With just one episode left, White Lotus fans are on tenterhooks, desperate to discover the identity of the body seen floating in a pool in the first scene of what has been perhaps the darkest season yet of the Emmy-award-winning show.

Each series is set in a different luxury holiday resort filled with fabulously wealthy – and insufferable – guests. This time the action is taking place in Thailand and features some of the most disturbing storylines so far.

Since that dramatic opening sequence, in true White Lotus fashion, each episode of season three has thrown up more questions than answers, making the identity of the body in the water increasingly mysterious.

Here CLAUDIA CONNELL brings you the top fan theories flooding the internet and reveals the ‘easter eggs’ – clues writer and director Mike White famously likes to tantalise us with. Warning: there are spoilers ahead!

THE SPA MANAGER V THE CONMAN

Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) worked in the spa at The White Lotus in Maui, Hawaii, in season one. While there, she met and befriended eccentric heiress Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) who died fleeing the men her husband had paid to kill her in Sicily in season two.

Tanya’s husband, Greg, is wanted by police in connection with her death. He’s washed up in Thailand with Chloe, his much younger girlfriend, and is now going by the name of Gary.

When Belinda travels to Thailand to work at The White Lotus there, she sees and recognises Greg (Jon Gries) who invites her to a party at his house where he offers her $100,000 (£77,300) in return for her silence.

Now convinced Greg had a hand in Tanya’s death, does Belinda kill Greg out of revenge? Or does Greg, who has shady underworld connections, have Belinda bumped off before she can report him to the police?

And how much does Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), Greg’s party-loving girlfriend, know about her boyfriend? In episode five, she tells her friend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) that she is sure Greg/Gary is capable of murder and he chillingly presses her to admit sleeping with the Ratliff brothers after the Full Moon Party.

THE RUINED RATLIFFS

Staying in the swankiest villa at the resort, the Ratliffs are as dysfunctional a family as they come. Patriarch Tim (Jason Isaacs) is a workaholic on the verge of losing everything.

The police back home have uncovered his fraudulent financial deals and he faces ruin and jail. To cope he steals his wife’s lorazepam and is popping her pills like Smarties.

Mum-of-three Victoria (Parker Posey) is an ill-informed southern snob who loves the trappings of wealth and is appalled her daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) wants to spend a year at a Thai Buddhist meditation centre (even managing to confuse Thailand with Taiwan). In episode six, she rather mysteriously tells husband Tim she would sooner die than be poor. Now the haze of her sedatives has lifted, has she sussed out her husband’s dodgy deals and killed him in revenge for losing the money she lives for?

Staying in the swankiest villa at the resort, the Ratliffs are as dysfunctional a family as they come

Staying in the swankiest villa at the resort, the Ratliffs are as dysfunctional a family as they come 

Son and heir Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) has clocked that his father is behaving oddly and reminds his dad that he cannot sully the family name.

In the penultimate episode, high on drink and his wife’s drugs, Tim goes to grab a gun to shoot himself, his wife and Saxon, after having dreams of killing his wife in a murder-suicide in the previous episode. But the gun had gone, retrieved by the security guard Tim had stolen it from.

Will Tim attempt to snatch it again and take out his family? Could he overdose on his heady cocktail of drink and drugs? Or will his family take him out?

THE BLONDE FRENEMIES

Pals since their school days, famous actress and queen bee Jaclyn (Mission: Impossible’s Michelle Monaghan), single mum lawyer Laurie (The Leftovers’ Carrie Coon) and Texan trophy wife Kate (Leslie Bibb) are meant to be enjoying a week of relaxation and reconnection – but it doesn’t take long for old rivalries and resentments to resurface.

Left to right: Carrie Coon as Laurie Duffy, Michelle Monaghan as Jaclyn Lemon and Leslie Bibb as Kate Bohr

Left to right: Carrie Coon as Laurie Duffy, Michelle Monaghan as Jaclyn Lemon and Leslie Bibb as Kate Bohr

When Jaclyn has a one-night stand with sexy Russian health mentor, Valentin, Laurie – who had been flirting with him – feels betrayed. At a tense and explosive dinner, Laurie snaps. She accuses Kate of being ‘fake’ and tells Jaclyn she’s ‘vain and selfish’, even hinting that she slept with Kate’s husband Dave.

