Laurie's life-affirming speech was the best thing about 'The White Lotus' and its finale
Spoilers ahead for season three
After an explosive (and feature-length) finale, we’re finally checking out of The White Lotus – and it certainly has been a holiday of a lifetime.
Despite Timothy (Jason Isaacs) and his hellbent death-wish as he stares poverty in the face, the entire Ratliff clan left Thailand in one piece, although irrevocably changed by the experience (and with mild amounts of poison coursing through their veins, thanks to Timothy’s deadly piña coladas).
Elsewhere, Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) is leaving the island a significantly wealthier woman, after convincing Greg (Jon Gries) that $5 million was the price to buy her silence. Accepting the money meant she had to bid farewell to Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul), and any chance of a future with him.
Of course, not everyone made it out the island unscathed; after several episodes of foreshadowing and suggestive imagery, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) got caught in the crossfire (literally) when Rick (Walton Goggins) decided to shoot Jim in revenge for killing his father – only to learn that Jim actually was his father all along. As Rick carries a bleeding Chelsea to get help, he is shot by Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong).
But one group who actually left Thailand stronger, happier and in a better position was the so-called ‘toxic trio’ whose friendship looked to be left hanging in the balance, thanks to Mike White’s brilliantly scripted barbed jabs that began to bubble to the surface as the series progressed.
The ‘blonde blob’, as White christened Kate (Leslie Bibb), Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), were on a girls’ trip that they hailed a ‘victory lap’. However, whenever the friendship geometry became stilted or uneven, the two remaining parties would indulge in a little shit-talking.
Laurie is the first victim of their behind-the-scenes bitching, with Jaclyn and Kate exchanging tidbits about Laurie’s "aggressive, bruiser" daughter, her flailing legal career and excessive drinking, each garnished with passive-aggressive eyebrow raises and whispered sniggers. The nakedly nasty commentary is dressed up as concern, because they "love her so much". The rigmarole is mimicked the next night, when Jaclyn goes to bed, and Kate and Laurie describe her as "lonely", wondering why her face looks so "waxy". Kate is the victim of night three for her political views. It’s a strained game of 3D chess each woman plays as they navigate the difficulties of their long-term friendship, with feuds and quibbles suppressed and calcified under years of passive-aggressive politeness and one-upmanship.
But in Thailand, everything rises to the surface – be it bodies floating in lily ponds, or petty grudges from the past. As heavily referenced through White’s numerous references to monkeys and wildlife, Thailand saw all of the guests at the White Lotus regress to their primal, carnal urges. The deeply insecure Jaclyn relies on male attention to feel validated, while Laurie struggles to take accountability and lashes out when feeling threatened. Kate is caught in the middle, merely taking on the personality of whoever she is closest to in the moment. All three are deeply flawed – yet entirely recognisable. Character arcs like this show White’s writing at the height of its powers, in the skill in which he introduces us to entitled characters who we’re supposed to loathe, while at the same time knowing that, deep down, we’re not entirely unlike them. The White Lotus is merely a twisted, trick mirror showing us back an ugly, magnified version of ourselves.
All of this merely makes Laurie’s speech in the final episode of the series all the more powerful. Ultimately, the question the third season of The White Lotus was asking was: what gives life meaning? While some characters chased religion, success, love or vengeance, Laurie’s short dinner monologue offers that friendship is something that has given her meaning.
“We… we started this life together,” she says. I mean, we’re going through it apart, but we’re still together, and I… I look at you guys, and it feels meaningful. And I can’t explain it, but even when we’re just sitting around the pool talking about whatever inane shit, it still feels very fucking deep.”
She turns to Jaclyn and then Kate in turn, continuing: “I’m glad you have a beautiful face. And I’m glad that you have a beautiful life. And I’m just happy to be at the table. I love you.”
In an age where constructs from therapy have entered everyday lexicon, where ‘setting boundaries’ and pushing those away who don’t constantly behave in an expected way is considered the norm, there is something quite beautiful and moving in an ending where each character can accept that, while they may have their flaws, their lifelong friendship is worth holding on to.
The toxic trio may not have had one of the flashiest, or high-stakes storylines, but they certainly had the most moving and life-affirming. Carrie Coon, collect your Emmy.
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