Warning: This post contains spoilers for the first episode of The White Lotus Season 3.
Well, here it is. A mere two episodes into the third season of The White Lotus, we get Chekhov’s gun. The season began, as all seasons of the HBO series do, with a flash-forward to a death that will hang over the entire season. This time around, we hear a flurry of gunshots echoing from offscreen and see an unidentified body floating in the water. We don’t know who is dead, but that hasn’t stopped fans from guessing.
In Episode 2, we get our first look at a gun (though perhaps not the gun). This one is brandished by a masked robber holding up the luxury hotel’s store. The Russian “health mentor” Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius) stops his motorcycle just under the barrier arm that prevents cars from driving in and out of the White Lotus and starts chatting up security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong). While they’re talking, a car containing at least two people barrels through the entrance. Gaitok makes a halfhearted attempt to get them to stop, but Valentin distracts him.
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A man in a mask, sunglasses, and hood emerges from the car, and walks through the lobby to the hotel shop. He then holds up his gun, threatening Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and the sales associate. Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) is in the changing room during the entire incident. The robber smashes various display cases and loads jewelry into his backpack before running back to the car.
The car is forced to stop at the barrier arm again, and when the masked man tries to lift it, Gaitok runs out to stop him. A second person emerges from the car, but the audience doesn’t get a look at that person’s face. It’s unclear if Gaitok sees the mystery driver. The original masked assailant hits Gaitok on the head with the gun and runs back to the car. The vehicle peels off.
Gaitok later overhears Timothy (Jason Isaacs) having a heated conversation with an old colleague about whether he’s been implicated in some sort of money laundering and bribery scheme. The camera lingers on Gaitok’s reaction. Does he think Timothy is talking about the robbery? Or is he taking in a piece of juicy information that could come in handy later on?
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And, for that matter, will this gun turn out to be the same gun that turns up later this season? Perhaps. But on The White Lotus expect the unexpected. Mike White loathes a straightforward plot—and there’s no more obvious trope than Chekhov’s gun. So let’s wildly speculate about what exactly is going on in that robbery scene and who is involved based on tiny clues in the episode.
Theory 1: Valentin is involved with the robbery
Valentin seems to be the most obvious accomplice to this robbery. When he is exiting the White Lotus hotel he stops his motorcycle just under the barrier arm next to Gaitok’s security station, allowing a car to slip through. When the car does zoom past and Gaitok looks concerned, Valentin immediately diverts Gaitok’s attention by offering him tickets to an upcoming fight. The timing is all too convenient.
This would not be the first inside job (attempted) robbery at a White Lotus property. Remember when Paula encouraged Hawaiian native Kai to try to steal jewelry from the Mossbacher family’s room in Season 1? Maybe Valentin or another hotel employee tipped off the robbers about how to access the store at this hotel.
Theory 2: Chloe is involved with the robbery
Chloe conveniently disappears into the changing room for the entire robbery, almost as if she knew it was coming. She is dating Greg/Gary (Jon Gries), a liar who almost certainly plotted to have his wife killed so he could inherit her many millions. And later, at dinner with Chelsea, Rick (Walton Goggins), and Greg/Gary, Chloe is way too fast to shoot down Chelsea’s assertion that she could have died. She sort of rolls her eyes and says, “No you didn’t” when Chelsea makes this assertion. Not to be dramatic, but, yeah, she could have! Unless, of course, Chloe knew that Chelsea was in no real danger.
Now, is Gary/Greg in cahoots with Chloe? Probably. They are being extremely vague about how they met, which Rick points out to Chelsea later.For all of Rick’s shortcomings—and in just two episodes, we’ve seen him be moody, dismissive, and downright rude—he seems like the type of scammer who can spot another one a mile away. We already know Gary/Greg is shady, so it’s not crazy to think that Chloe could have met him in criminal circles.
And while Gary/Greg presumably did inherit Tanya McQuoid’s (Jennifer Coolidge) money after she died falling off that boat, it’s also possible that the police are investigating him for ties to her death. After all, Tanya’s assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) could have gone to the police and encouraged them to look at her boss’ scheming husband—if she had the guts to do so.
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Theory 3: Rick is involved with the robbery
Rick was also way too quick to dismiss the possibility that Chelsea could have died. But we can theoretically chock that up to his general grumpy and dismissive demeanor. There was also something a bit performative about the way he hugged Chelsea after the incident—though perhaps that’s the first genuine emotion we’ve seen from Rick.
Ultimately, I think Rick has bigger scheme in mind: Hunting down the hotel owner, Khun Jim Hollinger. He seems deeply interested in this man’s whereabouts and tells Chelsea he is going to take a sojourn to Bangkok for a night or two where Jim is living.
Bonus theory: The robber threw the gun into the forest, and it will be picked up by a monkey
Okay, hear me out.
The deaths on White Lotus tends to be random and accidental. Bratty newlywed Shane (Jake Lacey) unintentionally stabs hotel manager Armond (Murray Bartlett) after Armond sneaks into Shane’s room to poop in his suitcase. Tanya survives an attempted murder on a yacht (“These gays are trying to kill me!”) only to hit her head and die falling off the boat.
A theory has been floating around the Internet that a monkey gets ahold of a gun and randomly starts shooting it at the end of this season. It’s actually not an insane notion. The hotel workers keep warning guests about the monkeys—not to mention the poisonous fruit—and the episodes have been filled with ominous shots of primate statues.
How would a monkey get its hands on a gun? Maybe the firearm was abandoned while the assailants were driving out of the White Lotus property. This entire robbery could be included in the episode just to get the weapon in the hands of a forest creature. Far-fetched? Perhaps. But can you think of a more Mike White way to kill off a character?
