This message contains spoilers For “The White Lotus”.
When we see Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) for the first time in season 3 of “The White Lotus”, his latent anxiety becomes immediately apparent. While the boat carrying the guests had to stay in the Ko Samui branch of the white lotus zoom towards the shore, we note that the visible discomfort of Rick contrasts with the endearing optimism of his girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood). Rick’s indifference towards the natural beauty of the station and what she has to offer to her customers permeate throughout, to move rarely even when Chelsea cajole gently to relax and have fun. “What kind of chip does this man have on his shoulder?” We allow ourselves to ask ourselves, especially when the facades carried by all the other guests are being untangled.
The first clue that we get to analyze Rick’s guarded behavior is his disappointment when he learns that the husband of the owner of the hotel, Jim Hollinger, is not present at the complex. The owner, Sritala (Lek Patravadi), becomes the center of attention during her short stay when she is a local celebrity which also launched the hotel health program. Rick’s behavior becomes particularly alert each time Sritala is there, referring to a kind of truth that he wants to go by finding an opportunity to speak to him. Well, this opportunity arrives in episode 3, where Rick approaches Sritala while pretending to be a producer in the entertainment sector who wishes to present it to a director. A meeting with Stitala is organized in Bangkok, but Rick’s real intentions are still maintained under the Wraps.
In other words, until Chelsea faces Rick about his impromptu Bangkok trip in “Hide or Seek”. With everything we have learned about Rick’s past so far, it becomes clear that Bangkok’s meeting is part of a vengeance plan anchored in sorrow. Let us dive deeper into Rick’s motivations behind the visit of the white lotus, in Thailand.
Rick’s feeling of himself withdrew to his thirst for revenge in the white lotus
During Rick’s well-being sessions with Amrita (Shalini Peiris), he reveals that he always felt a non-entity after the supposed murder of his father and the later death of his mother. “Nothing comes from anything,” he said after that Amrita urged her to reach her psyche and seek a reason to let go of her painful past. Later, Amrita slowly said to Rick that he did not have to be stuck because he can “escape the karmic cycle” and that she has hope for him. Although Rick seems to be in conflict, he is defaulting his sorrow and his rage and only opens when Chelsea confronted him on this subject during the Bizard Yacht Fête by Gary / Greg (Jon Gries).
Rick firmly believes that Jim Hollinger (Sritala’s husband) killed his father, whom Rick perceives as a good man punished for defending what is good. Rick’s journey to Thailand was invited by the hypothesis that Jim would be in white lotus, but as the man is now in Bangkok, he decides to confront his father’s killer there. After learning the truth, Chelsea is as sweet and empathetic as always, kissing her to transmit that she understands, even if she is terribly worried about him. After all, Rick did not witness the death of his father, and his life objective to track Jim stems from the last words of his mother before his disappearance.
This is a burden that Rick has been wearing for his training years, which has informed his dark existential perspective towards life. He feels empty and broken by this unresolved sorrow and the lack of closure, unable to give himself fully, even to those who love it without conditions. This explains his complex relationship with Chelsea, whom he really seems to love and really take care, despite the grumpy and distant duration. He is absent even when he is physically there with her, her mind forever concerned about a feeling of rodent of unfinished business.
Will Rick have his revenge without repercussions, or will a sort of unavailable twist change everything? Well, only future episodes of “The White Lotus” can provide us with these intriguing answers.
The episodes of season 3 of “The White Lotus” fall every Sunday on HBO.
