says the first time he heard Jim's name was when he was 10, when his mom was dying. And then he says, like, his mom, he's like, you should remember Gloria Hatchet. And then he's like, see? You can't even remember. And then all we hear from Jim, we. We hear nothing else except that he repeats the name Gloria Hatchet. So we can make a lot with that, right? We can think. Because his facial expressions, in my opinion, give like, that he knows the name, but it's not definitive, right? Like, he just repeated the name. He could have literally no idea who Rick is talking about and just be like, gloria Hatchet. question mark. okay. Like, you cuckoo. Like, why are you here? So we don't know. He didn't give any indication that he knew who that was. I personally still am believing that it's Rick's dad. And that like, he's like, oh my God, Rick. Gloria Hatchet. I haven't heard that name in years. Like, that's kind of the vibe. I'm kidding. I laugh so hard when Rick pulled the gun out and Jim was like, whoa. I like went back and watched that like three times. Becausee the way he says waa is so funny. And then I love this line because he, I'm Walt and Goggins. Like, I feel like he just delivers his performances like so well, so iconic. But he says, you may not remember him, but you sure as fuck are gonna remember me. And everybody on the tik took was like, that fuck was worth like $10 million. That fuck was paid. and then we get a couple flinches before Rick flips Jim over him in his chair because he couldn't bring himself to actually shoot him or punch him or anything. So then he just flips. Flips his chair. So then we go to the Moay Thai fight and finally get to see it outside of just some Segway montages and we see Gaitok and Mok. And Mok is still like. See, like it's natural fighting. It's part of life. And then we see Lori, Valentin, Alexei and Vlad are also there. Alexei hands Laura beer. And it made me nervous. And I think other people thought the same thing. Like, oh my God, what if there's drugs in it or something? But I don't think there is. But like, I was like, you're just gonna take like a partially drinking open beer from a random guy that you don't even know that well. Crazy. I couldn't do that. And then we see that gey talk, sees the Russians and finally makes the connection that they were behind the robbery. Which isn't that shocking. I mean, we knew that. I think we kind of made the connection already. But like, guy talk. Now we see that he knows because he saw them and he was like, wait a minute. And then he made the connection that Valentine, like distracted him so that they could go through the gate. Blah, blah, blah. Piper and Laughlin are getting ready for bed in the temple. And I think we were all freaking out, understandably so, because of what happened last episode, you know, so I thought something was going toa happen and maybe something will in the last episode, in the finale. I don't know. I don't want it to. But I think he. I think Sam Nivola even made a comment that something would happen, but that's also very vague. We don't. We don't know what that means. So, anyways, Piper and Laugchan are talking before they go to sleep, and Lachhlin says, I don't want to give in into my dark shit. You know, I don't want to make things worse. And then he's saying, like, oh, yeah, I was actually thinking just now I want to do it, too. I mean, right now, I really. I really don't feel like going home, like, ever. I just think it would be cool to be somewhere else with you, you know? Here. I thought you'd be excited. And Piper's like, oh. Oh, what? And you can see her being, like, basically pissed, because this was supposed to be her thing. She was supposed to be, like, the cool, rebellious child that was going to do this cool thing on her own across the world, and nobody could tell her what to do, and she was gonna be on her own. And then all of a sudden, her little brother is like, I want to go with. And she's like, oh, just kidding. I don't want to do it anymore. And I think she was already going to say she didn't want to do it anymore anyways, because you can see when she's sleeping that it's, like, not very nice. And you know that she's used to her creature comforts. That was Victoria's whole point on why she was like, okay, fine, you want to cohere so bad, Stay here for one night and tell me how you like it. And I can tell that Piper's like, I don't think she's cut out. I don't think she's cut out for it. So I think she was already thinking, like, damn, this is going toa be tough. But then when Laughlin's like, I want to go too, she's like, this is not happening. And of course Lougchan doesn't want to go home. I mean, of course he doesn't want to go home. Hello. So that's not really shocking. Then we get this crazy conversation between Chloe, Chelsea, and Saxon. And Chloe's like, oh, no, Gary wants you to stay. To Saxon. I guess I'm not going toa say it all because it's kind of a nasty, raunchy conversation. But anyways, Gary claims that he