Out of everyone on the third season of The White Lotus, it was Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell) and her son, Zion (Nicholas Duvernay), who got the happiest ending (Lord knows it certainly wasn’t Chelsea and Rick). And many faithful viewers of the show would say that no one “deserved it more” than Belinda. Even if that meant the “need” for her to totally compromise her original values. Values that insisted it would be wrong to profit in any way from the unseemliness surrounding Tanya McQuoid’s (Jennifer Coolidge) death. Then, of course, there’s the way that Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul), her mentor-turned-lover, ends up being treated in the wake of Belinda becoming rich (in a turn of events that echoes what Tanya did to Belinda at the end of the first season). For it’s true: having a lot of money turns everyone into an asshole. It just can’t be helped.
It’s in the sixth episode, “Denials,” that Pornchai tells Belinda that he wants to start a business with her, as she previously mentioned this was her dream. Confided in him about it, along with mentioning how depressed she’s been the past couple of years. Even mentioning Armond’s (Murray Bartlett) “freak accident” of a death, along with how “this woman, this rich woman” was supposed to give her the money to help her open up her own spa but instead “flaked” and “ran off with some guy.” Needless to say, that flaky rich woman was Tanya. And it’s only at the mention of that “guy” that Belinda suddenly has the epiphany of who Greg (Jon Gries) is, realizing that she knew she recognized him from somewhere. Specifically, it’s in the second episode, “Special Treatments,” that Belinda first gains a flash of recognition upon spotting Greg at one of the tables in the dining area. But she isn’t quite yet sure who he is—hasn’t exactly placed him.
But having the full-blown revelation in episode three, “The Meaning of Dreams,” while talking to Pornchai over dinner emboldens her to approach Greg’s table and say, “I’m really sorry to interrupt, but…do I know you?” Greg starts to stumble on his words in response, allowing Belinda to continue, “I work at The White Lotus in Maui and I’m pretty sure I met you there” (side note: there is no scene in season one of Belinda ever officially seeing him). He limply offers, “Um…I don’t think so.” “Greg, isn’t it?” “It’s Gary.” “Huh. Really? Did you date a woman named Tanya McQuoid?” “Me? No.” She smiles, totally unconvinced, and says, “Okay.” She turns to the others at the table, Rick (Walton Goggins), Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and “Gary’s” new girlfriend, Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), to quip, “Well he must have a doppelganger then.” A palpable awkwardness continues to hover over the table before Brenda persists, “Because I swear, you look just like this man I met in Maui.” Greg just keeps looking at her with this “I know I’m caught but won’t admit it” look on his face. Deciding to back down, Belinda concludes, “Anyway, sorry to bother you guys. Enjoy your night.” But for the rest of the evening, she keeps stealing glances at him, and he clocks it, knowing she’s not the type of person who is going to let this rest or take him at his (lying) word.
While Greg’s presence there might have originally signaled disaster to viewers who took the season three trailer to heart when they saw Belinda mentioning leaving the hotel “in a body bag,” it turns out that it’s a boon for her. One foretold in the first episode, “Same Spirits, New Forms,” when Belinda tells a few members of the wellness staff, “I think the universe knew I needed something.” In this case, referencing the program that recently opened up allowing employees of The White Lotus to train at other hotels. But, as viewers find out, it seems the universe knows she needs something much more than just a training program. No, instead, she needs what every other broke ass needs to make a dent in their life: five million dollars.
Other omens related to Greg crop up for Belinda during “Same Spirits, New Forms,” with the first appearance of a monitor lizard. This being a sight/creature that Belinda is both unaccustomed to and terrified of. To calm her down, Pornchai delivers the telling prophecy, “In time, lizards will become your friends.” While some might presume a lizard has snakelike symbolism (i.e., betrayal), it actually represents good fortune and metamorphosis. Another good sign for Belinda during this season. Even so, she responds to Pornchai’s comment with, “No, uh-uh. No, Pornchai.”
