Killer Instincts, the most recent episode of The White Lotus, dropped on Sunday night and continued last week’s themes of confrontation, truth-telling, and bubbling disasters. Picking up where we left off, this season’s guests are unraveling at the seams and starting to look to one another to blame. In my opinion, episode 7 did not fully live up to the expectations created by the previous episode’s long-awaited plot development and explosive revelations. Still, it did an excellent job raising the stakes for the season finale this coming Sunday. Let’s hope Mike White comes through and gives us an ending that will make this season’s slow burn worth it.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions and depictions of violence. Please exercise personal care when reading.
Girl’s Trip!
After last week’s first confrontation between a group of friends that have been seething with quiet resentment from the moment we first met them, the floodgates have been opened. We return to Laurie, Kate, and Jaclyn — as tense and uncomfortable with each other as possible — at dinner, where they all promptly order a bottle of wine. Laurie pushes going to the boxing match that Valentin had invited them to again with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, trying to stir Jaclyn up. It works. Kinda.
Jaclyn turns the situation on Laurie, asking her why she’s so bothered; it’s not as if she loves Valentin. She tells Laurie that she wouldn’t care so much if she had anything else in her life. Kate, always the follower, is quick to jump in, telling Laurie that as long as she’s known her, she’s always disappointed about something. Something may change, but the disappointment never does. Laurie swings back, of course. Looking at Kate and then Jaclyn, she says:
“Okay, and you’re always fake and fronting like your life is perfect. And you’re vain and selfish. You did something fucked up and I’m the one who has the problem?”
With that, Laurie takes off on her own, goes to the boxing match with Valentin and his friends, and ends up sleeping with Aleksei. While at the boxing match, we do see Gaitok and Mook out on a date, but it quickly takes a pulse-racing turn when Gaitok catches sight of Valentin and his friends and recognizes them as the men who robbed the hotel in Episode 2.
Soon, we get more confirmation of their criminal lives when we see Laurie and Aleksei in bed after sex. Aleksei quickly begins talking about his dreams of seeing New York, his troubles with his visa, and his need to get his mother out of Russia to seek medical treatment. He only needs one little thing from Laurie: $10,000.
Laurie gets flustered, insisting she doesn’t have that type of money as Aleksei continues to pressure and guilt her. Aleksei’s angry girlfriend (rightfully so, he just cheated on her) weirdly saves the day by banging thunderously on the door. He tells Laurie to hide; she hurriedly dresses and goes into the back room, looking for an exit. As she does, she catches sight of the stolen jewelry from the hotel. Shocked, she rushes towards the window and, as she climbs out, gets a deserved whack on the head from Aleksei’s girlfriend and escapes into the night.
Back at the hotel, Kate finally speaks her mind when she notices Jaclyn’s lack of concern over Laurie not answering her phone. Jaclyn shrugs off her comments and replies characteristically: “I’ll be the bad guy; I’m used to it.” Kate may have been sticking up for Jaclyn at dinner, but she seems to be changing her tune. Maybe it has something to do with Laurie referencing Jaclyn flirting with Kate’s husband years ago at her wedding… I’d certainly be thinking about that piece of information.
Keeping Up With The Ratliffs
This family continues to be a hot mess. Honestly, the Timothy Ratliffe constant anxiety plot is getting old. This is the third episode in a row where all we see from him is his existential dread, suicidal and familicidal ideation, and drinking and pill-popping his way to a moment of peace. I know there’s only one episode left, and his plot is bound to resolve in it, but it’s been going on for a bit long now.
Saxon, Victoria, and Timothy head to Greg/Gary’s mansion for a party on an invitation from Chloe. Timothy beelines for the bar, and Victoria tries to schmooze with the other guests (despite her frequently mentioned detestation of them all). Saxon still is shaken from the night before and is engaging, probably for the first time, in some self-reflection. He confronts his dad about his withdrawn and out-of-character behavior over the past few days, insisting that if there’s something wrong at work, he needs to tell him. Saxon tells him his whole career and identity are tied to his father’s business and to being his son. Displaying a rare vulnerable moment, Saxon says:
“I don’t have anything else but this. I don’t have any interests, I don’t have any hobbies. If I’m not a success, then I’m nothing. And I can’t handle being nothing. I’ve put my whole life into this basket — into your basket, Dad. So if something’s up…”
Just some more pressure from the boot on Timothy’s neck. Despite this being the clear opportunity to confess, Timothy insists nothing is wrong. Saxon’s confession accomplishes only one thing: Timothy now envisions killing Saxon to prohibit his suffering, just as he’s been imagining with Victoria and himself. However, at the end of the episode, Timothy goes to get the gun after one of these troubling visions, seemingly about to carry through on them, and finds it missing. I’m just praying that he doesn’t take his anger out on Gaitok.
Piper and Lochlan are less involved in this episode. We see Piper creep into Lochlan’s room in the monastery to check on him in the middle of the night. Lochlan confesses that he can’t face going home either (for reasons we’re all wincing at) and has been thinking of joining his sister at the monastery next year. Piper’s negative reaction tells us that maybe this plan hasn’t been about finding inner peace but escaping her family.