and Toanya never had sex. And then Chloe says he doesn't want that happening to us because he loves me. And I'm thinking, chloe must give this speech, like, all the time. Or something. Or like some variation of this speech. Because I think, like I said last episode, like, my thought is that Chloe is actually like Greg's right hand man when it comes to conning people. Like, I think they just are conning rich tourists, like, all the time. So they must. She must have some form of this speech just like locked and loaded in the back of her head, like, all the time. I don't think this is something new that she's just, like, bringing up. I feel like this is something that she must do all the time because she's probably used to hustling people in her own way from her past. And so her and Greg can kind of like bring their two brains together and just. Yeah, be masterminds and run these, like, schemes on people. And so then Chloe says his worst nightmare was actually his erotic fantasy. And then Saxon's like, okay, that is demented. And then Saxon says no and leave. Thank goodness. So Rick and Frank have ran away from Jim and Sweeala's house and they're talking in the street after they have gotten far enough away from the house. And Rick says, he's just this pathetic, frail old man. I mean, I couldn't even hit him. And then Frank says, that's a huge monkey off your back. And I don't know what that has to do with, like, monkey, imagery and metaphors this season, but there's a lot of monkey imagery and metaphors. So I don't know. Frink already ditched his sobriety, so I don't know why he decided to do that at Jim and Sriala's house. But then he's just going full blown. He's like, oh, well, I already drank, so let's just, just f it. I'm gonna drink and go crazy the whole night. So he's like, let's go out and party. And they go absolutely crazy and go out. Belinda and Zion left after Belinda's conversation with Greg. And so they're back at the villa discussing the 100k offer from Greg. And Belinda's like, he's buying me off so I don't tell anyone where he is. And Zion's like, okay, so let him buy you off then. I mean, when you're in a situation like that, I would probably take it as well because, like, Zion had a point. Like, if she doesn't take it, he's probably going to do something way worse. So it would be in her best interest to take the money for her safety. even if it's maybe not morally 100%. Right. But also, like, what is he going toa do if you don't take the money? Like, he already looked furious when she was like, can I just sleep on it? Can I sleep on it? And he was like, sure. And so I love this scene that we get of Saxon and Chelsea walking home. It kind of, like, follows up on the same thing I was talking about earlier of, like, Chelsea maybe kind of like, realizing some of her own hypocrisy or, like, double standards. And so Saxon says, you know, you have the wrong impression of me, right? I mean, I could be somebody else if I wanted. And Chelsea's like, well, then I think you should. Saxon's like, I mean, I bet I could even connect with you on a spiritual level, since that's so important to you. Teach me your ways. Oh. So Saxon is interested in spirituality. Then Chelsea's like, if you want to develop spiritually, you have to learn to meditate. Just clear your mind of everything else. And then Saxon tries to hold her hands, and he, like, ruins it and tries to turn it into, like, a sexual moment. And she's like, okay, you can't learn it all in one day, buddy. Here's a bunch of books. And she throws a bunch of books at him. So Rick and Frank are out partying in Bangkok. There's, like, a slow pan over the intro art, and people were trying to, like, analyze if that meant anything, because it's like. It's like the sea monsters, like, eating, a boat full of men that fell overboard or something. Like, what I see when I see this art is that, like, people's, like, secrets and wounds that they avoid healing eventually catch up to them and, like, eat them alive. So that's what I take away from this painting. But I think it's nice that it is subjective. Art is subjective, so you can interpret it how you want. But I think from what we're seeing this season with people, like, avoiding issues that are happening in their lives and not talking about it, it, like, eventually still catches up to them, no matter what they do. So that's kind of what I take away from it. Then we see the Ratliffs. Well, Timothy and Victoria. And Victoria still. Oh, she's so iconic. She says, I'm praying for Piper to be miserable in that temple tonight. Maybe Jesus will save her from those Buddhists. And also, I mean, Piper wears the same kind of dresses in the season as well, but Victoria's bed, like, nightgown looks like she's wearing a baptism gown. I was like, she looks like She's a. A baby going to a baptism. and then Tim takes another Lorazepam. Like, can't you overdose at this point? Like, I don't know. I'm just getting a bit nervous. And then Lori hooks up with Alexi. Okay, T. But