Shots fired! But just who'll pull the trigger in paradise?

Rogue Russians, a lovelorn cop and a spurned nepo baby... our Culture desk viewers have been speculating about what might play out in the season three finale of The White Lotus’

- Hannah Ewens

After the near-universal acclaim lavished on the first two seasons of The White Lotus, it seems fair to say that season three has met a cooler reception. One of the criticisms has been that the show has opened up numerous avenues of potential conflict, only to seemingly (temporarily?) close them off again. Bewildered, downer-addled Tim steals the gun from the police hut – but then Gaitok steals it back. Simmering, fixated Rick goes to Bangkok on a revenge mission – but then bottles it and hits the town with Frank instead. Impulsive, desperate Laurie is caught in bed with Russian jewel thief Aleksei – but manages to escape a full-blown bundle with his furious girlfriend via a window. Let’s just say there’s been a lot of prologue.

However, this slow burn does have one big advantage; it’s hard to see how the finale is going to be anything other than explosive because, in traditional White Lotus style, we’ve already heard the gunshots. And the only potential shooters who can be definitively ruled out at this point are meditation teacher Amrita and Belinda’s son Zion whose trip to see his mum has already become unpleasantly dramatic. If anything, the situation feels more unpredictable than in previous seasons – by this point in both The White Lotus one and two, the battle lines were essentially drawn.

This time, almost everyone seems to be somewhere on an emotional scale ranging from miffed to extravagantly deranged. Even the monkeys are looking as sinister as hell. Certainly, spiritual enlightenment seems a long way off for the members of this tanned, ripped but ugly-on-the-inside crew. But who is going to pull the trigger? We have thoughts…

Gaitok goes gangster?