Saxon, Chloe, and Chelsea
Saxon seems to be considering turning over a new leaf. Insulted by Chelsea’s perspective of him as an entitled rich nobody with no soul, he’s been monitoring himself more closely. When he offers to walk Chelsea home, Chloe tries to stop him, saying, “Gary wants you to stay”. It seems her threesome with the brothers has led to Greg/Gary’s confession of his sexual desires.
Launching into an explanation of Greg/Gary’s childhood where he used to watch his parents having sex from the open bedroom door, which later in life led to a constant paranoia and jealousy that his girlfriends cheated on him with his best friend. This birthed a desire to catch them in the act and intervene. Greg/Gary is a watcher. He wants to quietly observe and then play the victor. Chloe has an astute analysis of this:
“His worst nightmare was actually his erotic fantasy.”
Saxon is disgusted, refuses Chloe’s request, and walks back to the hotel with Chelsea. On this walk, Saxon continues trying to redeem himself in Chelsea’s eyes by telling her he can connect with her on a soul level like she wants. He wants to be better, he just needs help. Chelsea, with her heart of gold, brings him back to her hotel, gives him a few spiritual books, and teaches him how to meditate. When Saxon reaches for her hand, she becomes startled at the intimacy — and guilty over Rick — and quickly asks him to leave. She calls Rick again; he still doesn’t answer. He’s busy celebrating in Bangkok, of course
Rick & Frank’s Excellent Adventure
Rick’s night has been transformative. At the Hollinger house, Rick takes Jim — the man he believes to be responsible for his father’s death — to another room to discuss “business in Thailand” while Frank, who unexpectedly breaks his sobriety, distracts Strilala. Frank and Strilala are having a blast, drinking, watching old videos of her career, and getting along great. Rick, on the other hand, is having a much more loaded experience — literally.
Rick confronts Hollinger, telling him of his mother’s dying confession of the man who killed his father: Jim Hollinger. Rick pulls his gun out and aims it at Jim but, looking at the old man before him, is unable to pull the trigger. He tries to hit him but can’t bring himself to. Finally, he pushes him over in his chair, grabs Frank, and escapes from the house on a boat. I still can’t shake the wild theory that maybe Jim isn’t the man who killed Rick’s father but is his father.
Back in Bangkok, Rick ditches the gun and tells Frank that all his life he’d imagined that moment, but when it came to it, he saw him for what he was: a frail, pathetic old man. Frank tells him, “That’s a huge monkey off your back,” and insists that they should celebrate. The two have a wild night, complete with drinking, drugs, and women. We last see Rick blissing out on the couch, finally looking as if he’s found a semblance of peace. I’m glad Rick’s enjoying life in this brief moment because something tells me a man as powerful and ruthless as Jim Hollinger won’t easily let a threat on his life go.
Truth Time: Belinda & Greg/Gary
The long-awaited talk between Belinda and Greg/Gary has arrived. Despite her hesitation, her son Zion insists they should go to the party to see what Greg wants. Begrudgingly, she agrees. Quickly upon her arrival, Greg pulls her aside for a conversation and refuses her request to bring her son. Finally alone, Greg comes clean. He validates his identity but insists upon his innocence, telling Belinda he escaped to Thailand to live his life after his brutal mourning of Tanya. Belinda, the icon that she is, can see his game. Greg tries to slyly bribe her by bringing up Tanya’s broken promise to fund Belinda’s dream spa and offers her $100,000 for her silence. He assures her that:
“Tanya would’ve wanted that. And I know she would’ve wanted me to spend the rest of my years in peace. Maybe in exchange… You can honor that.”
Knowing Tanya, I’d say she’d like Greg to have anything but peace. Belinda stalls, telling him she needs more time to think it over, grabs Zion, and hurries back to the hotel. Something in Greg’s eyes as he watches them leave tells me he won’t be taking any risks with her silence.
A Doomed Romance
Let’s talk about Mook. I was rooting for her and Gaitok originally, but her lack of romantic interest until he discussed getting a promotion was pretty troubling. Now, when he confides in her that he doesn’t think he can be a bodyguard because of his aversion to violence, she seems completely turned off by him. At the boxing match, she keeps pushing him to see violence as a part of life. Despite his wishes to veer towards his Buddhist upbringing, I fear Mook’s words could have the power to sway him.
We see the Buddhist monk at the beginning of the episode recount one of the main tenets of the religion:
“Remember this: Every one of us has the capacity to kill. Buddhist scripture condemns violence in every form. Violence, aggression, anger stem from same sauce: Fear. The only good faith response is to sit with your feelings. Violence does spiritual harm to the victim and to perpetrator. Buddhists believe always nonviolence.”
The finale is rapidly approaching, and it doesn’t seem that any of these guests are ones to “sit with [their] feelings”. What will Tim do now that the gun is missing? Could he remember the poisonous fruit surrounding their villa, spot Saxon’s blender, and find another way to end his family’s suffering? Will the police arrive at the hotel for Rick? Aleksei tried to scam Laurie after sex; did Valentin do the same to Jaclyn? Worse, is he planning to blackmail Jaclyn by leveraging her fame and marriage? Unsure of Belinda’s silence, will Greg ensure it himself?
There are so many plotlines, so many fan theories, and so little time for The White Lotus to tie this up. I believe in you, Mike White. See you Sunday.
Missed last week’s episode recap? Catch up here!
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