then he immediately hustles her. So it's obvious, right? Like, the Russians are con men. I don't think this is surprising at all. Like, I was expecting them to be full blown robbing the girl's villa, and maybe they did, and they still didn't notice yet because, like, maybe they haven't been checking their belongings very good or very well. but yeah, immediately after hooking up, they're still in bed. And he's like, he claims he stay. He claims he overstayed his visa and he needs to go back to Vladivostok to see his dying mother. And then he goes, I need money to see my mother and pay for her plane ticket and pay for her debts. And he's like, oh, you could wire it. You have PayPal or Zelle Cash app. And then, thankfully, they're interrupted by his girlfriend. Lari sees all the jewelry as she's, like, trying to escape out the window. She hops out the window, but not before getting smacked on the head by Nadia. I think that's his girlfriend's name. And then she's just, like, walking in the middle of the road when she's, like, trying to go home. I don't know, I thought that was really weird. I was like, so you're. There's definitely cars and mopeds going by and you're just like, walking in the middle of the road. I don't know. I was like, what are you literally doing? So let me see the clip of Piper where I was. This is kind of what's like, set in for me that I think she's for sure not staying there anymore because she's like, wait. Actually, this is kind of gross because you see a shot of like, a cobweb, I think, and like a leaky faucet or a leaky pipe. And she's just, like, sitting up in bed. Like, she seems very troubled about her decisions. So I think she's like, shit, I don't want to admit that my mom was right. But also, I don't want to fucking stay here. Frank is off the rails. He's drinking coke, whatever else. And then Rick is just, like, hanging back and observing it all. but yeah, I mean, for Frank to be, like, so chill in the previous episode where he's just drinking cameam and male tea and casually telling Frank or and casually telling Rick his like crazy story about how he came to sobriety to then just like throw it all away that easily. Wild. I don't know if that means like maybe he truly did just slip up. Like maybe Rick being in his presence like brings up like, brings up a lot of feelings for him that makes him want to come out of sobriety. Maybe doing the whole like Jim and Sriala Khan thing, like made him wanna do it. I don't know, whatever. So he very easily just slipped right out of sobriety. Which is shitty if you know, like how much people do struggle with it. But he seems pretty happy about it. And yeah, so Rick is just hanging back and observing. which I guess I'm glad cause I don't want him to cheat on Chelsea or anything or do anything crazy. So Tim, we. At the end of the episode, Tim is just realizing his whole family is genuinely reliant on him. And that if this news comes out, which it will, of his big fuck up, that like basically his entire life and his entire family is ruined. And that's a lot for one person to handle and that they won't. He won't even talk about it. And then he looks for the gun. Can't find it thankfully, because he's seeming a little, you know, impulsive at the moment. But he just has all the drawers pulled out and stands back and looks at all the opened drawers. And I feel like this was kind of similar to like the pan of the art that we just talked about where like he maybe has like tried to do all these things in his life. But like, when you leave so many things like unfinished or unchecked, then you stand back and look at your life and you're kind of just like, oh fuck. Like what did I do? So that's kind of the vibe I got for the end of the episode as he's just sitting back being like, oh fuck, here we are. This is my life. What have I. What have I come to? So, predictions for the finale. Let's let see. Like, I don't know what the big climax is gonna be because I feel like we could go in so many directions with what the main plot points are going toa be, you know, because a lot of these things could just fade out and just have been like to move the story along, but they don't necessarily have to be wrapped up with a bow, you know what I mean? Like, I think Mike White does a nice Job of ending off the series, but still leaving certain things open ended. because I heard a lot of people saying, like, it's pretty likely that we're not actually going to see the Ratliff family find out about Tim's big FBI fuck up. So we probably will only see them all individually at the end of their own personal journeys, at the end of their trip that have changed each of them in separate ways. But as a family unit they're still quite separate. But somebody hypothesized on TikTok that and I think they're right. They're probably right now that I think about it. So I think I have to agree with the hypothesis that there will be like a giant raid, like police raid at the resort in the finale. but there's so many people