White Lotus Season Finale: Further Thoughts

 

_____________SPOILER ALERTS_________________

Yep, super sad about who was killed (still won't say who for people who haven't seen it yet, but the most likeable character) -  but the revenge lesson of how she was killed is a good one!  

Message being the same as The Count of Monte Cristo or Sweeney Todd - the thirst for revenge consumes all!

Otherwise ...  other untied loose ends, disjointed bits, and things that don't make sense/wouldn't work ...

So I did end up watching the beginning again and my question in the post below remains 😂

The body Zion finds has clearly been in the water for at least a few minutes, but the shooting was still going on when Zion starts wading in the water - so who was that body, one of the henchman?

Like I said, the timing and angles were a bit off, for this murder mystery to work properly.  Maybe other people wouldn't notice or care, it's just that as a former aspiring screenwriter, I notice sh*t like that! 😂

(I was wrong in my earlier post theory about it being multiple shots fired from a rifle from the hill above though, clearly - it was a shootout with handguns.)

Also, some big issues with Belinda's choices (Zion's mom). 

I don't know that I'd do what she did, but perhaps she didn't have much choice - take this deal or you're next.

First of all, even if we assume we can trust Gary (which I wouldn't), there's still THIS big problem - sudden big-money wire transfers, especially from outside the U.S., raise big red flags in the U.S., especially after 9/11!

Zion gave Gary the account number to her ialready-existing American bank account - so how will she explain that to the IRS, the US Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security  - she found buried treasure in Thailand?😂

Her son with an MBA should know better -  as in maybe put it in an offshore account?

But he just graduated, so maybe not.  Or maybe he does know how to answer for it and they just didn't explain?

But if they were gonna trust Gary that much, then also ask him how to do that!

Or Gary should've even offered that advice himself, because if investigated, the big wire transfer all at once investigation would lead right back to him, right?

Already rich people know all the loopholes by a certain age - suddenly rich people don't.

And like I said, they're putting an awful lot of trust in Gary - so if I was going to do what Belinda did, I'd make for damn sure I had insurance; otherwise, I'd be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life!

I mean, she has no guarantee Gary won't still come after her, kill her to make sure she never tells, and take his money back, right? 

So maybe something like ...

"Okay, I'll take this 5 million and stay quiet, but if anything ever happens to me or my son, just know that I sent that picture I took of you here to my son before he arrived, who put it on a flash drive and stored it in a safe location with a colleague. 

"Assuming I arrive home safely and the money is in my account, the flash drive will be put in a safety deposit box with a private equity firm in Europe, with my estate instructions stating to send it to Interpol and press if we die under suspicious circumstances."

Also, she left her love at the dock in Thailand with a broken promise about starting a business with him - nearly the same thing that happened to her - already doing what rich people had done to her before - did y'all realize that?

I mean, I like the fact that she chose what was best and security for herself and her son over beginning infatuation or love, as a woman, but leaving him with a broken business promise wasn't cool - that was done to her, so she should know how broken dreams feel.

Hopefully, she realizes that next season and keeps her promise?

Although why the hell she'd ever want to see another White Lotus resort again after all her experiences is beyond me!

Lastly -  so there was no point at all to the weird incestuous stuff?

Unless it's a setup for returning characters next season.

Otherwise, left this way, it appears to be normalizing incestuous behavior, when it's not normal at all.

Now, I understand this story was the result of Mike White's fever dream during a bout of severe bronchitis - but when you're inspired by dreams, you gotta clean up the disjointed bits a bit so they flow and make sense, right?

(Well, what the hell do I know, I never sold a screenplay, but I do notice stuff like that. But even my husband said it didn't flow well, this season.)

Maybe some of these things he will, next season!