The Prestige TV Podcast - ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Finale: Fatal Attraction

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

Bill, Jo, and Mal pack their bags to recap the Season 3 finale of ‘The White Lotus.’ They discuss their instant reactions to the final episode, a few puzzling loose ends, and whether it stuck the landing (1:00). Along the way, they break down Carrie Coon’s scene-stealing monologue and debate which actor is the most deserving of an Emmy (26:03). They close by reflecting on the season as a whole and looking ahead to the show’s future (49:44). Email us! [e-mail] Subscribe to the Ringer TV YouTube channel here for full episodes of ‘The Prestige TV Podcast’ and so much more! Hosts: Bill Simmons, Joanna Robinson, and Mallory Rubin Producers: Kai Grady and Donnie Beacham Jr. Video Supervision: John Richter Additional Production Support: Justin Sayles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Moments ago. Real time. Spotify theater. Shit went down. Bodies. Yeah. Multiple bodies. I don't even know where to start.

The coconut milk is off. We could start there. The coconut milk is off. The liqueur is okay. The coconut milk is off. We have five dead bodies. I have a lot of questions about your instant reaction. We didn't even acknowledge each other.

Yeah. No. Your instant reaction, Joe. There's like two stories that I really, really love the way they ended, and I really am excited to think about them and talk about them. And then there's a lot of other things that happened that I need more time than we have to process, I think. So like a thumb sideways? Yeah, sideways thumb. Yeah, yeah.

Mel. I am processing in real time, too. We've only seen it once. It was extra hefty, a very ample poisoned fruit pod. I liked a few of the storylines quite a bit as well and found them very moving. I have questions about a couple of them. I really loved the season overall,

but I'm excited to talk to you guys about whether we think season three of White Lotus tipped a little too far into mystery first and like, let's all chase the theorizing all season and then it's really about that at the end. I think the first two seasons were about that a little bit, but mostly about what's going on in here and that that was a slightly more successful

formula than what we got here. What do you think Mike White was trying to do with this? Because way more bodies than we've ever had. Right. More episode, a longer episode count, more bodies on the ground than ever before. More religious and spiritual than we've ever had. More ambitious in terms of going out to like big parties, going to a different city entirely. Fate seems to be the number one thing here.

You have Belinda basically becoming Tanya in someone. ways where she's like... And more than some ways. Willingly just ready to stampede over a poor porn chai. Yes. And be it to Newtanya. She basically does it. Where's your thumb?

Yeah, what's your reaction? It was the overall take. I'd have to see it again. Yeah. Yeah, same. I was left with more questions and answers. I hate leading with nipicks, but that was a lot of commotion to have on a resort. And then everybody going, all right.

So get on the boat. Your boat's at two o'clock. The fancies just sort of like, wow, giggling all the way home. Do you guys think this one will finally make the news? I was like the whole time, I was like, Mallory is finally going to get her wish. First of all. Anyone who stays with the White Lotus in season four. Exactly.

I have so many notes for everyone in season four. The three ladies are witnesses to a murder. Yeah. And it's like, bye. The family has the youngest son basically almost overdoses on poisoned fruit and then he's fine. He'll be fine on the plane. He's on the boat the next day. He seemed like he didn't feel great on the boat, to be fair.

You know? And everybody just kind of goes up. Belinda just goes off. Even though we saw in the first episode, Belinda's son is in the water with a dead body floating by him. Yeah. Like, all right. Five million dollars. Thanks, Thailand. I'll see you later.

I think that's just one of the bodyguards that floated by him? It could be. Yeah, it could be either of the bodyguards. Yeah. I think that because Rick and Chelsea were, you know, in the physical manifestation of the thematic yin-and-yang, that Chelsea had previously mentioned. It wasn't them that floated towards Zion because that seemed to be a sole person.

So where do you think, given where Chelsea's bullet hole was and the Ying and Yang, where do you think Rick's bullet hole was then? You know, he seemed to catch back shoulder a little bit and, you know, we had heard from Chelsea, this yin and yang, this eternal battle,

hope, pain, which would win out. Neither wins, I guess. Just a very, this is a very depressing end to the season. A very cynical season, in terms of what we take with us. White Lotus is always cynical, but this is, I think, is one of the most, like, the two storylines that I think are going to stick with me for a long time, the two final images.

Belinda in the Tanya role, and then Guy Talk in his, like, new bodyguard role with what he got the girl, got the job, but at what cost. Just his soul. And his face as he drives away. Just his soul and his core beliefs. I would keep going on that, though, because you have Carrie Coon is Lori. Yeah. I'm interesting to talk about that one. Basically, by the end of the week is like, you know what?

I was just happy to be here. And I don't care if I kind of sold my soul out for the week, but it was a pleasure to be in your company. I have a quick question for you guys. If you're like, I love that you're beautiful. I love that you have a beautiful life. And then you guys go, that's nice. That's nice. And say nothing nice to be.

And they're like, and you're also here, Lori. Yeah. And you're here. And you have two arms and two legs and a head. And you sure are here, Lori. So she sells out a little bit because her vacation got paid for. Buenda sells out a little bit. Tim is the big one where we had to watch Tim just brooding and kept expecting some sort of resolution.

Like we theorized he would theorize he would get the phone and find out like, hey, this blew over. We're going to be good. Instead, that didn't happen. We don't know. Well, Saxon's face looking at his phone seems. Here's what I would like to believe that Saxon is not reading fucking shit from Terry office or anyone else about Tim Ratliff's scandal. And he is instead hopefully reading a note from Chloe, who seems preoccupied looking for the guy. a fuck so Greg Gary can watch.

But hopefully an update that Chelsea died so that Saxon can go back and mourn her properly. I don't think that's what's going to happen at all. That's my head canon. That's my head canon. That's sweet. These resorts aren't that big. If there's like gunshots everywhere and multiple bodies and police and Thailand and police, like nobody's leaving that resort for like 12 hours.

Yeah. And you're like, wait, did we know anybody? Who got killed? The guy who owns a hotel. Two other people. Some lady. Like what lady? I would just have more questions.

The woman who changed your life. Saxon, the woman who made you a reader. Doesn't matter. Well, he reads fast so. He went to Duke after all. That killed me. I was really laughing at that. That was so funny.

There was some great early Ratliff comedy in this episode. We all cracked up at Parker Posey's face when Piper comes back and is like, I don't think the food was organic. And there was like a stain on the mattress. Very bland. And Victoria is trying really hard to just be like, just passively take it and not throw herself a parade.

and then she can't help it. And she's like, let's buy you something from the boutique, babe. You're no longer wearing cute little prairie dresses, whole new wardrobe, new piper. Let's go. We spent all season debating, like, who was the Emmy frontrunner. I think Parker Posey sealed it with the facial expressions alone in this episode. Just absolutely iconic. Possibly.

