Predictions for “The White Lotus”

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As the new season of HBO’s hit series “The White Lotus” approaches its final episode, viewers are reacting in scattered ways. Expectations are high for the dark comedy-drama anthology series created by Mike White. The show is well-known for its initial flashes of a shocking unknown death, the lead-up to which unfolds in unexpected ways as the season progresses. 

Brook Henkel, professor of Digital Media and Film at St. Lawrence University, likes the series’ usage of flashbacks to induce the complex mystery. “I enjoy the series and appreciate the flashback structure, which turns us into suspicious and investigative viewers as we dissect the various characters’ behavior and motivations,” he said. “It’s a well-worn cinematic trope with a long history, but this particular use of flashback works well in ‘The White Lotus’ to heighten our interest in the large cast of eccentric characters.” 

Ally Dettor ’26 has a different view. Her prediction of the triggerman in the flash-forward is that it might not even be a man; she thinks a monkey could grab the gun and trigger a wild accident. “I think it’s very well likely that somehow this shooting is an accident somehow. There’s never deliberate deletions in this show,” she said. As a much darker outcome, Dettor believes indebted and prison-bound father Tim, played by Jason Isaacs, could hit his breaking point at any moment and that anything could set him off. “I think somehow Tim could accidentally shoot his family or panic when someone finds him exuding suicidal behavior and shoot them,” she said. 

Casper Leonard ’26 thinks Tim’s Valium-popping wife Victoria, played by Parker Posey, won’t be spared from a dramatic meltdown from her family’s issues either. “Victoria and Tim’s crash outs are going to reveal key details about their childhoods: specifically, Tim is going to regress back to a young child in which he is disoriented and confused as to where he is; during this state, he will reveal the secrets he has been hiding.” 

Tim seems to be in the hot seat, already setting off viewer alarm bells. Jason Parker, a long-time viewer of the show, thinks there must be more to the brief interaction between Tim and fellow resort patron Rick, played by Walton Goggins. The two briefly get in a verbal spat as their first interaction for no apparent reason. He predicts this could foreshadow a potential business or personal connection between them that has flown under the radar but seemed too specific to include as an irrelevant beef. 

As Dettor mentioned, though, the show tends to present an obvious problem and resolution as a red herring before veering in another direction. All of Tim’s red flags culminate in him stealing security’s gun and bungling a suicide attempt. With the reversal that his attempt did not come to fruition, audiences are guessing that the theory of Tim committing suicide or otherwise harming someone else with the gun and succeeding is less likely. 

Maddie Dolge ’25 thinks Rick could be the one to go. “I don’t know his name, but the older guy with the stunning younger girlfriend is gonna die,” she said. Speaking of stunning younger girlfriend Chelsea, played by Aimee Lou-Wood, has many fans hoping she sticks it out to the end. 

There’s hopefully no reason karma should seek her out, similar to the returning character Belinda, played by Natasha Rothwell. She is a comical audience surrogate this season and the only one aware of “Greg,” played by Jon Gries, and his presence at the resort in Thailand to skirt being investigated for the murder of Tanya the previous season. 

About Belinda, Dettor said, “She is a baddie, the only one with a conscience. The others are in Lalaland. It was so smart to bring her back – unexpected but so smart.” With these characters being the few with any semblance of sense or empathy, fans would be disappointed to see them go over the many, many characters this season who have it coming. 

The wild theories about where the show is headed speak to Mike White’s ability to create a complex web of character motivations, grievances and horrible secrets. Every season leads to more and more bewildered speculation as to how dark White’s writing is willing to progress. The show’s constant unexpected turns will only get more extreme as “The White Lotus” approaches its finale, so the conversations surrounding the show’s characters, themes and content are far from over. “The White Lotus” continues to air on HBO Sunday evenings.