The White Lotus Season 3 Finale: Ending Explained

And his looming legal issues weren’t the only scandal to rock the Southern family, with brothers Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola) engaging in an incestuous threesome in the yacht scene alongside Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) earlier this season.

In the finale, the family’s troubles seemingly come to a head when Timothy serves his wife, older son and daughter a poisonous piña colada—sparing only his son Lochlan—before he has a change of heart and dashes the drinks from their hands. Tragedy almost strikes the following morning, however, when Lochlan unwittingly makes himself a smoothie with the remnants of the poison seeds, only to revive in his father’s arms.

Viewers also got answers on another crime that rocked the resort: While Gaitok solved the case, he ultimately opted to keep the identities of the thieves a secret at the urging of Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius), who preyed on the guard’s sympathetic side and noted he and his friends would be sent home if he turned them in.

And as for the trio of petty pals played by Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon and Michelle Monaghan, despite bearing witness to the shootout, their reunion trip ended on a poignant note when Carrie’s character Laurie had an honest confession, reminding the three friends that their history together is what truly matters.

Surprisingly, even some of the cast members were in the dark before the shocking final episode.

"I’m just excited to watch the finale with the rest of the world because I actually have no idea what happens," Schwarzenegger told The Hollywood Reporter in a cover story published April 2, while his onscreen mom Parker Posey admitted, "I forgot who died. It was so stressful when I read it. The dark stuff, I blazed through."

As for the stars that did remember all the dirty details? They knew it was an ending no one would expect.

"Whatever you think you know," said Jon Gries, the only cast member to appear in all three seasons, "you’re going to get it wrong."

For creator Mike White, he wanted his hour-and-a-half finale to be truly epic.

"As a filmmaker, it’s probably the piece of work that I’m like, 'I can’t believe I did that,'" he told THR. "My hope is that it’ll feel like a cathartic sad or a satisfying sad and not a 'What the f--k?' sad, but people are going to have a million different opinions. You just hope you stick the landing."

But for those who can't get enough of The White Lotus? Well, season four may be coming sooner than you think.

"There’s already pressure from HBO," White added. "When they have something they’re bullish on, they want to get it out there. We were supposed to start scouting in April, and I was like, 'You guys, I haven’t been home in three years.'"

Read on for more details on the cast of season three.