Probably Parker Posey, Sam Rockwell. I don't know. Carrie Coon made a really strong run in the last couple episodes. I'm excited to talk. I have a slightly different, but not totally different, but slightly different read on the Lari. Well, can we go a big picture? Because I'm trying to anticipate how this. is dissected

tonight and tomorrow. Yeah. So I thought, I really love season one. I thought season two was executed perfectly. Yeah, same. And I really thoroughly

enjoyed watching season three, but I don't think they landed the plane in a lot of the same ways. And just too many open-ended questions even coming out of this. I get what they were trying to do. But for eight episodes, the amount of time they spent setting everything up,

I think they have some loose ends. So what are your loose ends that you want to talk about. Well, I mean, some of the nitpick stuff, like, so Rick, the last episode, they skewed out of there after he pushes over Jim Hollinger to get away from the bodyguards, and then just goes

back to the resort, like everything's cool. Doreen. Hey, what are we doing for breakfast? Like, he doesn't think there's going to be any repercussions. Rick has been in the ab. Yeah, this is the no prep con man. But how stupid do you have to be, though? Obviously, you have to get the fuck out. You have to get the fuck out of the resort, like

that day. Hey, honey, we're out. I just got to do a thing with Jim Hollinger. We're out. He gets there, yeah, the night before, he's like, pack your bag. Like, he shouldn't have even gone back to the resort. Right. Given that he had back to the resort. Meet me at 6.30.

Famously, those two were calling each other all season long and missing each other's calls. So quick text, hey, meet me here. Why not? Yeah. Appalling that he not only went back to the resort was just sort of like, let's have a leisurely fruit-filled breakfast. That, like, that contraption with the donuts on the prongs, though? I got to see that because I thought that looked at a donut tree.

Wonderful. I would love a donut tree. Is that an offer? I'll get you one. A donut tree? Well, so a couple things we theorized. Yeah. Yeah. Ended up hitting.

Yeah. The toxic evil fruit. Does it feel good? Does it feel good? As soon as the fruit went in the blender, did you feel good about it? I did. Yeah. You know, another nitpick is the dad's just going to leave the poison stuff in the blender.

Yeah, I'm going to head to bed. That's when I started yelling at the screen. Yeah. You got to wash the poison out. Rinse the blender out. But yeah, here's my. I mean, Rick coming back to the White Lotus, I don't mind a one mode of death fakeout. So, oh, no, he's poured poison pinoccalates for the whole family.

And then he slaps it out of Saxon's hand. It's genuinely hilarious. Jomey was laughing his head off. Like, it was great. But then to have another death fake out with the same, like, poison drink. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like your doubled poison drink faking out the audience, that was not my favorite.

How about this? The poison fruit tree, a little overrated. Couldn't get the job done. Multiple chances to murder the rat lifts. Couldn't do it. Yeah. A total bus. They all took a sip. Parker Posey took a big swig.

And a total bust. Yeah, you would think somebody would have at least like some gastrointestinal cramping or something from just a one to two sip crowd. But no, they're all completely fine. I thought they would be up all night. Shit themselves. Yeah, exactly. Same. Pam, you oversold the tree.

Oversold it. Let's go back to the beginning. And then we can tackle everybody in groups here. Okay. So start of the episode, the Buddha's talking. Everyone's looking sad. And the Buddha says it becomes easier to accept there is no resolution. And I was trying to wonder, is Mike White talking to us?

There's going to be no resolution in this episode. Well, that turned out to be wrong because five people died. The rat lifts. We'll start with them. Okay. Piper, nice 180. One night on a cot. Great stuff.

Doesn't want Lucky to come with her. Says, just let me fuck up my own life. Okay. Yep. has the big hug with the mom. So her arc is basically she's full of shit, rich kid who dabbled in the, I'm going to try to save the world and try to find my inner self and it lasted 24 hours. So now she's hopeless?

This is exactly. Well, but now she has to go home and find out that she's like, oh my God, maybe I am a princess. And then Victoria gives this epic speech about no one's ever lived as well as we have. Not even the kings and queens of old, right? And we have to enjoy it or else it's insulting if we don't. I don't know if that was true, Victoria. No. I don't know if you're letting billions of people down by not enjoying it.

Nope. I don't think that's the case. Yeah, but I think that like... Not sure how that works. But for Piper to be like, maybe I am just a spoiled princess and I should just embrace it. And she starts, again, like wearing different clothing that her mom bought for her. For her to then go home to a rude awakening of no money presumably is interesting. Yeah.

Worse case. Saxon is reading. Sell all your principles and then live without the thing you just sold them for any. Anyway, Saxon reading. Did you get a look at the book? I have slacked our producers to see if they could get the title. He was, I wrote it down, hold on. He was reading, I know that he was reading Pima, start where you are by Pima Choderan,

who's like a well-known Buddhist writer sort of person. But I thought the way that, like, Chelsea was talking about Pima's work earlier in terms of like, Yes. Either of these groups and they're full of people you have met or you haven't met, we could be in the same group or not. Yes. I thought that was really interesting. Yeah, and that's been part of the theme of the season two,

you know, including even like Tim's meeting with the monk at the monastery, this idea of like this drop of water, the return. What are you a part of? And that opening note from the first episode on Piper's book, Identity as a Prison. Well, like which characters not only were able or were not able to break out of that, Obviously, like Rick is not able to ultimately, right? But which characters even wanted to?

Which characters were even ultimately interested in trying to? It's a really short list this season. Well, that's interesting, but I think what's also interesting is, like, which are the characters who moved into a new identity? And that identity is the prison. And that's what I think of Guy Talk. I think of Belinda. Absolutely. He's like, I am a badass bodyguard now.

Belinda's like, I am a multimillionaire now. But that is a prison that they have created for themselves full of. moral compromise. Pornchized, just a pleaser. Locky's just a pleaser. That was great that the callback to Lockhees corrective posture, like, pleaser, people pleaser? You know, you meet people on their

plane of reality, but what's your plan of reality? Well, that was part of the Ratlap's, the Lockheed Saxon. A little tense. Saxon says no one's going to make you a man. You got to do it yourself about the thing. And then, uh, well, that's why he made his smoothie. So don't worship me. Meaning don't worship.

Worship me. Yeah. And Locky apologize. says, I'm a pleaser. I saw you lying there and you felt left out. That was very. Phil, do you want to share with the audience what you said when he said that? What did I say?

Tell me. Lock you made some good points. You did look left out. You were left out. Yeah. Right there on the bed, the vets are very close to each other and a yacht cabin, you know? It Saxon bummed out if Lockie overdoses and dies from the poison blender? Yes, I think he carries the guilt with him forever.

Okay. Without question. Lockie makes that smoothie on his own because Saxon has been telling him all season, drink these shakes, we got to buffing you up. And then that, no one's going to make a man out of you. You have to do it yourself. And, like, that's Lockhe's way of trying to do it himself, is to just, like, mimic the behavior of this other person anyway. I think he would be, but it's torn up. Is your question, that's one less person who knows what happened on the yard? Then it's just Chloe and Chelsea. There's only two left. Chelsea's gone.

