‘The White Lotus’ Gone Wild!

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⚠️ Caution: This content unveils secrets from the fifth episode of Season 3 of “The White Lotus,” currently available on Max. Proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers!

The trio of Laurie, Jaclyn, and Kate find themselves in a bit of chaos during the most recent installment of “The White Lotus.

After leaving the resort in Thailand and going out for a night of drinking and dancing at a club with a group of Russian guys — their dedicated wellness instructor, Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius), and accompanied by his two friends — Laurie unexpectedly finds herself having a blast. She goes all out with the trio of Russians, at one point even taking her top off in a pool back at the hotel. There’s notably a different energy to Laurie after being the odd-woman-out throughout the season.

Coon advises EbMaster that she should dance freely, as she’s intoxicated. Being drunk can affect a person’s inhibitions, which in turn influences their decisions later on.

Here is an even simpler version:
Coon suggests that the woman should dance without holding back because she’s drunk. Drunkenness can impact one’s inhibitions, and these decisions made under the influence can have consequences later.

Up until this point, the show has been slowly building steam and stewing in ambiguity, as viewers have waited to see how the storylines will eventually converge. But this episode is when everything begins to explode for “The White Lotus,” with the three women — and separately, partying siblings Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola) — going all out.

Monaghan instilled in Jaclyn an unrestrained feeling in her actions. She describes Jaclyn as being “completely at ease.” I often thought of Jaclyn as my spirit animal, and she’s akin to a butterfly – vibrant, vivid, and always making an impression. However, there’s something about her that understands the fleeting nature of life.

Coon recalls how “The White Lotus” creator Mike White was able to show each of the women how their character would dance on the spot, and “was really tuned into how everybody would show up in the moment.”

“Often as women in this industry, you’re just sitting around on a couch talking about a man,” Coon says. “To be able to use our bodies in that way was really thrilling. Leslie does physical comedy, Michelle does action movies. All three of us recognize the lack of interest in the industry, and how much fun it was to be fully expressed in that way.”

Kate — who in a previous episode revealed herself to be a church-going Trump voter — isn’t quite feeling it this episode, though, and assumes the role of sober-ish caretaker. When Laurie and Jaclyn invite the men back to the villa, Kate says: “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

Bibb stated that it seemed to him the trio’s return sparked jealousy within them. It was as if she became overprotective, similar to a mother bear guarding her cubs when everyone reached their limit.

While the ladies let loose in this episode, that doesn’t mean their competitiveness from previous episodes doesn’t find its way into their drunk interactions. When two of the Russian men talk about ballet training, Jaclyn singles Kate out as the only person who’s not a trained dancer. After they all dance together, Valentin then singles Laurie out as a “sexy dancer” over Jaclyn — a huge moment for her confidence.

In another instance, Coon points out a situation where two friends seem to bond over something that appears to exclude the third party. It’s clear that Jaclyn can’t help but feel slighted by Laurie’s role as a dancer, a feeling intensified because there seems to be no mention of Jaclyn in a similar light. Perhaps we underestimate Jaclyn’s sex appeal simply because she’s a well-known television personality.

Jaclyn’s social capital as the famous person in the group — and the one paying for the whole trip — also comes into play within this dynamic. By comparison, Coon sees Laurie as someone who doesn’t want to admit the loss of her own economic and social power.

“Her marriage is falling apart, she’s struggling with her teenage daughter, she didn’t get a promotion at work, and to admit that to her friends, who are outwardly very successful, would be a huge blow to her ego,” Coon says. “Owning it and asking for support would actually be the healthiest path through this vacation, and none of the women choose it. They’re reactive, and dealing with these dynamics as they pop up from their point of view.”

This episode contains several standout scenes that were frequently ad-libbed during the two-day filming, such as the dance sequences and the heated exchanges between the men and familiar women at the club, who angrily spoke to them in Russian.

“I can’t say that we prepped in any way,” Monaghan says. “You don’t really rehearse with Mike White. He throws things out on the day, and he trusts the casting process so much that once the characters start to come alive, he really allows us to swing for the hills.”

When Laurie says goodnight to the Russian men, she sticks her fists out like a boxer. Details like these allowed Coon to play into Laurie being the goofiest of the three, which she thinks makes her friends look down on her even more.

“She’s not quite ‘Keeping Up With the Joneses,’” Coon says. “She needed this vacation, but was not necessarily prepared for it — and maybe wasn’t even in a financial position to be doing it. She just really needed to get away from her life, just with haplessly packed luggage and a bad nail color.”

Throughout the series, Jaclyn and Kate have been encouraging Laurie to start dating and she shows a growing interest in Valentin, dancing with him and flirting during one episode. Jaclyn openly talks about her own content marriage and fulfilling life, so the idea of her pursuing Valentin never crosses Laurie’s mind. However, an unexpected twist at the end of Episode 5 reveals that Jaclyn slept with Valentin while everyone else was asleep, leaving Laurie blindsided.

“It could have been a very positive turning point in the vacation for them,” Coon says. “It is a reclamation of their youth, it is fun and sexy. And it feels like the vacation they all wanted. Instead, we have what is perceived in Laurie’s eyes as a betrayal. It’s also a reinforcement of patterns of behavior and a question of when we return to friend groups from our youth: Do we just default to our position? Or are we able to re-assert ourselves?”

Despite the betrayal, Monaghan doesn’t view Jaclyn as ill-intentioned in the moment.

Monaghan explains, “She doesn’t view it as disloyalty towards women. Instead, it’s an indiscretion in her mind. I believe she simply gives up and chooses to enjoy herself. And I think this is something she’ll likely be eager to share with the girls about the following day.

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2025-03-17 05:19