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1:00

Hey Prime members, are you tired

1:02

of ads interfering with your favorite

1:04

podcasts? Good news. With Amazon Music,

1:06

you have access to the largest

1:08

catalog of ad-free top podcasts, included

1:10

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for free. To start listening, download the Amazon music app for

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free. Or go to

1:19

amazon.com/ad-free podcasts. That's amazon.com/ad-free

1:21

podcasts to catch up

1:23

on the latest episodes

1:26

without the ads. Hello

1:30

everyone and welcome to a decoding

1:32

TV bonus episode. I am David Chen

1:34

joining me to discuss this week's episode

1:36

of the White Lotus. She is deputy

1:38

editor and film critic at Laney Gossip

1:41

Sarah Mars. How's it going this evening?

1:43

Good, how are you? I am well, you

1:45

know, last week we talked about how there

1:47

was gale force winds in Colorado where I'm

1:49

recording this and today as we're recording

1:52

this, there's gale force winds in your

1:54

area. So if you hear some clattering

1:56

or something like that, we'll try to

1:58

minimize but you know just let people

2:00

know that's what's going on. It's springtime

2:03

in the US so the weather is

2:05

crazy. Indeed, indeed. Well we are here

2:07

to talk about White Lotus season 3

2:09

episode 6 tonight. Before we get to

2:12

that though, I want to talk about

2:14

a couple quick follow-up from last week.

2:16

Now one of the things that happened

2:18

in last week's episode of the White

2:20

Lotus was Sam Rockwell. met up with

2:23

Walton Goggins and delivered a monologue to

2:25

end all monologues. Incredible performance. The whole

2:27

internet has been buzzing about it. We

2:29

tried to unpack a little bit about

2:32

what we thought it meant here on

2:34

decoding TV. And we got this very

2:36

lovely email from someone named Alex who

2:38

wrote into us at decoding TV@gmail.com. Alex

2:41

writes in big fan of the pot.