Chelsea's gone. Just Chloe. Does Saxon know, hard to say. Mel, can I ask you a question since we're heavily into our Last of Us prep? Yeah. When the rat lifts are like going to breakfast and Locky started like twitching in the foreground, were you thinking about Nana Adler and the cortisps? Did you have a raising cookie? Yeah, exactly.

Any infected flour? Yeah. I didn't get that joke. I'm sorry. You're missing out, man. You're missing out. The dad asked Lockie, you think you live with no money? You said, yeah, I think I could.

He passed the you don't have to drink the poison blender. But then what would the cost of that? been before Tim has his moment of looking at his, into his son's eyes and knocking the glass out of his hand, he's going to leave the one child he thinks is prepared and equipped to cope with his failure to mourn all of them? Are you saying he might be a bad dad? Knit to pick. Christ. I would like to ask the legal department to weigh out on this. Surely Tim Ratliff has life insurance. Does Locky, is that safe from the feds? Oh, I don't know. The life insurance pay out on Tim Ratliff? And would Lockhe be set up?

I don't know if there's a poison my family life insurance piece. Probably not. I think the life insurance company's fighting that. We got to see Pam again. She brought the phones back. Wonderful stuff for them. Warned him about the suicide trees because, God forbid, they just got rid of the suicide trees in the Thailand resort.

Just keep those things around. As it turns out, just causes a slight tummy ache. You throw up a couple times in the pool. You get to commune with God. Then you go about your day. So you think not only overrated, but just completely full of shit. Because there was like enough residue left with the drink he made and he drank all of it that according to what she said he should have died. I mean, I don't know the lethality of the individual seed.

Tim did put a whole lot of seeds in that blender. Many garlic. But is your, are you positing that if it had just been that seed without the sort of like pinia colada and then the dump out and then the protein pattern, then the water, it would have gotten the job done? No, because I think it says Potent no matter what. If he finished it, he's still finishing the seed. Yeah. Right?

Yeah. I was waiting for him to get rushed to the hospital because we had the snake bite and the canonically established distance of the hospital. But no, we just had some extended cradling. So when he makes everybody some pinocaladas. Yep. First of all, I would be immediately suspicious

if my dad out of nowhere was like, I've made us all pinocaladas. It's like, that's weird. You've never seen. seen you drink one in your life. This guy's like a scotch whiskey dude. He is a whiskey. She's making Pinacolada's out of nowhere

and ordering it to the room. When in Thailand, probably that's not the origin of a pinnacolada. And he says, I couldn't ask for a more perfect family. Then flips it, knocks the glass out. Coconut milk is off my bad? And Vicki says, is that it?

Tim. Have you heard of wine? Another great Vicki. Vicki was on a heater. Her batting average is like 900. Sensational Vicki family. And that was it. And once again, if you're going nitpicks,

another nitpick is the family. The family's just, the dad is acting deranged at this point. Yeah. And none of the family is like, hey, mom, what's going on with dad? Yeah. Dad's fucking crazy. That's a tried last week. He got rid of all of our phones.

He's been in a drug stupor for five days and he just made his pinocle out as and then knocked the glass out of my hand before I finished it. And now he's going to bed. I think, though, I was thinking about that. And I think a problem of this is that they've known him his whole life. Yes. And so he's been acting weird for like four days. But he's been acting weird the entire time we've known him.

Do you know what I mean? And so it's just like, they're like, okay, dad's having a weird week, but it's four days in the span of the decades that they've known him, you know? Yeah, that makes sense. I've definitely been in funks around my family, not drug funks where I've tried to murder everybody. And not force feeding the pinoclettes. No. Not just letting the bathrobe open in the middle of the common area.

No. Not my prosthetic. So Lockhe makes his own protein drink out of Dirty Blender, another nitpick. clean the bundle. That's disgusting. That's disgusting. In college, you wouldn't do that. He's a senior in high school. He's a senior in high school. In college, you at least rinse it out. It's disgusting. Yeah. That was, my take on that, he sticks his little snout in there and he sniffs it. My take was he was like, ooh, I get a little bit of pinia colada in my, you know, dad said I couldn't have it. But I get to have it. Yeah. Well, then we get the death scene. We get drops. We get men waiting on top of the water looking down. Looks like monks to me. Sure did. Yeah. Yeah. You think that's what you see when you die. I always thought if you're going to hell, you see the shadows like in ghost when the guy.

Yeah, yeah. That's what I think happens with hell. Maybe this is heaven. You look up and there's just monks. And there's just monks. And a circle around you. I mean, in Mallory's case, it would be Cal Ripkin Jr. Lamar Jackson.

No? Manny Machado. Hunter Henderson. Yeah. Who is it for Bill? Harrison Ford. That would be great. Tom Brady.

Who would be witness Harrison Ford. Yeah. Like specific haircut Harrison Ford. No one's ever looked better than Harrison Ford had witnessed specifically in the Sam Cuck scene in the barn when he looks over the roof of the car. That's his peak. That's peak. See, you're going to miss this on the witness for you watchables because you're leaving. Wow.

Wow. Yeah. Emotional blackmail. Wow. Cruel. That's what happens when you don't live here. You miss the witness rewatchables. Brutal.

If only Mallory has ever had that conversation with me about that one Harrison Ford scene 20 million times. Wait, no. Yeah. Who are bills four people waiting for? Bill on the other side of the pool. I'd like to think it would be family members. Well, that was one was interesting about Locky not seeing his family and seeing them, because he has made that choice.

Like, I think when he told Piper last week, hey, I just had this thought. What if I stayed? It's this like panic, processing in real time what he has had to acknowledge about himself. He says to her, like, I don't want to give in to my dark shit. Like, I don't want to make things worse. And then in this episode, you know, the next morning, he's still like, this is what I think I should do. and does actually seem to feel the pull and to feel the draw in a way that is actually

maybe more sincere than what Piper ultimately felt for him to see, okay, this could have been maybe my awakening, this could have been maybe my salvation, and I'm about to lose it and lose everything else too, and not to see his family, not to see chat, will you pick you and see your Duke? It was none of the stuff that they spent all season arguing about and pulling over him.

A brotherly tongue. Yep. Got it. I wrote down, Wait, Lockhe isn't dead. He really jerked us around. Oh, good. Nice, nice.

I thought I wasn't going to acknowledge the jerk off humor, but he was just waiting because he had his own. My own jerk joke. When he does before. Competing jerk jokes. I'll miss this. When he, before he sees the monks, he's sort of blinking in his long non-death scene. He does see all of them in like the blinks of his eyes as he's like, yeah. Drops off the ocean.

The drives off the ocean. Also, people have been, in terms of people predicting. who is going to die. In the opening credits, Lockland is like floating in the water. So a lot of people thought Lockland might die. And so we do get this extended floating in the water sequence, but it turns out it's the water of your mind.

