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Spoilers follow forThe White Lotusseason-three finale, Amor Fati.
The pinnacle ofThe White Lotuss third season could have been Lauries monologue.
My garden is in bloom, Kate says.
Ive just been on cloud nine all week, Jaclyn responds.
But Laurie feels differently.
All week Ive just been so … sad, Laurie says when they turn to her.
Work was my religion for forever, but I definitely lost my belief there, she says.
She tried love, but that didnt help.
She tried being a mother, and that didnt save her either.
But shes had an epiphany.
I dont need religion or God to give my life meaning, because time gives it meaning.
We started this life together, Laurie says, and I look at you guys and it feels meaningful.
What is TV, after all, except meaning accrued slowly over time spent together?
Their time on earth is more valuable than whatever creature comforts Victoria insists she cannot live without.
Hes furious that wealthy hotelier Jim Hollinger stole his childhood time with his father.
He murders Hollinger in revenge, only to learn Hollinger was his father all along.
As a sketchy outline, it makes sense.
In practice, all three story lines are marred by missed opportunities and miscalculations.
Briefly the most fascinating character of the season, Saxon gets almost nothing to do in the finale.
What does he now think and want and feel followingthat fateful hand job?
What will Victoria do without her little luxuries?
Will Lochlan be able to go to Chapel Hill or Duke, now that the familys finances are destroyed?
In the opening scene of the episode, the monk warns that there is no such thing as resolution.
All of this is excusable to some degree, especially given how well these characters are written.
Think of Tanya scattering her moms ashes, or Harper watching Daphne explain her feelings about marriage.
Standing on the balcony, theres no clear context for whatever internal shift shes experiencing.
We only see it in retrospect once its been shaped into a pat piece of wisdom.
fails when the twist is something so painfully obvious from the jump.
There are other prominent messages embedded withinTheWhite Lotusfinale.
Oddly, thats exactly the lesson Lauries monologue was trying to teach and the oneWhite Lotusfails to achieve.
Its not about one final moment, or one spectacular achievement of surprise that no one could see coming.
The pleasure is supposed to be in the journey.