2:43

I've been listening on and off since

2:45

Andor and I wanted to chime in

2:47

to share some thoughts on Sim Rockwell's

2:49

monologue. Well, I do think there's a

2:52

lot of truth to Sarah's claim and

2:54

I do actually before I continue reading

2:56

I want to point out That this

2:58

email was subject line a trans woman's

3:01

perspective on Sam Rockless mommock. So that's

3:03

what the perspective That this email is

3:05

coming from While I do think there's

3:07

a lot of truth to Sarah's claim

3:10

that his monologue is less about the

3:12

character's gender or sexuality than it is

3:14

about how he's a cautionary tale of

3:16

trying and failing to fill a void,

3:18

I do still think there's something to

3:21

be said about how frequently us trans

3:23

women have heard some version of this

3:25

monologue before. If you go on grinder

3:27

as a trans woman, there is no

3:30

shortage of cross-dressing Sissy on the downlow

3:32

who can't host messaging you about this

3:34

very same thing. As my friend said

3:36

when we were discussing this scene in

3:38

the episode, Mike White understands the hold

3:41

that vaguely gay shit has on the

3:43

American male psyche better than anyone else

3:45

in the game. So while yes, I

3:47

do think it's possible, it's not really

3:50

about gender or sexuality, I don't think

3:52

it's all that probable. The scene almost

3:54

perfectly captures all the mental gymnastics so

3:56

many men go through to allow themselves

3:59

to explore their sexuality outside of traditional

4:01

heterosexuality because somehow all of the things

4:03

Rockwell describes doing are somehow less emasculating

4:05

to them than simply admitting their intimate

4:07

or potentially they're not even a man

4:10

at all. Maybe it's a case of

4:12

a thing can be two things, but

4:14

I took it to mean that Rockwell's

4:16

character would much rather simply abandon any

4:19

attempt at genuine sexuality and human connection,

4:21

then reckon with his own internalized homophobia

4:23

slash transphobia, slash whatever you want to

4:26

call it, simply put... he's afraid of

4:28

not being a cisgender straight man and

4:30

religion is yet another coping mechanism which

4:33

would fall in line with what seems

4:35

to be this season's theme of Westerners

4:37

looking to eastern spirituality slash religion as

4:39

a quick escape from their own troubles end

4:42

quote. That is a really excellent read

4:44

and it is worth noting that Mike

4:46

White is a bisexual man so he

4:48

has a window into the world

4:50

of straight men and gay

4:52

men and how straight men

4:54

react to gay men or

4:56

by men or men whose

4:58

sexuality in any way veers

5:00

from hardcore heterosis gender. And

5:02

I think that's a really

5:04

really interesting read that it's

5:06

that he's just using Buddhism

5:08

and his sobriety and celibacy

5:11

in that path as another

5:13

way to try and fill

5:15

this. void in his life

5:17

instead of accepting himself. And

5:20

that's, I'm not sure we're going

5:22

to get enough of this character

5:24

to fully know if that's the

5:26

case, but I do think it's

5:28

a great read and it just

5:30

keeps so many doors open. I

5:32

really felt the minute Sam Rockwell

5:34

walked in that he was coming

5:36

in from another show and I sort

5:39

of want to follow him back to

5:41

that show because I would like to

5:43

know like is... Are you using

5:45

Buddhism as just another thing

5:47

to fill this void you

5:50

feel inside yourself? Or is

5:52

it truly healing something? Like,

5:54

but I just don't think

5:56

we're going to get enough of

5:59

the character. to know, so we're

6:01

going to have to live with the

6:03

ambiguity, but I think this is an

6:05

excellent and interesting read on the character

6:07

and how he fits into the larger

6:09

thematic tapestry of the season. Absolutely, absolutely.

6:11

Thank you so much for sharing that

6:14

with us at decodingTV@gmail.com. All right, moving

6:16

on, there's one other follow from last

6:18

week's episode that I wanted to mention,

6:20

and that is Jason Isaix. We talked

6:22

last week about his comments about how

6:24

this double standard when you talk about

6:27

male nudity versus female nudity. I thought

6:29

you Sarah Mars made some great points

6:31

about that. Shortly after we recorded that

6:33

episode, Jason Isaac's walked back his comments.

6:35

I don't know if you saw this.

6:37

I don't know if you saw this.

6:40

I don't know if you saw this.

6:42

But he said he's walked back his

6:44

comments. I don't know if he saw

6:46

this. But he said, quote, the internet

6:48

was ever asked about a joke if

6:50

it came up. If it came up,

6:53

when so many people were insisted, it

6:55

seemed weird and inappropriate that what they

6:57

were actually insisting on was that they

6:59

and the public really needed to know

7:01

whether they'd actually see my real penis

7:03

or not. So bizarre. The point I

7:06

then wanted to make but made badly.

7:08

is that women have been exploited and

7:10

exposed and treated wildly and appropriately on

7:12

and off screen forever and even then

7:14

I'd never witnessed any woman being grilled

7:16

so specifically about their genitalia. I shouldn't

7:19

have invoked any actresses or used the

7:21

phrase double standard which was just poor

7:23

phrasing. There's long been a double standard

7:25

around nudity in film and it's not

7:27

men who've suffered from it. In fact,

7:29

it's something that the white Lotus has

7:32

been correcting. Somehow it either came out

7:34

wrong or was misinterpreted or was misinterpreted.

7:36

still bothered, please just enjoy the show,

7:38

literally none of it's real, and there's

7:40

bigger and better shocks coming." So I

7:43

thought that was nice, you know, just

7:45

kind of, he's like, obviously, it was

7:47

probably a little imprecise in his language,

7:49

and I think we actually broke down

7:51

both elements of that statement in our

7:53

conversation last week about it. So anyway,

7:56

wanted to follow up. Finally, I'm gonna

7:58

be... a little bit annoying and just

8:00

mention one other thing you know like

8:02

this is a very common thing that

8:04

happens in a lot of TV shows

8:06

and films and I'm sure it annoys

8:09

people when I bring it up but

8:11

I'm gonna do it anyway because it gives

8:13

me a little delight and that is I

8:15

don't remember if it was last week or

8:17

the week out before that I'm pretty sure

8:19

it might have been last week's episode but

8:22

basically the the ladies go to the nightclub

8:24

right I think that was last week's

8:26

and they all start doing a toast, right?

8:28

And the guys try to teach the ladies

8:31

how to do a toast in Russian,

8:33

and they kind of like

8:35

stumble a little bit over the

8:37

words, and then Michelle Monaghan is

8:40

trying to imitate it, and she says,

8:42

uh, like Shila Buff, right? Remember,

8:44

she says Shila Buff. Uh, I

8:46

am really curious, Sarah Mars, in

8:48

the White Lotus universe, who

8:51

started with Shila Buff in

8:53

the 2008 sci-fi thriller Eaglei?

8:56

Because in our universe, it was

8:58

Michelle Monaghan, who is his co-star.