This is a happy return. You know, as we also talked about in terms of the opening credits, the very worrying zoom in, like camera jump and zoom in on Amy Liu's name and the bloodied, broken animal carcass. So. You know what else that I really liked about this whole, like with the, what do you call it, the forest? What's outside? The wildlife, the pseudo jungle.

Okay. I like the one the monkeys got all excited during the, when the gunshots, when they started jumping around. I was like, oh my God. Oh, yeah. Where are we going with the monkeys? None of them actually pulled a trigger, though. Thoughts, feelings? Are you in an active state of mourning?

Are we all monkeys inherently? Well, yeah. Monkey Minds. Quieting monkey mind. Yeah. Got primal for a second. What was with, they were like fumigating? Yeah.

But never, you know, Guy talks like, what's going on? They're like, the Hollander's are back. I was like, no, but what's going on with the very aesthetic smoke that you're putting all around the place? Yeah, that was an odd kind of transition shot of Google Doom. We're done with the rat lift. So any last thoughts before we move to the fancies?

I don't have a lot of hope for them going forward. I think they're going broke. and they don't seem like they're a strong family. Who is best equipped, though, to deal with what? The reckoning that presumably now awaits. Saxon. Fucking Saxon. Armed with his literature, armed.

And the thing that is... Literature. He read one book. He's got more. He's a soulmate. He's already dead. He threw a whole library into his lap. God damn it.

Now, I think it is actually... This is one of my favorite parts of the season, unsurprisingly. I've been Team Saxon from day one. Great performance. Interesting character. we love a character on an arc. The fact that Chelsea was not able in those final moments, this is not her fault, to be clear, this was Ricks,

the tragedy of it, right, that he couldn't break the karmic cycle, like Amrita had pled with him and begged. Like, Chelsea's saying, stop thinking about the love you've lost, think about the love that's right in front of you, and paraphrasing. Does Adam say that to you? Adam, happy birthday. I'm sorry that I'm at work instead of with you celebrating. Happy birthday.

I don't see that. There it is. You're a great. You're a great one. The fact that Rick was like, I'm going to go do this anyway. But Saxon's life has actually been changed by just spending one week with Chelsea. I choose to believe that it has actually been changed. I think he was more changed by the jerkoff night.

Well, yeah, also that. I think that was where you really look at the mayor and go, where... It takes a village to raise your man. Where's my life going? What happened? People, a lot of people impact you in your life. Joe informed us about the similarities to the journey of the Buddha. Last episode, a little high sparrow coated as well, right? Sure.

You know, a night of debauchery and then what? Will Saxon ever put a pair of sneakers on again? Who can say, I'm rooting for that guy. That's all I know. So going forward, ratlifts get divorced. Tim's disgraced. Saxon probably tries to get his own startup going, which will be tough with the way the stock market's going this week.

Good luck, Tim. Anyway. And then-Piper joins the nonprofit. Lockhe comes back to Thailand. Yeah. He comes back. I mean, he has no money for college, so. Yeah, he comes back.

She's going to live there. At the very least a gap year, probably. What money is he using to get on the flight to Thailand? That's true. Probably saving up some bonds that he got for birthdays. The fancies we can rip through quick. Everything's fine again. We're back to just being super phony with one another.

This was disappointing to me, I think. Yeah, I don't. It felt like an hour and a half long show, but it felt like there was one good scene missing with them. Yeah, I liked the Jacqueline, when Jacqueline goes to Wake Loria up, And she says, I want to be your friend. I thought that was a really good moment. I would have loved just like a little, like she talks about, you know, people judge me for my superficial flaws. You judge me for my profoundly deep flaws, you know.

I thought that was good. But I just wanted just a little bit more from Jacqueline on that friend. She said, good news. I'm in the pit season two. I'm on the night shift. I joined in episode eight. I can't wait to start watching the pit. I know.

You're going to have a great time. I'm excited. I agree with both of you about this plotline and the storyline overall. I certainly think that given the level that the tension reached last episode, it felt like we were, okay, we could have stood to have one or two more moments. But I was genuinely, I'm a sucker maybe, but I was like really moved by what Laurie had to say. I was going to say, I thought that was the best scene in the show. When she said the thing about time, yes, I thought that was beautiful.

lovely. And like, as you get older, you have to justify your life and your choices. And when I'm with you guys, it's just life transparent what my choices were. And I was thinking back to the way that, like, at the beginning of the season that, like, you know, when I'm with you guys, it's like looking in a mirror. And there's the blonde blob aspect to it. All of the similarities, the shared origin and then the different branches off of that, like, tree trunk. But when you're looking in a mirror and you're with other people and they remind you of that, it's like you also are, what are you doing? You're seeing yourself, right? You're seeing yourself, right? You're seeing. the way that the choices they've made and the places they've gone in life remind you of your own limitations, shortcomings, failings. And I thought this was just such a like, when we talk about more broadly over the episode and the season, what are the takeaways, what are the lessons, what is like the message about life or relationships or family or desire, you chase pleasure, you find pain, et cetera. This one was so like real, I thought, you know, especially inside of that friend dynamic where the bicker and and the fighting and the tearing each other down.

I think there's something there with like, women are pitted against each other and friendships or professional relationships and they're like positioned by society to be inclined to tear each other down and being competitive with each other. And so like for just a moment to rise above that and say like, I don't know,

you guys remind me that like I'm still here I thought was really lovely. I think part of it is depressing that like we talked about last week, the possibility what's more depressing if they like fracture or they don't actually. But there was. something I thought really comforting about the idea that you can work your way back to something

that feels like a nucleus in your past. I liked them coming back together, and I mentioned this last week when I was like, what do I want them from the finale? I wanted them to come back together in the way that I always wanted the succession kids to hug. Like, this is what I always want. But I don't know that I feel like it was one million percent earned. Exactly. Yeah. Laurie's epiphany that she got maybe when her pants were falling down and she was trying to crawl out of Alexis pin. I thought it was when she was watching them take selfies. I mean. Because she's watching from a far when they're in the pool and she's getting sad watching it.

I thought she was getting sad because she was a part of the group. But I think she was getting sad because she was like, oh, this is like we were doing whatever version of this when we were 12. I think it's all part of it. But I think she isn't in a place to absorb that if she doesn't have her adventure with Alexi the night before. If she's not asked for $10,000 to save somebody's mother. I love that they're like, none of them were looking at it. Valentine when he comes to the table in that last scene, the last dinner scene, like, there's like, it's not about you dude.

Like, we're trying to connect here. Yeah. And I think that I thought the Lori, Mike White writing that speech for Lori really felt like something that Mike White himself had worked out for himself. Yeah. In terms of she's like, I tried work as my religion. Yes. I tried of loving, like, a romantic relationship as my religion.

