‘White Lotus’ Greg: Jon Gries on who could be the killer in Thailand
“The White Lotus” star Jon Gries, or Gary/Greg, discusses who could be the killer in Season 3 of the hit HBO series.
Warning: “White Lotus” Episode 5 spoilers ahead.
HBO’s “The White Lotus” had already lit the fuse on the Thailand Full Moon party celebration. In Sunday’s episode, those bacchanal fireworks explode.
The raving even brings an alcohol-fueled détente to the escalating Cold War between reunited forever friends – corporate lawyer Laurie (Carrie Coon), Trump-supporting Austin socialite Kate (Leslie Bibb) and TV actress Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan). After a series of life-jarring moments and resurfaced personal friction, the trio hits a nightclub with their hunky White Lotus resort wellness guru Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius), who brings along his Russian childhood friends Vlad (Yuri Kolokolnikov) and Aleksei (Julian Kostov).
The frequent flirting between the women and the younger abs-and-tattoo-baring Russian men attract the attention (and eventual ire) of Aleksei’s Russian girlfriend, who parts the dance floor as she strides over for a confrontation.
Coon tells USA TODAY she had no idea what was being said in the ensuing, improvised lovers’ quarrel (the scene has no subtitles). But the Russian-speaking nightclub background actors lapped up Aleksei’s Slavic shellacking.
“The extras were mostly Russian. And when they called ‘cut’ on that scene, all the extras cheered,” Coon says. “I didn’t know what she was saying, but they all thought it was a hoot. Nobody cheered for any of us in that club, and we worked there all night long.”
Meanwhile on ‘White Lotus,’ Ratliff brother incest is real
Your uneasy feeling about Saxon Ratliff (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and brother Lachlan (Sam Nivola) is legit. Fueled by booze and drugs, the brothers consummate their unhealthy mutual admiration relationship with a kiss at the playful urging of their (also kissing) Full Moon Party yacht friends Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood). Saxon’s confused expression after the kiss is just the beginning. His eventual realization about the depths of this fraternal interaction will have future repercussions.
“It’s a moment that’s shattering about who he thought he was and what he stood for and what he thought masculinity was,” Schwarzenegger tells USA TODAY. “Everything he stood for is now not who he is.”
What causes the nightclub argument in ‘The White Lotus’?
Jaclyn is the spark for the raucous evening, In last week’s episode, Valentin started a spiral by directing the beautiful actress to a pool bar filled with seniors. “A bargain hotel for retirees. Why would he send us there?” Jacyln fumed. Fueled by this unwelcome look at regular-people aging, Jacyln won’t allow the same mistake again at the nightclub. She demands that Valentin come along and bring his friends.
“White Lotus” creator and executive producer Mike White had very specific thoughts about how each of the three women should move around the dance floor to express their distinctive personality, and demonstrated. “We asked Mike how the different characters danced, and he channeled each one,” Coon says.
Laurie is boisterous fun, while Jaclyn overtly vamps it up with the guys as if she’s flexing her powers in front of the club’s younger female attendees. The drinking, dancing and shots lead to the Russian-language argument and Laurie’s suggestion (powerfully seconded by Jaclyn) that the six reconvene at their White Lotus resort villa pool.
The suits come off at the ‘White Lotus’ pool party
The drunken group takes the party to the next level back at the resort’s pool. Everyone but pajama-wearing Kate goes swimming, and bathing suits are ejected all around. Coon says that the revealing scenes for Kolokolnikov (best known as the cannibal warrior Styr on “Game of Thrones”) are all the more impressive, considering it was the Russian actor’s first scenes. His Vlad whips off his suit and gyrates comically before diving into the pool.
“First day of filming, and he had to just jump nude into the pool,” Coon says. “They were all amazing, so game. They really brought a lot of energy to that evening.”
Jaclyn enters the pool like a goddess in a leopard print bathing suit, adored by the three splashing male admirers.
Jaclyn shockingly trysts with Valentin, and that’s a problem
For several episodes, the married Jaclyn has prodded the single Laurie to hook up with Valentin. And at the nightclub, Laurie warms up to the idea as she and Valentin dance at his request. After the pool frolic, Laurie seems to encourage a furthering of relations by moving close to Valentin, but he subtly pulls away.
It’s not a big deal, until it’s clear that Valentin has other late plans. He’s been clandestinely invited to Jacyln’s private villa, where he shows up for a discreet tryst. It will be a toxic friend event when it’s discovered and discussed by the straight-shooting Laurie.
“You can also use your honesty as a weapon,” says Coon. “Especially if it comes out of a wounded ego.”
“The White Lotus” airs Sundays (9 ET/PT) on HBO and streams on Max.
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