9:00

It's an actress named Michelle Donahan,

9:02

who bears a striking resemblance to

9:04

Jackie, what's her chops. Maybe, is

9:06

it, do you think it's, do

9:08

you think like this universe of

9:10

the White Lotus has no Michelle

9:12

Monaghan? And it's just Jacqueline that is

9:14

the Michelle Monaghan person in the

9:16

universe, you know, anyway. Unless they

9:18

explicitly acknowledge it, I always assume that

9:21

the real actor does not exist in

9:23

the fictional universe. So Hot Tub Time

9:25

Machine exists in the MCU, but Sebastian

9:28

Stand does not. Unless it until they

9:30

do a bit. Because like, the Oceans

9:32

franchise did a whole bit about how

9:34

Julia Roberts character looks like Julia

9:37

Roberts. So it can happen, but

9:39

unless they do that kind of

9:41

thing, I just assume this person,

9:43

the real person, doesn't exist in

9:45

the fictional universe. Yeah, I think that's

9:47

right. So maybe Jackie co-starred an Eagle

9:49

Eye. That's what I'm saying, is I'm

9:51

saying she is, there is no Michelle Monaghan

9:53

and White Lotus, but like, there's a Jackie

9:55

that like, had the same career as Michelle

9:58

Monaghan, right? So, well, except I did. But

10:00

then she would have known who

10:02

shot the buff was. And okay,

10:04

anyway, go ahead. I cannot cite

10:06

my source because I forget where

10:08

I heard it. But somebody said

10:10

Michelle Monaghan is doing a great

10:12

Jennifer Aniston on the White Lotus.

10:14

And now that is in my

10:16

head, that's all I see. And

10:18

we know she's a TV star

10:20

and she's very famous and successful.

10:22

Yeah, yeah. It's the hair especially

10:24

that I'm like, oh, yeah, she

10:26

is just. kind of Jennifer Aniston.

10:28

So maybe Jacqueline's career is more

10:30

Jennifer Aniston. Yes. She's starring, she's

10:32

taking a break at the White

10:34

Lotus in between seasons of the

10:36

morning show. But also having been

10:38

the star of a huge successful

10:40

team show at some point in

10:42

her past because she's like in

10:44

her 40s or around 50. So

10:46

she's had time to do multiple

10:48

things. Indeed, indeed. Anyway, just some

10:50

fun follow-up from last week. Okay,

10:52

let's talk about season 3 episode

10:54

6 of the White Lotus Denials.

10:56

Sarah Mara's overall thoughts on the

10:58

episode. I really like

11:00

it. We are now, the roller

11:03

coaster is speeding downhill. All of

11:05

that momentum we've been building, it's

11:07

all coming out, things are happening,

11:10

realizations are being made, there are,

11:12

people are stirring the pot, like

11:14

it's all happening. This episode also

11:16

has such a beautiful moment with

11:19

the Buddhist monk that I think

11:21

is one of the stellar. I

11:23

don't think it'll get as much

11:25

attention to Sam Rockwell's monologue because

11:28

it's not as sort of like

11:30

jaw-droppingly out of nowhere. But I

11:32

thought his conversation with Timothy was

11:35

such a beautiful moment and had

11:37

such a beautiful concept of life

11:39

and death that was really nice.

11:41

I enjoyed the episode as well.

11:44

You know, I started the couple

11:46

episodes of this podcast to go

11:48

talking about how, oh, it's really

11:50

great that every episode of White

11:53

Lotus is like a full day

11:55

in these people's lives. That is

11:57

basically completely broken at this point

11:59

because, you know, we got, we

12:02

didn't get too night in this

12:04

episode. You know, the timing is

12:06

now all like time shifted. I'm

12:09

really frustrated to get to see

12:11

that dinner at Gary Greg's house.

12:13

Really looking forward to that. But

12:15

otherwise, fun episode, some interesting developments

12:18

occur and as you indicate, things

12:20

really start to accelerate in a

12:22

very occasionally unfortunate, occasionally terrifying way.

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Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.