Being a mother. Parenthood didn't really work out for me. But me just being here. Guess what I'm still here? Totally. in the words of Stephen Sondheim. She's like, I'm still here and that counts for something. She says

time gives it meaning. Yeah. This is the old Michael Mann theme in all the Michael Mann movies. Our guy from the rewatchables. I love that you both managed to make that about Sodomime and I was great. That's who's waiting for us on the other side of the pool. Sonheim for me, Michael Mann for Bill. Well, Michael Mann was

a big time is luck. That's what he would always say in his movies about how much luck you need just to keep existing. Yeah. There's something here too about like because she's able to kind of find that contentment embrace just like the reality of life. It feels like a lesson learned in the face of hard truths. Like they all said really terrible things to each other. We talk about this a lot when we're covering stuff. Like sometimes you have to work through something really deeply unpleasant and see if you can make it to the other side. I think we felt it more certainly more with Laurie than with Jacqueline and Kate. But they all had to receive that. The thing that Laurie heard was like, like, well, the thing you're disappointed about always changes, but the pattern is you're always disappointed. And there was like a lot of sorrow behind what she said here, but there was like a certain level of peace that fell for her maybe quite new. And I, and I love that for her. And I think that

that's important for her to work through internally, I still would like for Jacqueline and Kate on their journey to come up on the other side of this vacation being like, and you, Lori, have a beautiful something, something, fill in the blank, something. I don't care what you say. Sense of humor. personality. You know what her revenge is going to be when Carrie Coon's accepting the Emmy for best supporting actress and drama? We just gave it to Parker Pose.

How many Emmys are we handing out? They'll put Parker Posey in the lead. You know, someone wrote in to let us know that they've never put a White Lotus actor in the lead Emmy category. They're all always in supporting. Right, so if you went Carrie Cohn versus Parker Posey, who do you have?

Versus probably Amy Liu is probably also. Different vibes. Yeah. If it's me? I'm giving it to Parker Posey for this season. I'm torn. Every time I try to power-rank my favorite performances, I'm like genuinely thought Patrick Schwarzenegger was great.

Stop thoroughbrustering. Pick. Amy Lou was great. No. Carrie Coon was great. Parker Posey was great. I refuse. I don't have to pick because I don't vote.

I pick Carrie Coon. Great. I thought. I'm picking Amy Lou. I think Carrie is awesome. Carrie is incredible. And I think Carrie should have. a heap of Emmys. But I think in

this season, I've seen Carrie do incredible things in the leftovers, in Fargo. I don't watch the Gilded Age, but like... You're missing out. So you're not surprised. You weren't surprised at all the forms. I think in terms of like what I want from a, that Jennifer Coolidge White Lotus performance is Parker Pose.

I think Parker Posey is most likely certainly to win because of that precedent. It feels like that. I think Amy Lou, I'm going Amy Lou. I'm casting my vote for Amy. Okay. officially. We ended with a drunk three lady hug with our fancies. A lot of cuddling. They took the boat back so that Jacqueline could officially find out her husband is filed for a separation.

He's so horny for her. They're addicted to each other. And hopefully the pit will work out great for her. She deserves to be on the pit season two. And maybe Lori and her kid can come out and like live with Jacqueline for a little while if Jacqueline's kicking hairs. I heard she throws furniture. But maybe she won't in L.A.

I just hope Lori didn't catch anything from Alexi. I can't say he was, he didn't seem like the cleanest guy. Remember the dick slap? That was great. The Russians are fine. Yeah. The Russians are fine. They seem like they let a fast life. The last time we see them in this episode, they're partying with a new group of people.

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Discover the Craftsman ship behind every bite, Boershead committed to craft since 1905. Guy Talk and Mook, we can go through this quickly. Mook is like maybe my least favorite character now. Mook just fell apart in sections. She sucks. Absolutely. I think maybe that was the point of Moog.

Yeah, I guess. I think I would have been more interested in this whole plotline if Guy Toc was a more interesting actor and I just felt like he had two moves and it was pretty underwritten for what it was. And it was a lot of time spent just so he could shoot Rick at the end. I don't know. Well, this is the point. I think that it goes back to what we were talking about last week in terms of they had only so much story in too many episodes.

Yeah. I think this is a good storyline. Like, there's this winsome young couple and we're sort of rooting for them. And then she's just sort of like... Were you rooting for him, though? Because I wasn't. For a time in the middle I was. Yeah.

By the last three episodes, I was not. No. Certainly not. Once it was clear that she was like, but you need to be ambitious and violent. And he's like, but my religion. And... Hot take. Mook knows what she.

She likes. That's great. And that's great. But what I want for him is to just be like, okay, then you are not for me. Yeah, it's not meant to be. It's not. I will just. She's pretty good looking.

Beautiful. She was trying to talk. Absolutely gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. But now he's like got the girl and a great set of sunglasses. And the Hollander's need new bodyguards because both of their bodyguards died. Yeah. Well, we have Valentin goes to him at some point and says, I know you know if you say something.

Yeah. You're killing me. And then that storyline is just done. We've allowed them to rob the resort. And we're never going to talk about it again. But that's part of Guy Talk sacrificing what he genuinely believes to be right, to be good, to be decent, the code that he wanted to live his life by and hoped that he could to get the things that he desires.

So desire comes in many forms. All of the characters have a version of this, right? Like, Guy talk desires more than one thing. He desires MOOC. He desires to not be repulsed by the decisions that he's made. but those two desires are in conflict with each other. And so he makes the choice. And like the moment of, you know, I'm down on my knee and I have the gun out and Sitala is saying kill him, shoot him.

Sita la. I mean, shoot him. She was clear in her directive, that's for sure. But like, this was part of a theme in the episode two of just like one degree away from making a better choice, right? Because he tells Mookie wants to quit. And she's like, once again, I thought you were. a different kind of person. I thought you were going to do a different thing. He flat out tells Pileck, I would, I'm not the right guy for this. Like, this is not for me. And he's like,

why don't you think about it? Guy talk does try to extract himself from a circumstance that he knows is not right for him. And then he can't and he gets subsumed by it. Same thing for Rick, et cetera, his binge mode. Same thing. She's like, I'm not the right girl for this. I'm saying, no, it's in you, Mallory. And it was. Podcasting is in you. And he just put on those shades and guys. that car. Embrace your beast. I, no, totally. To your point,

no, there's a bunch of moments inside of this episode where someone almost makes the right decision, right? Rick almost makes the right decision. Maybe if Chelsea had just stayed and eaten her donut, that was the right decision for her,

you know. She only dropped 37 hints in the first seven episodes. That's something horrible was going on. Let's move for them. I have Rick, Frank, and Chelsea is my next category. We only see Frank

quick. Leopard print banana hangarck. Having a great time. He pulls the banana hammocks out. More girls coming forward enough. Two more in the elevator. Sensational stuff. Just our guy just

Sam Rockwell. But he did go back to the monastery just like he said he would. At the end, we see him returning to a life of Do you think he knows that Rick is dead? I don't know. The question of how news travels in this story is deeply perplexing.

