Here’s Why ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Did This Iconic Character So Dirty
How have you been since the White Lotus finale?
Did you call your whitest friend and tell her that she’s your soulmate? Did you make the sound of Fabian shrieking and falling into the water your ringtone? Did you text that one friend who drinks too many protein shakes and say, “I told you so?” Say what you want about the season — and I’m about to — but the finale gave us the narrative momentum we’ve been craving. It only took eight episodes. However, it has also resurrected an old Tanya storyline in the most White Lotus way possible.
(Spoilers ahead.)
To understand why the show does what it does to Tanya, it’s first important to understand how cynical this Season 3 finale is. Let’s start with Piper. After an entire season of performative moralizing, Piper breaks down in a hilariously honest burst of self-awareness, admitting that she can’t live like a poor. This whole time, she’s just been rebelling against her parents, albeit under the guise of an extremely expensive first-class vacation to Thailand. You know, like all of us did in college!
Then there’s Rick. Though he appears to head towards a state of spiritual enlightenment and personal bliss in his final moments, he quickly reverts to his former toxic self at the mere sight of his sworn enemy, Jim. But he also takes down the delightful Chelsea, the season’s closest thing to an Innocent, fulfilling her prophecy of bad things coming in threes. (Three people die in the finale.) He also proves her right about their Amor Fati. These two were always end game.
Then there’s Belinda. In the span of a day, she gleefully sheds her entire moral framework to join a class that she has viewed with disdain her entire life. One! Day! All it took was money. First, by taking the evil Greg/Gary’s blood money instead of sending karma his way and calling the cops, she denies viewers the chance to see Tanya avenged. On top of that, she becomes Tanya by immediately distancing herself from Pornchai, whom she actually liked, presumably because she doesn’t want him near her money. But unlike Tanya, who did something extremely similar to Belinda in Season 1, Belinda doesn’t leave Pornchai a wad of cash as an apology for reneging on their business dreams. She just immediately goes full selfish rich person and says goodbye forever. In the same stroke, the old Tanya storyline is both resurrected and then surpassed in callousness.
Some viewers on Twitter and TikTok have congratulated Belinda on getting that bag instead of expressing horror at her instantaneous moral turn. This not only makes me just as cynical about humankind as Mike White, but also misses the thesis at the core of this finale. People rarely change, money corrupts, and rich people get what they want. This thesis has been present on The White Lotus since Season 1, Episode 1, and will continue to appear on the show for as long as creator Mike White has a bone to pick (so, forever). That’s why Belinda’s turn fits so well into the season and series as a whole.
On that same note, this is not the kind of show to smite an obvious villain with a satisfyingly karmic conclusion, so we shouldn’t have ever expected “justice for Tanya.” In fact, we can almost forgive the show for having done Tanya dirty by keeping Greg/Gary alive. We should probably just be happy that Tanya now spiritually lives on in Belinda, even if it’s in a most dispiriting way.
Ultimately, there are many aspects of Season 3 that didn’t hit well with fans. The white ladies were never integrated into the plot, even though that Carrie Coon monologue is undeniably iconic. The subplot about Fabian becoming a pop star went nowhere. The growing menace of the Russians fizzled out halfway through the season. The Mook and Gaitok storyline dragged on only to culminate in a largely telegraphed burst of character development (Gaitok releasing the beast inside and shooting Rick). Worst of all, the monkeys never slapped anybody! Footage of angry monkeys is to Season 3 as shots of exploding volcanoes is to Season 2. They were a metaphor all along.
All that being said, any White Lotus fan can appreciate the finale’s thesis and the ways in which it materialized — Piper’s renunciation of Buddhism; Rick’s rejection of inner peace; Belinda’s cheerful induction into capitalism. Plus, Season 3’s many highlights have maintained enough goodwill to keep us all firmly subscribed to the White Lotus membership program. And though Tanya may not have been avenged, there’s always Season 4. Gary has already appeared in three consecutive seasons. Perhaps Season 4 will be his last, if you know what I mean. Wink!