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to do at mintmobile.com. of

14:03

creating shock in the audience. You're

14:05

better than this Mike White. That was

14:08

my reaction to the opening

14:10

scene of this week's episode. Sarah

14:12

Mars, do you have the same

14:14

negative reaction as I do? Not entirely

14:16

because if Timothy actually does

14:18

die, whether by his own hand or as

14:21

part of the shooting that we know is

14:23

coming, I was like, it

14:25

would be interesting if

14:27

he imagined his family

14:29

having this hysterical reaction,

14:31

and then it actually

14:33

happens, and they're just

14:35

like, oh no. It would be that would sort

14:37

of pay it off in a way that

14:39

I think would be fun and interesting and

14:42

very dark Yes, yes, well, I think

14:44

what's clear is whenever a show or

14:46

movie shows you something like a dream

14:48

sequence We know that something like it

14:50

will likely not actually happen in the

14:52

story because otherwise they wouldn't have shown

14:55

you the dream sequence Yeah, although Timothy

14:57

dying in a terrorist attack on a

14:59

five-star resort Would be one way for

15:01

the ratless to get out of that

15:03

financial situation That is technically

15:05

true what you're saying. There

15:08

would be nobody to charge.

15:10

Yeah. Oh yeah. Actually, you know, that

15:12

raises this prospect of like,

15:14

there have been many instances

15:17

in the past where somebody

15:19

who has like, what's his name? The

15:21

Enron guy, right? Like, I don't

15:23

want to get his name wrong,

15:26

but basically like the guy in

15:28

charge of Enron. Was it Bernie Madoff?

15:30

It was one of those big guys. It

15:32

was the Enron guy. I believe it

15:34

was the skilling guy because he was

15:37

the brother of the longtime meteorologist in

15:39

Chicago. I don't think he was the CEO.

15:41

I think he might have been the CFO

15:43

or somehow in charge of money and he

15:45

did die by suicide and I mean they just

15:47

all kind of went away. So I think

15:50

that's correct what you're saying, but

15:52

also people who are committed of

15:54

these like or found guilty of

15:56

these like incredibly intense financial crimes.

15:58

they often commit suicide. I do generally think

16:01

it's all a dream is always

16:03

cheap. Anyway, but suffice to

16:05

say like many of these

16:07

people like find it easier

16:09

to like for themselves and

16:11

their loved ones that the

16:13

circumstances are quote unquote better

16:15

if they off themselves. I

16:17

do generally think it's all a

16:19

dream is always cheap. Yes. I

16:22

think it's always an easy out

16:24

of a difficult thing to think

16:26

about or to to portray or whatever,

16:28

but I do think like we still

16:30

have two more episodes, we do not

16:32

know what's going to happen, and there's

16:35

a chance that Mike White might use

16:37

that as a piece in a thing an

16:39

hour or two away from now. So we'll

16:41

just, I mean, like there's ways to pay

16:43

things off that make them work, but

16:45

just as like a one off in this

16:47

episode, I was like, oh, it's all

16:49

a dream. Okay. Yeah. Pretty irritating.

16:52

I don't like it when that

16:54

happens, but yeah. Later, Timothy Victoria

16:56

and Loughlin accompany Piper to the

16:59

Buddhist meditation center where Timothy talks

17:01

to the monkey in charge who

17:03

shares an interconnected view of life and

17:06

death that visibly moves Timothy. And

17:08

Piper and Lockey decide to spend

17:10

the night at the center. Elsewhere

17:12

in the Ratliff family, Saxon comes

17:14

to grips with his three-some with Chloe

17:17

and Loughlin. So, yeah, I mean, we got

17:19

to talk about this, Sarah Mars. I know

17:21

okay this this stuff

17:23

I like the way

17:25

this information is revealed

17:27

I actually thought was

17:30

good like the Having a

17:32

dream sequence about the

17:34

murder suicide like I'm

17:36

not a fan of that,

17:39

but like first they show

17:41

you Like a memory of

17:43

Loughlin and Chloe in

17:45

bed together and it

17:47

seems as though Saxon is

17:50

lying in bed pleasuring himself,

17:52

like next to them, which

17:54

is already pretty troubling.

17:56

But then later you find out,

17:58

as the episode goes on, that it's

18:00

actually Lachlin that was pleasureing Saxon

18:02

in bed. So the show really

18:04

went there. And yeah, I guess,

18:07

what's your reaction to that, Sarah

18:09

Mars? I mean, from, again, from

18:11

the first episode, we knew this

18:13

family does not have healthy boundaries.

18:15

Saxon was being inappropriate with his

18:17

siblings. He's too interested in their

18:19

sex lives. this was kind of,

18:21

it was very foreshadow that something

18:24

like this was going to happen.