He probably read in the Bangkok Herald that Jim Hoonger has been shot to death. Maybe. Do you think Frank reads the Bangkok Carol? Probably not. I mean, Cetala should be after him, right? He was in on the con. Cisela made it out alive.

So Steve Frank should be relocating. So you're saying, White Lotus Season 4, Guy Talk and the hunt for Frank. Do you think, that's actually an interesting question. Do you think we will have any character from the prior seasons make it into season four like we have in every other season. Fabian didn't die, right? He just fell in the water.

I was like, oh shit. Bobby's going to like get his head and drown. We're going to do the Tanya again. But then he stood up. So the only person who's been in every season is Greg Gary. Yeah. Yeah. Tanya wasn't two.

Belinda's in two. Greg Gary's having a great life. Cut off the $5 million in Belinda. Now he's just back trying to have his lady, try to have sex with somebody while he watches and eventually breaks in. Chloe was actively a recruiting candidate. Absolutely. So his kink is real and it's happening.

You know, who stock is majorly on the rise for me this episode? Zion. Right. Zion was good. He was very funny. Really good Zion episode. Wait, all right. So we got Rick Frank Chelsea.

Last dinner, Chelsea says they're going to be together forever. Whatever happens to you happens to me. That's what, okay. Right before the episode started, we had sort of as a group said Chelsea dies for Rick was our sort of like fear prediction. Yeah. When she says whatever happens to you, happens to me, I feel like all three of us in that theater were like, oh, no. Yeah, you could see it coming. Terrible.

And also when she fucking said the episode name. Yeah. Because I'm more fati. Do you know what that means? You have to embrace your feet, good or bad. What will be will be? I was like, no. They're pouring it on.

So Rick's at breakfast. Didn't think he'd see the Hollinger's. They only home in the hotel and he already broke him their house. Scott Glenn. Yeah. I remember your mother. I knew she was a drunk and a slut I didn't think she was a liar too

Those are trigger words for our guy Rick That he's talking about Mix in, by the way, I'm your dad By the way he says Your father was no saint You didn't miss out on much And that's the fucking truth That's a great moment

Because he's talking about himself Yes I did not catch that when he said it Did you? I wasn't sure at the end If they were going to go that way But when he said that sentence Did you think he was talking about himself

Because I did not I was genuinely 50-50 on it Also 50-50 I think watching the season through the, oh, they are doing the Obi-1 through it from a certain point of view Vader-Anakin thing. It still felt like it was in play even there.

Obie Toppin? It's Star Wars. Oh, Star Wars. Yeah. Got it. Very tough. Well, Rick's a dumb-ass. Rick is quite stupid. He's really dumb. If they're going to do the Vader, you know who Darth Vader is. I'm just doing this torchy as soprano. Do you know who Darth Vader is?

I'm aware. I saw the first three in the theater. And you've heard the line, I'm your father, right? Yeah, I was in the theater for it. Is that as good as... Spoiler. He's the love being like, he's your father. He told me.

That's a little more rushed. Equally meaningful and memorable. Does that hate just as hard? Do you think? They will be talking about that in 50 years still, for sure. He's your father. He told me on the flight over here. Well, so now that we know what happens,

it's hard to forget what it was like when it was actually watching. It was pretty exciting when they're taking the photo and Rick sitting on the bench and trying to figure out. how we were going to have a conflict here because he didn't have his gun because he got rid of the gun. Oh, yeah. Then in my head,

this one I didn't get right, I was like, oh, he could easily just grab the gun from the old man because he showed him. Yeah. So. I think that we can tell why Rick is such a dipshit.

He inherited that from his very stupid father. I, the Rick storyline fell the flattest, I think for me of everything. I think part of that is we have to be honest that we just brought a lot of expectations to it because Gaggins is a shared favorite. We did, undeniably.

Correct. But just in terms of only looking at it inside the vacuum of the season, I thought Chelsea was exceptional. I really loved spending time with her as a character, and I thought Rick was interesting. My favorite Rick moment in this finale is when he seeks out Rita. Like that moment where he's like, I actually know that I need this and I need someone to help pull me out of this. I'm inclined to say, like, my identity. My identity is nothing. Nothing comes from nothing. And that he had a moment still, even after the happy return and the embrace with Chelsea and the hug.

Okay, I'm not going to, like, give up on this yet. That I liked every, all of the actual stuff with Rick and Jim Hollinger was just like a real letdown, though. Yeah. I don't know if they thought, like, we, if they thought we forgot about Star Wars and that that was going to be like a big twist for us at the end of this episode or something like that. I don't know. But, like, yeah, that didn't really land for me. Can we give special shout at to? Jim Hollinger's bodyguards, the worst bodyguards

than the history of HBO? They just wandered away. Terrible. Let's sleep alone. Terrible. How about you stay here and all go look around? Like just they're just leaving them. These fuckers had the nerve to mock

Guy Talk all season, called him a pussy, called him a turkey. They went out sad. Jim Holliger in his own home got pushed down in a chair while they sat outside for a smoke break. Right. And then got gunned down at his own hotel. Really rough.

He got killed. Rick, pretty good shot. Sharp shooter. Yeah. So from what we know from that gunshot scene. Yeah. Rick's shot some people. I believe it.

Yeah. I think there's some things. When he's like, I didn't kill anyone. The underlying thing was like when he goes in this time. Yeah. Yeah. He took him down. He's like, how to go?

Didn't kill anyone this time. I also was unsatisfied with the Rick ending, but I did really like the end shot of his face in the water and however they shot that. Her upside down and him facing up. In a Yang, man. It was good. I thought, I don't know, that worked for me. There was the line like the Chelsea, Chelsea had at the beginning of the season where she said to him,

you know, this is just like you to be like the victim of your own decisions, right? And was kind of like one of the many attempts to coax him forward, indeed, to coax him forward and try to teach him something about himself. And he was very resistant. And then that, of course, is the end point. I think, again, to your note about the cynical nature of the story, not just this season, but across seasons, it's like, well, that's a fucking bummer, right? Like, that we watch this character and we spend all season one. And that's part of the point.

I do think that's very interesting, actually, but we spend all season wondering, can Rick pull himself out of this? Can he embrace this lesson of breaking the karmic cycle that you don't have to be subsumed by the grief of your, like, past? And then he can't. And it's not only at the expense of his own life, it's like the person that he actually does care about but didn't know how to properly love is washed away by that too. Like at the end of the day of all the people in the show who were the person in the tsunami video that Locky showed, like he didn't even try to leave. He just stood there. And that's Rick more than anyone else. Like at the end, when it all came down to it and that wave came crashing in, like he just stood there and let it wash him away.

