It’s all heating up, isn’t it? As The White Lotus season three moves into its end game, the show has started to roll out some jaw-dropping (and ominous) moments. There’s the kiss between the two brothers, Saxon and Lochlan; a gun has gone missing, and the Belinda/ Greg dynamic is toxifying faster than you can say, “Where’s Tanya?”
And through all this, we’ve yet to find out the identity of that body Belinda’s son, Zion, saw floating past him in the opening credits. This is a White Lotus signature move, of course: we never do, until the closing scenes. But that won’t stop us from speculating, because there are an awful lot of people it could be.
Due to a variety of factors, some are more likely than others: here are our best bets on who might end up kicking the bucket this year.
Belinda
We already know her son Zion is safe – in fact, he’s the only person that is, because we see him come across a body in the opening credits. But what about Belinda herself? She’s stirred up Greg’s ire by indicating she knows about his past as Tanya’s boyfriend, and her Googling has brought up images of the yacht on which Tanya died. We know Greg is dangerous, so it makes sense he’d go after her to shut her up.
And yet, this seems a bit obvious. Plus, with Belinda dead, who would star in season four when it’s inevitably greenlit?
Likelihood of death: 7/10
Tim Ratliff
The perma-stressed Tim just keeps getting bad news. First his accounts are being scrutinised, then his offices are being raided by the FBI and his assets frozen. He’s already contemplated suicide, and he keeps knocking himself out with his wife’s drugs so as not to have to face being awake and conscious. To leap from that to a murder spree isn’t that far-fetched. Plus, the kicker – he actually has the gun. This stuff writes itself.
Likelihood of death: 9/10
Victoria Ratliff
Killing her would be robbing us of all those impeccable one-liners, but still – might Victoria’s drawl be silenced forever by her husband? Her seeming reluctance to even address the idea that Tim is in financial trouble is an ominous sign; could Tim decide to mercy kill her to prevent her from finding out about her sudden change in fortunes?
It’s not super likely, to be honest.
Likelihood of death: 4/10
One of the Ratliff kids
There’s a lot of weird undertones bubbling under the surface with the Ratliff kids. Most obvious is the sexually charged kiss between Saxon and Lochlan in the final moments of episode five, but there’s also Lochlan’s weird comments to Piper about never having had sex before. Basically, there’s a powder keg here, and it probably wouldn’t take much for it to explode. Can anybody else see Saxon going on a post-kiss rampage to try and salve his wounded sense of self? I certainly can.
Likelihood of death: Lochlan could be in for it – 6/10
Greg
Wouldn’t it be nice if Greg kicked the bucket? The grumpy, withdrawn retiree has been hanging around Thailand ever since (it seems) he inherited Tanya’s millions. Now, with Belinda sniffing around, those millions seem to be under threat. Seeing him spectacularly die in the finale certainly would feel like justice – but Mike White often isn’t interested in serving up justice. More likely, Greg will be the one doing the killing.
Likelihood of death: 5/10
Chloe
She has alluded to it multiple times - “Gary is going to kill me,” she moans of her ageing boyfriend Greg (aka Gary), when she reveals that she’s considered being unfaithful. Though the dialogue is pretty on the nose, we know Greg is a killer. Perhaps Greg flies off the handle for some reason or another, and yet another White Lotus character meets a sticky end at his hands?
Likelihood of death: 7/10
Gaitok
Poor Gaitok. He’s been hit on the head, he’s been threatened with redundancy and now he’s lost the gun that his boss just bought to make the hotel a safer place – Tim having nicked it in episode four. His quest to retrieve the gun could feasibly have deadly consequences, but let’s face it: it wouldn’t be a very entertaining death. Gaitok is just a nice guy; him dying wouldn’t be funny or satirical, just tragic. And for that reason, he’s probably out.
Likelihood of death: 3/10
Rick
Rick is definitely on some kind of suicide mission, that’s for sure. He’s travelled all the way to Thailand to meet the man his mother said killed his father, before Rick was even born. He’s obtained a gun from somebody in Bangkok. He’s unhinged enough to use it (remember when he let all those snakes out while he was high?). It’s a very plausible scenario that Rick turns his gun on his target, only to be shot himself. How’s that for vengeance.
Likelihood of death: 8/10
Chelsea
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Could the ever-cheerful Chelsea be caught in friendly fire as Rick pursues his target? It’s not impossible, but it’s not really Mike White’s style to punish the peppy young things in his shows with death. That privilege is usually reserved for the ageing, unhinged and terminally compromised among the White Lotus’s guests. That said, Chelsea dying would be the ultimate punishment for Rick’s quest for justice…
Likelihood of death: 5/10
Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie
The vibes are getting increasingly toxic between Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie – but one thing’s for sure, none of them are capable of murder, only backstabbing. The only shady thing they’ve done is hang out with a whole load of Russians, though admittedly, some of them did look rather threatening. Maybe Jaclyn’s tryst ends badly when Valentin discovers she’s already in a relationship? We’re reaching, though: the Americans don’t need death to cause drama. It’s more delicious if they all travel home and never speak to each other again.
Likelihood of death: 2/10
The White Lotus Season 3 is streaming now on Sky Atlantic and NOW