18:26

I actually think like of all

18:28

the disaster scenarios, I was catastrophizing

18:30

for Lachlin, going out with his

18:32

brother to party in Thailand. I'm

18:34

like, I mean, they both went

18:36

home alive. This isn't the worst

18:38

outcome I imagined. I think it

18:40

was really well done that we

18:43

assume so much about Saxon all

18:45

the way through the series and

18:47

then this episode. He realizes right

18:49

away something inappropriate happened. He wakes

18:51

up naked with his younger brother

18:53

who was also naked and is

18:55

immediately like, oh no, what happened.

18:57

And throughout the episode, he is

19:00

thinking about that night and coming

19:02

to realize that it was Lachlan

19:04

who was getting him off. I'm

19:06

a little bit like sex and

19:08

when it was clear your brother

19:10

was gonna have sex with the

19:12

French lady, why didn't you leave

19:14

the room? Again, boundaries. They need

19:16

them. To be fair, he was

19:19

on an unknown drug, but I

19:21

think, here's my question for you,

19:23

Sarah, is, do you think that

19:25

Saxon has legitimately bothered himself by

19:27

it, or is he just bothered

19:29

that people will know about it

19:31

and tell other people about it?

19:33

You know, I think he's legitimately

19:36

bothered by it. I think he's

19:38

legitimately like, that was a red

19:40

line. I think in his mind...

19:42

He thinks joking about Piper being

19:44

a virgin and Lachlan needs to

19:46

get laid and all of that.

19:48

And masturbating to pornography in front

19:50

of his brother? Like, I think

19:52

in his mind those are all

19:55

like jokes or especially regarding Lachlan.

19:57

I think he's like, I think

19:59

he. imagines himself as setting some

20:01

kind of standard for his younger

20:03

brother to follow. And we do

20:05

see again in this episode, Laughlin

20:07

being a little bit torn between

20:09

his two siblings, like he's gone

20:12

out and partied with Saxon and

20:14

this thing has happened and then

20:16

now he's going to the monastery

20:18

with Piper and that's like the

20:20

other side of him. So we

20:22

continue to see that duality where

20:24

he hasn't really chosen his path

20:26

yet. But I do think Saxon

20:28

is legitimately realizing... something has happened

20:31

that should not have happened, and

20:33

it's not good that it happened,

20:35

and I can't undo it, which

20:37

it might be the first time

20:39

in Saxon's life that he's ever

20:41

had that thought. There's a consequence

20:43

to this that he cannot, like

20:45

his, even if nobody ever knows,

20:48

except for him and Lachlin and,

20:50

you know, Chloe, who doesn't seem

20:52

like she'd probably say anything, even

20:54

if nobody ever knows, a piper

20:56

never finds out, his relationship with

20:58

Lachlin will always be different. And

21:00

I think he's realizing all, I

21:02

think throughout the episode, it is

21:04

Saxon making those realizations in real

21:07

time. And on the other hand,

21:09

like the heel turn of Lachlin,

21:11

you know, he's such a little

21:13

innocent baby, a little deer in

21:15

the woods, and then it's like,

21:17

I mean, he was fully participating

21:19

in that also. So there's something

21:21

wrong with Lachlin, too. Piper might

21:24

be the only one question mark.

21:26

I'm going to put this out

21:28

there that I think for a

21:30

section probably the loss of control

21:33

of his body and autonomy is

21:35

probably something that is equally scary

21:37

to him as the idea of

21:39

him actually jerking off or getting

21:41

jerked off by his brother. You

21:43

know he had this whole code

21:45

of like I never take drugs

21:47

I am the drug right like

21:49

he and so the idea that

21:51

he blacked out I think he

21:54

probably rarely does that is my

21:56

guess like I think there's something

21:58

there's a probably kind of asceticism

22:00

body optimization I'm going to like

22:02

refine my body and not put

22:04

alcohol and drugs into it. You

22:06

know, I'm drinking shakes all the

22:08

time, like, that the idea that

22:10

he lost control is probably just

22:12

as terrifying to him as that

22:15

he committed an act of incest.

22:17

And I wondered if he felt,

22:19

I hesitate to use the R

22:21

word with it, but like I

22:23

wonder if he felt violated to

22:25

an extent that when he thought

22:27

it was a woman. you

22:30

know, getting him off while his

22:32

brother's having sex next to him.

22:34

That's still weird and inappropriate and

22:36

shouldn't happen. Your siblings should not

22:38

be involved in your sex life

22:40

in any way, shape, or form.