And that is like really bleak as a message. But it seems to me a bit consistent across White Lotus in terms of like when we think about Armand in season one. Definitely. Definitely. Definitely. Just like a victim of his own actions. And Tanya, you know, poor Tanya. Yeah. But that operatic, the way in which Mike White thought of Tanya is a sort of doomed operatic figure.

Rick is definitely. Rick and Chelsea are definitely like these doomed lover figures at the end of the day. Yeah. We all like to think about White Lotus. Got some feedback from my mom and my wife. Is it about the wine? Is it about the Pinacolados? My mom says, other than the three girlfriends storyline, really hated White Lotus

and especially the finale. That was her review. My wife said, I meant to tell you that I saw this thing on Instagram today where Amy Lou where it was wearing a state gold charm from the poem and the outsiders. And as we know, Johnny dies. Did you know that one? Yeah, that's been going around. There's also a shot of her.

I think it was for the THR photo shoot where they just had Amy Lou like lying on the ground. Everyone's like, well, she dies. And then everyone was like, but other people are like, no, THR would not do a photo shoot of her looking like a dead body if she was the actually one who dies. But yeah, she had the stagull. So many people died. It was a circled pony boy pendant on season. We forgot to mention when Rick comes back and she's with Saxon and she runs over and she's so excited to see Rick, did your heartbreak a little bit for Saxon? It did, didn't it? Deep down. It did. You felt it a little for Saxon. Tears in his eyes.

Tough moment. I know Mal was... I heard mouse sniffling in the behind me. I was sad. I wasn't like... I was actually, I was more than anything I was proud of him. Because he handled it like pretty well. Yeah.

Because I feel like Saxon, episode one, Saxon, would have done something really dushy, you know? And like called her a sled or something. You know what I mean? Like called her something shitty. But he just sort of like took the loss on the chin. I was proud of him. He just needed to be knocked down a couple pegs.

And jerked off by him. As far. Belinda and Greg Gary. Did he be paid? Zion wanted to negotiate. Zion wanted to negotiate was probably the highlight of this episode. What's going to happen to the University of Hawaii. Business, baby?

University of Hawaii MBA applications going way up after this. Yeah, he handled it nicely. We were so proud when they were like, she was like, this isn't enough. We'll get asked for more. And all of us were like, that's what we were saying. Yes. And you were saying a million. Minimum.

And they went five mil. She played it personally with the storming out. Yeah. Yeah. I love the argument of like it's like a percent of what you inherited. That has to be worth it for the piece of mind. Very well argued. We're team Gary.

This is just one percent. But honestly, what but what guarantees does Greg Gary have that they won't come back? None. Are they safe? Who can say? There's honor among thieves. Riding off into the, you know, into the sunrise like final shot there. So I guess it's a happy ending for them.

But again, at the expense of their soul and principles, I mean, not Zion's soul and principles, but Belinda's certainly. Belinda becoming Tanya, right? It's not just, right? Like, I, Belinda, was left to, like, hold my dream broken in my hands because Tanya promised me this thing that then she took away, which is what she just did to porn shy. I want to push back on that a little bit. It's because one good thing happened. No, no, no. Tanya meets Greg. Belinda gets the money and it's like, peace out. I want to push back a little bit. Belinda was never like, let's open a spa together. It's my idea. Let's do it. He floated and she's like, Maybe.

Huh, she was quite distracted. Still a dream. She was working, you know, she was just sort of like, huh, that's interesting. She wasn't like, let's do it. I'll bank for it. It's a different levels. He never printed up a business plan like she did. Like, I definitely agree with you that it was not to that extent.

But still, like, something has happened in my life. The way she keeps saying, like, change in circumstance. Well, that's what happened to Tanya, too, right? She met Greg. She got distracted. Something was bringing her pleasure. And so she didn't care anymore about this other person. But I think she does care.

She's so much more conflicted than Tani was. Tanya just, like, threw Belinda away. And Belinda on the boat is, like, I've given up this beautiful man. Beautiful man. But why not invite him with her then? I know, I don't know. Or, like, have a single conversation with him about. She does say it like, well, maybe, you know, maybe in the future.

But here's what I'll say about Belinda. Linda's like, I want to leave and not be near. And I would say, Greg Gary take notes. Belinda's like, I want to be hard to find. And Greg Gary's like, I barely changed my name. I'm at another one. I'm at another one. Yes.

Exactly. Exactly. So we'll just like, let's get lost. And in a few months, I will send a message to porn try to come join us. I like that. Maybe they will be the connective tissue in season four. Maybe they will be running a spa wherever the next season is set. That would be nice.

No, don't be anywhere near a white lotus. Stay safe. 14,000 a night for Greg Garry's place. Right. It ranges. That was falling around this week. Yeah. Looked a little further into the listing.

It did look like there were some nights of the year where I was in the last. the 5,000 range per night. You get a few friends? Like, during monsoon season? Possibly. Okay, great. It sounds great. It sounds great.

Let's go. I floated that we should have recorded this podcast from there, and you were like, no. It was taking like 27 hours to get there. I liked, can I just be rich for five fucking minutes? It's funny. Anyway, Belinda, now she's rich. And Belinda said earlier the season, she can, like, can one fucking thing go my way? So you know what?

Yeah. I'm sad for her that she morally compromised herself. Same. But I'm glad for her that she got her bag. Also same. So that disson and. is kind of the point of the show, which I enjoy. I really do.

We end with the families on the, the Ratliff family's on the boat. Yeah, yeah. Vicky gets the phones. Doesn't seem like they have any idea there was a shootout, and apparently Lockett didn't have to go to the hospital, and let's go back and, hey, there's going to be some stuff that happens, drops of water bouncing the ocean. The ratlifts are done.

The three fancies are a little shaking on the boat. Bill, would you like to share with the audience of what you shouted at Tim Ratliff when he was looking at the ocean on the side of the book? Yeah. I thought it was our last chance for. to have him kill himself. Were you proud of him at all? Then after all of that, he was like, fam, things are about to change.

I thought he was a terrible character. Just a heads up. We saw Greg Gary having a cocktail with a horny look on his face as Chloe, yet another transactional person in season three. Scouting a new guy who saw the Russians party. We saw Frank Prang. Saw Guy Talk hugging MOOC. Yep.

And then driving Sita. And then Belinda waving as the new Tanya. And that was season three. MVP of season three, Joanna. Who do you have? Oh, man. Parker Posey. Patrick Schwarzenegger.

Genuinely. I thought he was the breakout star in the season. Can I do like a top three? Yeah. Do gold, gold, silver bronze. Parker Posey, but then in terms of like stock on the rise, Parker Posey cementing what we always knew that she was great at, right? Yeah.

For a new generation, it's discovering Parker Posey and all the things that she can do. Yeah? Yeah. Patrick Schwarzenegger and Amy Lou Wood as like breakout stars. No question. Yeah, definitely. What about you? You have another candidate?

