‘The White Lotus’ star reveals why her storyline can be triggering
“The White Lotus” star Michelle Monaghan talks to Ralphie Aversa about how the female friendship story line is so relatable and toxic.
Spoiler alert: This story includes plot details from Episode 6 of HBO’s “The White Lotus.”
All the wild parties must come to an end after last week’s episode of HBO comedy “The White Lotus.” But the unhappy ending is especially head-pounding for Saxon Ratliff (Patrick Schwarzenegger).
Saxon has to deal with the after-effects of copious alcohol and a rare foray into drugs (so much for his mantra, “Saxon doesn’t do drugs, Saxon is the drug!”). And this is world-class hangover acting by the wobbly, squinting Schwarzenegger, aided by blurry camera work from writer-director Mike White.
Saxon also comes to the horrifyingly clear realization in Full Moon party flashbacks that the incest kiss with brother Lochlan (Sam Nivola) on the yacht went much further than viewers saw last week. After waking up naked next to similarly unclothed Lochlan, Saxon’s growing fear is confirmed in the worst possible way — by his beautiful party mates Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), who encouraged the initial kiss.
Sitting by the hotel pool, as Chelsea bites into an apple, Saxon insists it was the women who forced the brotherly kiss. But Chloe informs Saxon that, as he feared, that brother Lochlan brought him to a climax during the yacht night of debauchery.
“That never happened,” Saxon stammers. “What? I don’t remember. I blacked out.”
But his world is rocked. Not only did this unthinkable act occur with his brother, but these women are laughing at him. Schwarzenegger says Saxon is “totally lost” by the evening’s events. “Everything he stood for is now not who he is.” And it’s great comedy, right down to Saxon’s furious over-spraying of mosquito repellent.
Lochlan, too, takes the blackout excuse immediately, telling his brother that morning, “I cannot remember last night at all.” But when the memory floods back during meditation, the Buddhist monk says of unwelcome thoughts: “Gently let them go. Goodbye!”
Saxon shoots up the rankings for most likely to be part of ‘White Lotus’ finale violence
The pain compounds for Saxon, who can’t understand why Chelsea won’t have sex with him. The sweetest woman ever tells him, “You’re soulless. Sad.” Whatever soul Saxon does have hits him there.
The bad morning capper: Chloe informs Saxon that her wealthy, nefarious boyfriend Gary (or Greg, as actor Jon Gries is known in previous seasons of “White Lotus”) knows what went down on his yacht. She hooked up with both brothers, and Gary now wants to have dinner with Saxon and the family.
“Bring them over tonight,” Gary tells Chloe. “I need to deal with something. I need your help.”
Chloe knows he’s dangerous. “Gary is going to dump me, or worse,” she frets privately to Chelsea. Still, she makes the invite (“He doesn’t seem that mad”), and somehow Saxon invites his troubled family.
Who else is headed for trouble in ‘White Lotus’?
It’s going to be an eventful evening in next week’s seventh episode (Sunday, 9 ET/PT, and streaming on Max). Gary invites visiting White Lotus Maui spa manager Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), who has ID’d him as the husband of the suspiciously dead heiress Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge).
Resort general manager Fabian (Christian Friedel) has also invited Belinda to watch as he sings for the resort guests, a first-time event he’s extremely nervous about.
The series’ childhood best friends are officially fighting after actress Jaclyn’s (Michelle Monaghan) secret tryst with their Russian spa guru Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius) is exposed by the hurt Laurie (Carrie Coon). Yet the trio, including Kate (Leslie Bibb), still plan to attend a Muay Thai match with Valentin and his Russian friends, the trio who may be behind the jewelry-store robbery in Episode 2.
Earnest security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) proves a dead-eye whiz with the newly retrieved gun at the shooting range. His boss asks him, “But do you have the killer instinct?” Not the kind of thoughts Gaitok wants for his first date with his beautiful resort co-worker, Mook (Lalisa Manoban).
Piper Ratliff (Sarah Catherine Hook) plans to spend the night at the Buddhist monastery to see if she can handle living there for a year. Brother Lochlan agrees to stay with her. Don’t rule these two out of trouble, despite their tranquil surroundings.
And, of course, there’s Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins), who’s finally getting his revenge meeting with Jim (Scott Glenn), the rich, powerful man he believes killed his father. Rick has promised Frank (Sam Rockwell), his ex-criminal in arms, that he won’t even bring the gun his local friend procured. But before they step out on the dock of the Bangkok mansion, Rick checks to make sure the gun is in his pocket before filing past suspicious bodyguards.
And what’s in Jim’s hand as he’s seen descending the stairways? It looks like a knife.
As Frank says after looking at Rick with the gun, “Here we go.”