22:42

But it's, I wonder if he

22:44

thought that was one thing and

22:46

then just realizing it was Loughlin,

22:48

I wonder if that felt like

22:50

a... violation in a way that

22:52

not only is he dealing with

22:54

the loss of like the loss

22:56

of control of oh I took

22:58

this drug I got drunk I

23:00

blacked out that's one level of

23:02

control but there's also the violation

23:04

of somebody did something to my

23:06

body that I did not want

23:08

them to do and maybe that

23:10

he didn't really even fully consent

23:12

to doing because he was in

23:14

a blackout state when it was

23:16

happening. Tell me as

23:18

you follow, tell me as you follow

23:20

on this, Sarah, or if I'm just

23:23

reaching, you know, too far as it

23:25

were, to use a phrase, turn a

23:27

phrase. Like, there is a lot of,

23:30

like a lot of like pornographic fantasies

23:32

involve like stepsisters or sisters or people

23:34

who are related to each other in

23:36

some way. And I do find it

23:39

interesting that basically this is a prestige

23:41

TV drama that's like. playing out what

23:43

that would actually look like, and it's

23:46

horrifying. And it's upsetting, you know, and

23:48

I just think that there's a kind

23:50

of, there's almost a subversive aspect to

23:52

it being a subplot in this season

23:55

of the White Lois. Yeah, maybe. I

23:57

will say they're full, they're full brothers,

23:59

they're not stepbrothers. Do you remember that

24:02

when they made the Brady Bunch movie

24:04

in the, I'm going to say late

24:06

90s, early 2000s, there was a whole

24:09

subplot where the oldest son and daughter

24:11

is that Peter Brady and who's the

24:13

sure Jan, I forget her name, Christine

24:15

Taylor played her, but they have like

24:18

a whole little crush on each other.

24:20

in that movie and their step siblings

24:22

and they have a whole little crush

24:25

on it and that was a family

24:27

friendly comedy that incorporated step siblings having

24:29

a crush on each other. I mean

24:31

obviously it's in the Royal Tenen bombs

24:34

too but in the Royal Tenen bombs

24:36

they acknowledge we can't do this this

24:38

cannot be we just have to love

24:41

each other silently from a distance because

24:43

I mean they're step siblings but it's

24:45

like we can't We can't add this

24:48

to the mix our families fucked up

24:50

enough Yeah, it's I I don't know

24:52

I think it's just very like this

24:54

I think it's just the furthest down

24:57

the line you can take This family

24:59

is so messed up they materially they

25:01

have everything they have money they have

25:04

influence they have status assuming they have

25:06

power or at least Timothy has power

25:08

And Saxon's just a disaster human. Chelsea

25:10

straight up says to his face, you

25:13

are soulless. And he looks gutted when

25:15

she says that to him. I don't

25:17

think Saxon has ever looked in the

25:20

mirror and thought of himself as anything

25:22

less than like an A plus human.

25:24

And now something has happened that has

25:27

made him feel outside of himself. It

25:29

has made him feel strange, makes him

25:31

feel bad in a way that he's

25:33

probably never felt bad before. And Chelsea

25:36

straight up saying to him, you are

25:38

soulless. And the look on Patrick's, that

25:40

moment of acting, the look on his

25:43

face, is he, you can just see

25:45

that like Saxon's self image is just.

25:47

deteriorating right there. Well what's amazing about

25:49

that line is she says it's such

25:52

so glibly like she's she's not even

25:54

trying to destroy his world or anything

25:56

she's like oh yeah like she states

25:59

it very matter of factly and there's

26:01

really no good comeback for anything like

26:03

that you know what I'm saying like

26:06

if somebody says that you what do

26:08

you what do you say to that

26:10

like I have a soul you know

26:12

like it doesn't it really does a

26:15

great job of reducing down one of

26:17

the things I also like about this

26:19

season that is I think The Patrick

26:22

Schwarzenegger performance is so good, people just

26:24

think that's the guy. You know what

26:26

I mean? Like people just think that's

26:29

who he is. And in fact, as

26:31

far as we know, that's not the

26:33

type of person he is. He seems

26:35

like a very pleasant and fine young

26:38

man. on mine. But I do think

26:40

it's hilarious that Banana Republic is fully

26:42

selling a tie-in line of clothes with

26:45

Patrick Schwarzenegger as the model. It is

26:47

literally Banana Republic and the White Lotus

26:49

collaborating on a capsule collection. And I'm

26:51

like, I do not think you want,

26:54

did you see a script? Do you

26:56

know who is the, I would rather

26:58

Walton Goggins be modeling because he, I

27:01

will wear his weird little goggl glasses

27:03

because they just look cool. He makes

27:05

everything look cool. a nightmare, but in

27:08

a republic, did you know what the

27:10

character was when you agreed to have

27:12

him be the face of this campaign?