And yet, Belinda is already in disbelief over her changing luck when Pornchai shows her the room she’ll be staying in. On the phone with Zion, she tells him, “I don’t know what I expected, but I’m starting to feel like something good’s going to come out of this.” This elicits the first instance of Zion telling her, “You deserve it, Mom,” a line that will come full-circle in the final episode. The leaves rustling in the trees above her after she hangs up harken back to Pornchai telling her earlier in the episode that Thai people believe spirits are everywhere. Which might lead one to posit that it’s Tayna’s “spirit” that could be “haunting” her in that instant.
Indeed, Belinda has a lot of “spooky” experiences throughout the season. Including at the end of “The Meaning of Dreams,” when she hears a strange, unexplained noise in her room. One that she continues to hear the next morning in the fourth episode, “Hide or Seek.” The mysterious noise adds to her feeling of general unease about Greg a.k.a. Gary, to the point where she can’t put it out of her mind. Finally, while trying to read and relax by the pool, she decides to Google Tanya’s name (and yes, it’s honestly surprising that she hadn’t done so before or sooner). To her shock, she sees that not only is Tanya dead, but that her husband, Greg Hunt, is still wanted for questioning by the authorities in Sicily, and has been “missing since her disappearance.” She then Googles Greg’s name and finds that he’s exactly who she thought he was, prompting her to seethe, “Motherfucker.”
Her sense of anxiety keeps building in episode five, “Full-Moon Party,” when Fabian (Christian Friedel) stops Belinda as she’s walking through the wellness center to tell her, “One of our regulars was just asking all about you.” “Really?” “Yeah. Wanted to know your name and why you’re here. I think you’ve caught his eye.” He winks. But Belinda knows 1) who was asking about her and 2) that it’s nothing to wink about. After the exchange, Belinda is even more freaked out as she weighs the options of what to do in her hotel room, finally relenting to going up to Fabian’s desk and telling him everything she knows. He listens with a combination of confusion and skepticism, shutting Belinda down entirely when she concludes with the suggestion that they notify the police (“all the police”—in Thailand, Italy and the U.S.). Fabian’s response? “It’s bad form to talk about a guest in this way… I don’t think you have anything to worry about, as long as you focus on yourself and your job.” So it is that Fabian sends Belinda running into the arms of Pornchai, telling her story to him instead. When she’s finished, she says it would be just her luck if Greg tried to do something to her. Especially since, as she puts it, “I was just starting to feel good about life again and—plot twist—out of the blue, just… (she makes a gesture with her hand to indicate stabbing with a knife).”
Pornchai, sweet, naïve Pornchai, accommodates Belinda’s fears by staying in her room that night. Though, of course, he does more than just “stay” there, which is how Zion encounters his mother in flagrante delicto the next morning at the beginning of episode six, “Denials.” The episode wherein Pornchai also mentions that he wants to go into business with Belinda/generally make her dreams come true, adding, “If we did it in Thailand, not as difficult.” In other words, as opposed to trying to start one in Belinda’s homeland of the U.S. But clearly, Pornchai doesn’t understand that he’s dealing with a very American woman.
Another key moment to Belinda’s character arc (from “good-natured soul” to “selfish bitch”) in “Denials” is that, in the final scenes, Greg makes himself an even more sinister presence by cornering her near the wellness center and “inviting” her to dinner (a.k.a. “subtly” demanding that she shows up so they can talk). This arriving at a moment when she’s still shrouded in her “principles” and “moral dilemma” regarding what to do about her newfound knowledge. Should she report Greg to someone and risk her own death or keep it to herself and hope that he leaves her alone? As it transpires, a previously unknown-to-her “third option” exists: allowing herself to be paid off to keep quiet.
This third option materializing in episode seven, “Killer Instincts,” when Belinda finally has her most candid confrontation yet with Greg at his party. Though he still dances around the subject at hand (his guilt), insisting he had “nothing to do with” Tanya’s death. That avoiding questioning and going back home has just been a matter of not wanting to deal with lawyers and “people making assumptions” (that are obviously accurate). So it is that he presents his bribe as a matter of “honoring” Tanya, telling Belinda, “She always felt guilty that she didn’t start that business with you, and I know that she’d want you to have some money to do that.” Greg then continues to insult her and her intelligence by offering her a hundred thousand dollars. Which amounts to about a penny when considering the capital required to start a business. Sensing the perilous and delicate situation she’s in, Belinda politely thanks him and says she’d like to think about it. This response obviously bristles Greg, but he goes along with it.
