I’m So Worried for Belinda After This Week’s ‘White Lotus’ Episode
Spoilers below.
This week on The White Lotus, our guests are in for a little change of scenery. For some, that means piling onto Greg-Gary’s boat as it cruises the open water, or exploring the nearby town for some much-needed adventure. Both involve mingling with strangers (or, if you’re Victoria Ratliff, avoiding them) who lead to strange new journeys.
Gaitok, however, is stuck at his post at hotel entry security. After the recent armed robbery, the staff is worried that the meek Gaitok isn’t aptly equipped to keep the property safe. So, his superiors give him a gun. (Is this the same gun used for the murder?) Despite getting knocked down a peg, he’s eager to finally take Mook out on a date.
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Jaclyn, on the other hand, isn’t getting much affection from her husband, Harrison, who appears to be filming on set and not returning her calls. She responds with a sudden urge to have some fun. Valentin suggests a pool right by the beach, but before Jaclyn and her pals can settle in and finish her drinks, she notices something strangely off: Everyone there is a senior citizen. Did Valentin just send them to a playground for retirees? She drags her friends off and urges Valentin to set them up for some real fun. He takes them to town and, though the ladies get chased by children wielding water guns (for Songkran, Thailand’s New Year Festival), they finally land at the kind of hip club Jaclyn was looking for. To spice things up, Valentin has invited two friends, Alexei and Vlad. Well, well, well, we wonder what could happen here.
Meanwhile, at sea, the company on Greg/Gary’s yacht is shaping to be a cast of characters: there’s Chelsea and Rick; Saxon, Lochlan, Piper, Timothy, and Victoria Ratliff; of course, Greg-Gary and his girlfriend, Chloe (in a jaw-dropping pink swimsuit and cover-up); and a few other randos whom Victoria judges from underneath the brim of her parasol.
Here is where Piper decides to relay some news to her younger brother Lochlan. She needs his support at dinner later when she drops a bombshell to their parents: She plans to move to a meditation center in Thailand after graduation. That means she didn’t lug the entire family here to work on her thesis — there is no thesis after all — but to scope out the monastery as a hopeful resident. Piper was so concerned about her mum and dad’s reactions that she overlooked potentially hurting her brother, too. 'What about me?' Lochy asks, a fear of abandonment in his voice. Their parents, meanwhile, are too concerned with the bottle of Lorazepam: Victoria’s fixated on the fact that it’s missing and Timothy’s fixated on hiding it from her, and popping some pills himself.
Lochy seems to get over his sister’s major life decision with the help of his older brother, Saxon, whose mission is to get his little bro laid. At first Saxon takes the lead flirting with the other young women on the boat, but once Lochy starts whipping out magic tricks, the girls can’t resist his boyish charm. Even Chelsea is impressed, but she can’t really enjoy the boat ride with a cloud looming over Rick’s head.
She pulls her so-called soulmate aside and yanks the truth out of him. Why is he going to Bangkok? What on Earth is he up to? Finally, Rick shares: He’s looking for the hotel owner Jim Hollinger (Sritala’s husband) because he murdered Rick’s father. As he revealed in past meditation sessions, his father was killed before he was born, but he does know that his dad was a good person who came to Thailand to help locals fight off a shady American who tried to steal their land. Then one day, he disappeared. Rick’s mother told him the name of the killer on her deathbed, and it’s stuck with him ever since. Chelsea looks horrified, but ever-caring and patient with Rick, she sees his pain and embraces him. Now she worries he’s out for revenge a la Inigo Montoya ('You killed my father. Prepare to die,' she quotes). Rick promises that’s not what he’s after.
Back at the resort, Belinda has an epiphany. Her awkward run-in with Greg-Gary the night before piques her curiosity and she Googles Tanya McQuoid’s name. She’s shocked to find her former ally was found dead off the coast of Taormina — and that her husband, Greg, is wanted for questioning in Italy but he has denied repeated requests. One simple search for 'Greg Hunt' confirms to Belinda that this is the man she approached at dinner. No wonder he’s here in Thailand; he’s on the run. When she passes him in the lobby later, she gives him a knowing glare.
Timothy senses something’s up with Greg on the boat, too. Sure, he said he was 'retired' and that he used to do 'government work' and 'investing,' but Tim mentions that people who go to Thailand are either 'looking for something or hiding from something.' Which one of these applies to Greg? Tim is one to talk, though; we already know which one applies to him. On a similarly suspicious note, Greg tells Chloe that he has to go back to the resort to handle something 'important' — these older men, so secretive — but she convinces him to let the rest of the group take the boat to the Full Moon Party in nearby Koh Phangan.
Saxon and Lochlan decide to join the party — so much for Piper’s much needed moral support. Chelsea also tags along, but not before a last-ditch effort to convince Rick to miss his flight. 'Don’t go to Bangkok, I've got a really bad feeling,' she tells him. She’s convinced he’s going to 'do something stupid,' but he assures he just wants to look his father’s killer in the eye and tell him that he ruined his life while he still can. Sure, but will he stop there?
At the Ratliff family dinner, things are already tense before Piper can share her news. Timothy leaves the table in a frenzy and demands Pam to give him back his phone. But he instantly regrets it as a flurry of missed messages, calls, and emails flood onto his screen. He dials up his associate Chuck, who reveals that Tim’s former business partner Kenneth Nguyen is going to prison, but is also cooperating with the feds and has told them 'everything,' which means Tim is screwed. So screwed, in fact, that he has no chance of fighting off the potential charges; the authorities will come after everything he has, which could range from freezing his assets to taking his house.
Tim’s best bet now, according to Chuck, is to plead guilty to embezzlement and fraud and serve only a few months in federal prison. Whoa — going to jail? Losing his home? Telling his family that they’re poor now? Tim would 'Rather. F***ing. Die.' He literally hurls at the thought. When he picks his head back up, he notices something on Gaitok’s desk in the empty security station: a gun. He leaves with it not-so-discreetly stuffed in his pocket, returns his phone, and re-joins his family at the dinner table. When Gaitok returns to his station after walking Mook to her dance performance, he notices the weapon is missing. I think we know what Tim wants to do with that gun, considering he swiped it right after saying he’d rather be dead. But who knows whether it could end up in someone else’s hands?
Trouble is also brewing elsewhere, as Greg sips a drink on his balcony while his girlfriend and her pals party on without him. On his laptop, he has a single tab open to Belinda’s Instagram account and scrolls through her photos before landing on an image of her and her son. (If you look closely, her handle is @kahuqueen82, kahu loosely translating to 'guardian' or 'protector' in Hawaiian. She’s so precious.) It seems like not only did Belinda recognize Greg; he recognized her too. Is he aware that she knows about what happened to Tanya? Will he now go after Belinda to eliminate suspicions? Protect Belinda at all costs!
As the sun sets ahead of the full moon, Saxon senses something is in the air: 'Things are about to get crazy!' he cries on the boat with drinks in both hands. He’s of course referring to himself and his brother about to get into some shenanigans with two beautiful women without their boyfriends, but it applies to everyone else too: the Ratliffs are at the brink of financial ruin; Rick is flying to Bangkok for vengeance; Greg might be cooking up another scheme; and Gaitok needs to figure out where the hell his gun went. Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie also seem in for a bender with Valentin’s eccentric Russian friends. After a bit of a slow start this season, things do seem to be heating up. Finally.
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