27:14

Do you want to wear the same

27:17

clothes that Saxon was wearing when he

27:19

made out with his brother? Like, the

27:21

answer for many people is yes. I

27:24

have to say, in terms of costuming

27:26

this season and enviable clothes, I feel

27:28

like there was some... some enviable clothes

27:30

in season one. There were more in

27:33

season two. I feel like there are

27:35

outfits every episode. Belinda and her patterns,

27:37

banger every time. The three pool ladies

27:40

and their various swimsuits and what the

27:42

type of swimsuit they wear says about

27:44

them and their body image and how

27:47

they feel about themselves, killer. Lachlin's little

27:49

alligator print shirt that he had on

27:51

at the beginning of this episode. I

27:53

was like, I would fully wear that.

27:56

If Banana Republic was selling the alligator

27:58

shirt, I would wear it in a

28:00

heartbeat. But no, Saxon is just, the

28:03

fact that he's the face of that

28:05

campaign, I'm like, I get it because

28:07

he's like six foot 14 and he's

28:09

very handsome and all of that. But

28:12

I'm like, did you really know what

28:14

you were getting when you made him

28:16

the face of the campaign? Before we

28:19

move off this topic, I think I

28:21

just want to mention or just point

28:23

out that like, yes, this is three

28:26

characters engaging in the three of whom

28:28

are brothers. and that is deeply upsetting

28:30

and generally not what we see on

28:32

television. But I also feel like Mike

28:35

White is really playing with the line

28:37

of what the audience is willing to

28:39

accept because like they had a three-some

28:42

there's no doubt about that but like

28:44

you know there were other sexual acts

28:46

that could have been depicted that they

28:48

chose not to go with right? And

28:51

I feel like if they had gone

28:53

more in that direction like... It would

28:55

be so shocking that it would take

28:58

over the entire discourse. Maybe it will

29:00

be like we're recording this shortly after

29:02

the episode aired. So like, who knows,

29:05

maybe this will be what people are

29:07

talking about forever. But I guess I

29:09

feel like the set, just the sexual

29:11

act specifically that was chosen is such

29:14

that he can like walk right up

29:16

to the line of like what will

29:18

cause people to like turn on the

29:21

show. and not cross over it. That's

29:23

my postulation. What did I say from

29:25

the first moment? Is this Mike White

29:27

trying to get his show canceled? Yeah.

29:30

And now I'm wondering, as we go

29:32

into the first 24 hours after this

29:34

episode airs, I'm like, how many men

29:37

are about to tell on themselves with

29:39

how they react to this? Like, by

29:41

playing it up or down, I'm like,

29:44

I'm very interested, I'm very interested, I'm

29:46

very interested to know. How many men

29:48

are maybe going to reveal something they

29:50

didn't mean to in the way that

29:53

they discussed this episode? How so, sir?

29:55

I don't understand your innuendo there. What

29:57

do you mean by that? Just say

30:00

it plainly. I wonder how many guys

30:02

would be like, well, haven't you ever?

30:04

And it's like. Who among us hasn't

30:06

fantasized about having a three-some with their

30:09

brother? It just reminds me of like,

30:11

when I was in college, I ran

30:13

into a guy that I went to

30:16

summer camp with. So I only saw

30:18

him a few weeks every year for

30:20

a few years when we were kids

30:23

and then. ran into each other in

30:25

college, we're catching up, we're getting to

30:27

know each other as mostly adults. And

30:29

some of the shit, he said, was

30:32

going on on the boy's side of

30:34

camp. And he's like, what was it

30:36

like on the girl's side? I was

30:39

like, well, we were literally painting each

30:41

other's toenails and braiding each other's hair.

30:43

That's really all we were up to.

30:45

When we got a little bit older,

30:48

we would sneak out and smoke cigarettes

30:50

and smoke cigarettes. Like behind the whole.

30:52

But he was talking about some wild

30:55

sexual shit happening on the boy side,

30:57

just amongst the boys. And I was

30:59

like, no, the worst thing that we

31:02

did was, and it was as small

31:04

as camp, it's not like there were

31:06

a big enough clicks, oh, somebody could

31:08

have been up something you didn't know

31:11

about. It's like, no, you kind of

31:13

knew what everybody except, girls side, boy

31:15

side, there wasn't a lot of contact.