Laurie storms off to attend a boxing match with Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius) and ends up having sex with him at his flat. The morning after he aggressively asks her for $10,000 (£7,700) to help his ‘sick mother’ back home.

Laurie flees in terror. Is she heading back to The White Lotus to have an explosive showdown with Jaclyn? How far will menacing Valentin and his two hench sidekicks take their threats?

WHO IS THE REAL BAD BROTHER?

Handsome, buff and a porn-addicted sleaze, at first it definitely looks as though Saxon is the worst of the Ratliff brothers.

Younger brother Lochlan (Sam Nivola) seemed shy, sweet and innocent by comparison – but now fans are convinced that he is the wicked one.

After hints of an inappropriate relationship in the first few episodes, things took a dark turn following a booze and drug-fuelled Full Moon Party in episode six which culminated in the boys spending an incestuous night together.

Lochlan, who had previously spied on his naked brother, kisses Saxon while high on drugs, in front of Chloe and Chelsea. After Lochlan is shown performing a sex act on his intoxicated big brother and wearing his clothes the morning after, could it be a sign that he has seized control from alpha Saxon?

The show, which first aired in 2021, has won six Primetime Emmy Awards

The show, which first aired in 2021, has won six Primetime Emmy Awards

And is he actually Saxon’s blood brother? Some fans are speculating he will turn out to be adopted.

After spending a ‘tester’ night at the Buddhist retreat centre with sister Piper, Lochlan tells her he wants to stay for a year because he doesn’t want to give ‘into my dark s***’.

Piper, who in episode one tries to prevent the brothers from sharing a bedroom, looks horrified. She surely knows her baby brother is a deviant! Will she try and take him out? Could Saxon, disgusted by the incest, attack Lochlan in a bid to regain his dignity and masculinity? Or will creepy Lochlan turn on his own family?

RICK’S DADDY ISSUES

Moody Rick (Walton Goggins) has no time for his sweet young girlfriend Chelsea. He is in Thailand for one reason – revenge.

He abandons Chelsea at the hotel to travel to Bangkok on a mission to murder the man he believes killed the father he never knew over a land deal.

White Lotus owner Jim Hollinger is the man in Rick’s crosshairs and is married to Sritala (Lek Patravadi), a famous Thai singer and actress.

However, after conning his way into the Hollinger house with the help of old friend Frank (in a surprise cameo from Oscar winner Sam Rockwell), Rick bottles it and cannot pull the trigger. Jim (Scott Glenn) looks shocked when Rick mentions his mother’s name. Many viewers are convinced that he will turn out to be Rick’s real dad. Could he turn on his own son, or will Rick finally carry out the deed after discovering his true identity?

THE SHIFTY RUSSIANS

Hunky Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius) is assigned to the three American friends as their butler and health mentor, and they soon take a shine to him.

Valentin introduces the women to his two friends, Aleksei and Vlad, with whom they have a drunken night out.

We now know that the Russians were behind the robbery at the resort’s jewellery store in episode two and that, between them, they have a gun.

They clearly intend to extort money from Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie – perhaps by any means possible.

THE SECURITY GUARD AND HIS (NOT SO SWEET) CRUSH

Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) is the security guard at the resort who is desperate to woo fellow worker Mook (Blackpink rapper Lalisa Manobal) to be his girlfriend.

At first Mook seems kind and caring, but as the series unfolds she continues to put pressure on Gaitok to try and gain a promotion and become a bodyguard to the Hollingers, who own the resort. To impress Mook, he learns how to use a gun.

The third season is set in a luxury resort in Thailand, while season one was set in Hawaii and season two in Sicily

The third season is set in a luxury resort in Thailand, while season one was set in Hawaii and season two in Sicily

Mook seems very friendly with Russian tough guy Valentin and, when she dances for guests, fans have suggested she appears to be wearing the snake jewellery stolen in the raid.

