At the very top of "The White Lotus" season finale, a Buddhist monk tells viewers that, even though we wake with anxiety (raises hand), “It’s easier to be patient once we finally accept that there is no resolution.” The conclusion of the third season was certainly darker than the finales of the first two seasons of the social satire, and seeing as the show deals in human behavior and muddled motivation, there isn’t a resolution, as there’s a lot left to interpretation. The provocative images that creator, writer and director Mike White leaves viewers to consider provide a litmus test of our own hidden desires and twisted worldviews. These scenes usually underscore the denouement of a character’s development throughout a week of unsettling vacation time, and none of the outcomes are generally good, even if they might seem to be on the surface.
Take Quinn Mossbacher (Fred Hechinger) from Season 1, for instance. As his preoccupied parents and self-absorbed sister boarded their plane back home, he joyously joined a group of local Hawaiian men rowing in the ocean. The image is a memorable one — a young kid finally free of the perceived trappings of his moneyed existence — but there are definitely other ways that scene can be understood. In addition, the memorable yet melancholy moment in which Daphne (Meghann Fahy) beckons Ethan (Will Sharpe) to join her in a tryst on a secluded island to get back at their spouses for potentially cheating on them is wide open for interpretation. (They totally did it, right? But we don’t know for sure!)