Chelsea won. Oh, wait. Sam Rockwell, obviously. Oh, does he count? Yeah. I mean, it's got his Oscar. I don't know. Like, he didn't, you know what I mean?

I think it's almost four. It's almost four. It's Amelieu, Schwarzenegger, Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, and then Rockwell is the wildcard. I thought those were the five that came out the best. I wish we had had more time with Zion because. Sam. He's really good. His character's terrible to.

I'm really interested in this guy. Great bits in this episode. Maybe he's season four. I would love that for him. All right. Rank the seasons. Oh, easy for me. I think a lot of people, okay, I will just say for me, it goes number one is the best, number two is number two and number three is number three.

I think a lot of people like number two better, but I think number one just because it came out of nowhere and just really blew me away. It's always going to be my favorite. Two is my favorite. I go two one three. Two one three. That's my order as well. I think that's like, yeah, more broadly true. But here's the thing, because people are probably critical and there's, we're used to the show now.

We used to the theme. There's a dead body. So we're in the nitpick backlash. This is it. This is the area. True. I still loved hanging out with the show. Oh, I had a lot of nipicks.

I had a lot of nipics. I thought there was some stuff. I was surprised they did. But I enjoyed every episode. I was riveted tonight. And I'm sad. It's gone. If you could pick one character to carry over into season four,

who are you picking? Saxon. Saxon. Okay. Saxon goes skiing? I want cold on a since you guys know. Where are we going? It's time to do a cold weather season.

Okay. It is. I really hope it's a ski lodge. A newly enlightened Saxon is still going to the White Lotus. Yes. And at ski lodges, as I understand, having never been to one, they have a lot of fireplaces and he can sit there by the fireplace and read his books as he continues on his journey of enlightenment.

Well, so we went to Hawaii, Thailand, Italy. That makes me think it's like Australia somewhere that way for season four. I think they're looking for cold lotus. Are they not? Or have you heard something. I have not heard anything. No, I haven't heard anything. I don't think they know.

I thought I read that they like pitched, they were thinking of doing Norway and then decided not to, but that they're maybe on the lookout for cold lotus. Fjords. Yeah, Fjords, baby. Interesting. Love it. Sweden?

Those crazy Swedes. Spotify? Now, can we just make a pledge and a pact right here that if it is in fact set in Sweden, we will actually do something on location, because that is also the home of our parent company. It sounds great. Maybe it's something. Was that a yes?

Was that a yes? No, do the Rick answer. That's the plan. That's the plan. Sounds good. I want to make a drink. We'll see. Maybe the stock market plays into season four.

The collapse of a world economy. Yeah. Maybe it's just. Isn't this a perfect time to talk about White Lotus? In Oklahoma City. Yeah. Grim. Tough.

My final grade is A-minus. It was incredibly fun every week to watch. A-m-m-2-A-m-plus at the bottom, but I think probably A-minus. I don't think the show can have a basement that's lower than an A-minus. It's just too well-done and it's too well-acted. And it's just, it's always fun when we're all watching this show together, you know, in the broader culture for the memes, for everything else. I mean, the Duke guy yesterday, the Duke T-shirt meme when Duke fell back.

part that just flooded the internet. Even Joanna probably knew about it. I did. I did see it. I did see it. Final four area yesterday, right? Thanks. Thank you. So my biggest nitpics about the season overall, how they put it together. I just didn't think that Tim Ratliff, I thought it was like seven scenes too many and too grim.

And I felt like they could have bounced around with it a little more versus like just put them in a catatonic funk for. I think it's a six episode season. Yeah, I'm going to, I agree. I'm going to walk back my midseason like, oh, because I do think, The middle of season was just incredible. And episode five and six in particular, which was like, you know, the day night split, which we got twice. I'm like, I looked into your eyes and I said, give us a 14 episode, white lettuce season.

And you said, we're different. I think that like this is where I'm a glutton. I want more. It was so fun to get the day night split. But like, this is where the distinction between a two-month real world experience of consuming something and the premise of one week of these characters' lives are actually. not compatible at a certain point if it's stretched over too many episodes. It's like how much can happen to you in just a few days? So I'm back into like six or seven episodes is the sweet spot.

Welcome. And what a six or seven episodes it will be with Saxon Ratliff on the Alps. In the Alps, okay. Yeah, wait. So that's your dream scenario. I like actually am not prepared to cope with a life where I don't know what happened to him. Like seriously. You've been printed on Saxon.

Yeah, I love him. answer to you want Saxon in season four? Well, we can't get Chelsea. I sure can't. Thanks for the reminder. Sure can't. That was fucking sad. Deeply sad. And like a real

tough, I don't know. I'm glad that I have one more podcast episode to think about and record about this episode. The Chelsea of it all. And just sort of that kind of story, what that means for a character like Chelsea and you know what sometimes you have bad-tasted men that's it I mean she picked

the wrong dude here's here's here's where I will say I was wrong to be rooting for Rick and Chelsea this whole time I was really rooting for them and you were like Chelsea can do better Chelsea should have dumped but they dropped a lot of breadcrumbs that Rick was a fucking loser and he was headed toward the wrong place I had Goggins goggles on yeah I mean if only talk about a drop ball that we didn't come to the finale with Goggins goggles on yeah the number of times the Chelsea he talked about her bad feeling and how worried she was and these things come in threes. Yeah. All right.

That's it for our little White Lotus season three. I'll miss it. Same. It was a blast. This is my last night in L.A. So we know that Mike White had some big interview talking about. We got some intel. He's going, what was your intel?

That there's an interview coming. We want to say who, but we'll have a lot of insight. Yeah. Okay. Fair. come. And then you will have a deep dive episode with Rob on Prestige TV coming up. And when do we move into Last of Us range, which will be happening on House of Bar and not on prestige? Premiers next Sunday night, one week from tonight. So you're going to have Monday? Yeah, House of our Deep Dives on Mondays. The Midnight

Boys will have their instant reaction on Mondays. Buttonmash is going to be doing a gamers guide episode in the middle of the week. Joe and Rob are going to be checking in on prestige. I assume Chris and and Andy will be partaking on the watch. It's a full, it's a full, it's a full, it's a full, Mushroom zombie apocalypse. Everyone but me. It's not too late. It's not too late for you, Bill. I don't remember which episode I just stopped watching, but it just got too bleak for me.

I watched like five. I don't really like the apocalypse. Episode five was great. Is that your hottest take of the night? I don't like the apocalypse. Well, we're going to find out this week when we have the financial apocalypse of the United States of America. You're in a real Tim Ratliff's space right now. Listen, one of my rules in life is when Jeff Chow is scared, I get scared.

Yeah, fair. Anyway, good luck to America. Wow. Thanks to the crew. Thank you. Best team there is. They showed up on a Sunday night to help us out and had a good time watching it. It was a true pleasure to do this with the two of you for eight weeks.

Oh, yeah, right. January last. All right. Maybe there would be another show down the road for us. Maybe. All right. Thanks for watching.