While on a date with Mook, Gaitok has a flashback to the heist and realises that Valentin’s friend Vlad was the masked intruder.

Is Mook leading Gaitok on because she’s in league with the Russians? If he finds out, he might be prepared to exercise that ‘killer instinct’ he claimed to possess in episode six? Could that killer instinct be used in a rage against Mook and other staff and guests if she turns him down?

SAXON’S SUICIDE SMOOTHIE

In episode one, Saxon is intrigued to learn that a tree outside the family villa bears a deadly fruit.

Health freak Saxon requests a blender for the villa so that he can mix up protein smoothies every day.

In the newly released trailer for the finale, we see Tim quizzing their health mentor, Pam, about the poisonous fruit. She tells him that locals refer to it as ‘the suicide tree’.

In the next shot we see liquid whirling around Saxon’s blender. Is Tim planning on drinking a suicide smoothie – or feeding it to his whole family?

AND AS FOR THOSE EASTER EGGS… THINGS HAPPENING IN THREES

The number three has played a significant part in this season: the three blonde friends, the three tortured Ratliff siblings and the three Russians.

We also know that there are three guns in circulation: Gaitok the security guard has one, the Russians have one and Rick acquired one in Bangkok while planning to shoot his father’s killer.

Chelsea survived the jewellery heist and a snake bite but is now convinced that, since bad things happen in threes, something else sinister is in store for her.

Does it also point to three deaths instead of one?

READING MATERIAL

Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed that the books the wealthy guests are reading seem to be telling their own story.

Lochlan’s is Hunger by Knut Hamsun, about a young man driven to the edge of self-destruction by forces beyond his control.

His mum Victoria is working her way through the highly apt The Beautiful And The Damned by F Scott Fitzgerald, about a rich and privileged couple who end up losing their wealth and marriage.

Laurie has chosen Modern Lovers by Emma Straub, the story of a group of middle-aged friends who are struggling to cope with ageing and secrets from their past.

Belinda is seen flicking her way through the pages of self-help book Surrounded By Narcissists: How To Effectively Recognise, Avoid And Defend Yourself Against Toxic People by Thomas Erikson.

Are the books predicting the character’s fates?

NO MONKEY BUSINESS

Monkeys have featured heavily in the symbolism of series three.

The opening scene showed the three Ratliff siblings sitting side-by-side on a boat as they journeyed to The White Lotus. Saxon is wearing dark glasses, Piper has headphones on and Lochlan has a bottle of pop in his mouth.

Many believe they were reflecting the famous ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ wise monkeys.

There are statues of monkeys everywhere while aggressive looking real ones leap around the resort. However, one bonkers fan theory that can be laid to rest is that it’s the monkeys that carry out the killing.

Michelle Monaghan, who plays Jaclyn, appeared on chat show Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week declaring: ‘I’ve got to debunk a theory out there guys – the monkeys did not do it!’

CREDIT CLUES

White Lotus regulars will know that the colourful opening credits often provide clues to the outcome.

This year’s credits are particularly disturbing and packed with Thai and Buddhist symbolism, themes that are continued on the wallpaper and artwork around the resort.

There are wild animals stalking and attacking humans, including crocodiles and sharks feasting on people in the water.

People are seen hiding in trees and spying on others – surely a reference to Greg’s surveillance of Belinda?

But many believe that the positioning of the actor’s name next to an image is the biggest ‘easter egg’ of all.

Walton Goggins (Rick) has his name appear alongside an image of a man isolated in a tower.

Michelle Monaghan (Jaclyn) gets her credit alongside a topless woman on a balcony – surely a reference to her desperate need for male validation.

Leslie Bibb (Kate) has a credit by a picture of an elephant, a creature famed for its remarkable memory. In an awkward encounter in episode two, it’s revealed that Kate knew Victoria Ratliff from years ago – does she suddenly remember something dark from her past?

The name of Jason Isaacs (Tim) sits beside a man trapped in a tree, surrounded by lethal looking weapons.

But most damning of all? The credit for actor Sam Nivola (Lochlan) appears beside a shot of a man floating in the water.

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