tied up with some sort of situation that has to do with the cops that everybody will think the cops are there for them. So it will set off kind of a frenzy amongst all the characters because they are paranoid as fuck and think that the cops are there for them. When in reality I think the cops will be there for Rick because obviously, I mean, they didn't kill Jim, they didn't finish the job. They obviously know who Jim is. Or they obviously know who Rick is. Like he's been staying at the resort, he already talked to Sritala. Like they know that he's going toa be going back to the resort. So I think it's pretty obvious that, that Jim Andeeala will be sending some sort of police force after Rick and Frank. so there will probably be a police force at the resort looking for Rick, if I had to guess. But Tim will probably also think it's for him. Oh yeah, the Russians might also think it's for them because of the robbery or because of. Or I don't know, they've probably done a lot of crimes. So we have. At least this is what I get for filming late on a Friday night. Or Greg, hello. Obviously Greg would also think that the police are there for them if Belinda called them. So duh. we have like four people that are expecting cops. Rick, Tim and the Russians that have all. They would all probably naturally be paranoid that the cops are after them. I don't know. I guess with the Ratlev family, I think Piper's gonna go back home. I think Laugchlin's gonna try and stay. But a lot of people have been hypothesizing about the poison fruit in the beginning because I think in the finale trailer we see Tim Pick up the fruit again. And like, and then Pam again says, like, oh, it's the suicide fruit. Like, don't eat that. Don't eat that. So maybe something will happen with the fruit in the smoothies. Maybe Tim will try to kill his whole family. I really don't think he's that wild, though. He's been having daydreams about it, but I don't think he would actually do that. I think Chelsea. I don't really want this to happen, but just based off of this episode, I did enjoy the conversation, but I think Chelsea will be more interested in Saxon and maybe she will even go home with Saxon after maybe Rick possibly gets arrested. Maybe. Question mark. And, maybe Guy Talk will be like our hero in the finale. Because although there's something to be said for obviously violence is wrong, but if you are like mo. I think she even mentioned something about, like, what about self defense? Or like, if you're preventing a greater wrong from happening. Like, maybe Guy Talk will have that realization in the finale where he then has to use a gun for violence of some kind, but it will be for a greater good. So then he has to kind of overcome that, like, personal barrier that he has. U. so I think it will definitely have to do with the police. The fruit guy talks, shooting a gun of some sort, and we still don't know how. Like, the monkeys start screaming and the gun gets shot and whoever ends up passing away, I don't know. And is it just one person we don't even know? Like, maybe multiple people die. I also think Belinda will take the money eventually. I don't know. Yeah, I think Chloe and Gary just stay at the resort or stay at their house and continue their cons at the resort, like normal. Oh. People were also thinking, like, maybe Fabian, is involved in, like, undercover. Maybe Fabian works undercover with the cops. So, like, maybe he's already doing, like an undercover sting of some sort. I could kind of see that happeninguse. He's just so odd and like, we don't really know where he fits in or how he fits into the story so much other than being like a bit of a neurotic hotel manager. And maybe that's all he is. Same with mooc. Like, maybe she's just guy Talks, work wife, you know, like, I don't know. But, the girlfriends, I think, you know what, I would think that they would break up, but I actually think they're going toa maybe go home being friends. Because isn't it funny that a lot of group trips like you might literally fight on the group trip, but they've said so many times that they're like the same people that they were in 10th grade or whatever, and they don't see each other that often. So they're probably all going to go back home and they're still going to be friends and they're probably going to book another girls trip in another year and it's going to be exactly the same. So probably nothing actually will change. And it will be completely the same. And they brush everything under the rug. They d never bring up how Jacqueline flirted with Dave at Laurie's wedding. They never bring up how Jacqueline cheated on Harrison with Valentine. Yeah. And everything just stays the same. So I don't know. I'm really excited, though. I'm just really excited. So I can't wait to discuss next week after we've all seen the finale. So let me know if you have any predictions. But yeah, I guess we'll. We'll chat once the finale is out. So thanks for watching and I will see you in the next episode. Bye.