Back at the hotel, where Belinda briefs Zion on what happened, he shouts, “Are you crazy? Take the money.” Belinda balks at the idea, responding, “If I did that, I’d be an accomplice to murder.” “No you wouldn’t.” “He’s buying me off so I don’t tell anyone where he is.” “Okay so let him buy you off then.” Belinda then insists, “It’s not right Zion, he had her killed.” By the time the finale, “Amor Fati,” rolls around, however, it’s oh so right. Because any remaining shred of her “principles” are worn down. Not just with some convincing from Zion and the fact that the offer of a hundred thousand dollars turns into five million (thanks to Zion’s effective [even if jejune] business acumen), but because the more time she has to sit with the option, the more she realizes it’s the best and only one (because, naturally, she’s aware that Greg is ultimately telling—not asking—her to take the money and run).
When she sees that Greg has actually transferred the amount to her account, she loses her damn mind (as anybody would—for no one is immune to the charms of wealth). She tells Zion that Greg then called her to make sure he could hear her say that she would hold up her end of the bargain in exchange for this generous “gift.” Zion eagerly asks Belinda what she said in response, briefly fearing she might still have shown residual traces of her so-called morality. Laughing, she replies, “I said that I would.” Zion rises from his seat excitedly, exclaiming, “Yes, Mom, yes!” As though genuinely gleeful about how her commitment to her idea of honor has been slowly eroded by the cliché temptation of money (that slow erosion complete with Belinda arguing, “He killed the bitch” and Zion nudging, “I know, but maybe this is the one good thing that’s meant to come out of all of it”—an argument that Belinda soon adopts as her own rationalization for taking the money).
And even though Belinda doesn’t turn down the thick envelope of cash from Tanya in season one (Tanya’s tone-deaf attempt at healing the wound of abruptly backing out of their business plans together), it’s with much more difficulty. This largely because Tanya essentially makes her feel like a prostitute, belittling their friendship—or what she thought was a friendship—by turning it into something transactional (which is ironic considering that Tanya gives her a big speech before handing her the money about how she doesn’t want to have transactional relationships anymore).
For the first few hours of fully grasping what she’s done in accepting Greg’s blood money, Belinda is still skittish. Not because she feels “icky” about it from a “Am I a good person?” standpoint, but because she’s convinced that it’s somehow going to backfire and Greg is going to do some fucked-up shit to her anyway. But Zion assures Belinda that good things happen to good people. And yet, in order for something good to happen to her (five million dollars), Belinda had to completely compromise her erstwhile staunch moral values. Bringing to the fore some hard-hitting philosophical questions about how a person can possibly be good in a world that runs on badness, on “getting ahead” by any means necessary. Which some people simply call humans’ primordial/“animal” instinct.
To placate any lingering doubts Belinda might have about her fundamental beneficence, Zion, as mentioned, recites the old chestnut (/lie that people tell themselves to justify questionable behavior), “Good things happen to good people.” He also reminds her that she “worked so hard.” Even though, to secure the bag, it wasn’t a matter of “working hard” so much as a convenient confluence of events that led Belinda to this good (literal) fortune. And yes, because Mike White is clearly a man who values full-circle storytelling filled with tragic irony, it’s only fitting that, in season one, Greg tells Tanya, “Death doesn’t have to spoil everything, right? Enjoy your life till they drop the curtain.” Tanya quips, “Death is the last immersive experience I haven’t tried.” Not yet knowing that Greg is going to be the one to give it to her.
So no, Tanya’s death hasn’t “spoiled everything,” instead breathing new life into Belinda’s existence. As Tanya was supposed to do in the first place when she was still alive. Alas, in order to get the money that Tanya had originally promised to Belinda—to have “something good” happen to her—she has become a “bad” person by surrendering her formerly rigid interpretation of what it means to be good. Allowing for the “gray areas” to trickle in. Which, of course, are just a gateway to all kinds of ethical flexibility. Thus, a plot point in a later season where Belinda is busted for embezzling funds from her own spa empire wouldn’t be out of the question.