31:18

So they were upset. they were up

31:20

some stuff and then I was like

31:22

we were we were really just kind

31:24

of doing sleep over things and then

31:27

later we were kind of smoking cigarettes

31:29

and that was it well and then

31:31

he was like oh I thought you

31:34

were having crazy like pillow fights like

31:36

they depicted 70s comedies and I was

31:38

like no that wasn't happening on our

31:41

side of camp. We were the calm

31:43

peaceful side, I guess. I think what's

31:45

clear is that, you know, the white

31:47

lotus makes clear is something we all

31:50

know, which is that the male sexuality

31:52

left unchecked can be a upsetting thing.

31:54

Upsetting thing. Well, and we'll play into

31:57

that that emailers comment about, you know,

31:59

what will men do? How far will

32:01

they go to preserve their self-image as

32:03

a masculine figure? I am like, okay,

32:06

so what are Saxon and Lachlin about

32:08

to do to reinforce their self-images because

32:10

this event has stirred up that water?

32:13

And are they really ready to look

32:15

in the mirror and realize, like, is

32:17

Saxon going to go, you know what?

32:20

I think I need therapy. I think

32:22

I need to go home and

32:24

like... get a therapist and talk some

32:26

stuff out? Or is he going to

32:29

double down on the protein bro

32:31

stuff and just become worse?

32:33

We will see. We'll see. But let

32:35

us know what your thoughts and

32:37

reactions were to that scene in

32:39

the comments or at

32:42

decoding TV at gmail.com. Moving

32:44

on, speaking of the

32:46

Ratliss, Guytalk successfully retrieves

32:49

the gun from the

32:51

Ratliff's apartment. Thus ending Vichkovian threat

32:53

in Timothy's drawer, he also has

32:56

his first shooting lesson and secures

32:58

a date with MOOC. I just

33:00

want to say I love that Guy Talk goes

33:02

looking for the gun, he sees the sort

33:04

of chest of drawers, and then first try,

33:06

it's right there, and like the viewer expects,

33:08

oh, there's going to be a scene of

33:10

him like rapidly like looking through all the

33:12

things, and, but instead it's just like, no,

33:14

first try he got to, he nailed it, he

33:16

nailed it right, right, right away, right away, and

33:19

that, and that, and that. is just a

33:21

fun way of subverting that trope. I

33:23

also really enjoyed the fact that

33:25

when he's walking out, he's like staring

33:27

at the reckless, but they don't look

33:29

at him, which makes sense because they

33:31

would not look at, you know, servants,

33:34

basically. And like, they would never

33:36

make eye contact with those people.

33:38

And so I enjoyed that as

33:40

a character moment as well. But

33:42

anyway, fun stuff. Also, apparently Guy Talk,

33:44

not too bad with a gun. So, yeah. Any

33:47

thoughts about the Guy Talk plot

33:49

line this episode? It's so stretched

33:51

out. I mean, it really felt

33:53

like it just, this is a

33:55

little bit my issue with the season

33:58

as a whole and I think. the

34:00

writing is good and the acting

34:02

is so good and so much

34:04

of the show is just a

34:06

it's just a kind of a

34:08

pleasure to watch. It's not like

34:10

I mind that we're kind of

34:12

treading a little bit of water

34:14

here and there but this plot

34:16

point of the gun going missing

34:18

and Guy Talk looking for the

34:20

gun. I'm like oh my god

34:23

why is this taking two full

34:25

hours to get through? I'm like

34:27

this is if I would be

34:29

interested to like put the last

34:31

episode in this episode into an

34:33

editing software. and just cut guy

34:35

toxins. I have a feeling it's

34:37

probably like sevenish minutes total out

34:39

of 64, 65 minutes of episode.

34:41

No, it would be 120, 25

34:43

minutes of episode. It is just,

34:45

it is just pulled taffy. It

34:47

is so thin. I'm glad he

34:49

got the gun back. I'm glad

34:51

it turns out he's a pretty

34:53

good shot. Feels like that might

34:55

be relevant soon. But I also

34:58

was just like, wow, we really

35:00

stretched this out. This was really,

35:02

it kind of says to me

35:04

that Mike White doesn't really have

35:06

a lot for these characters to

35:08

do and kind of bringing me

35:10

back to the point of maybe

35:12

you need a collaborator because I

35:14

felt like in the first and

35:16

second seasons, the staff were much

35:18

more effectively. integrated into the sort

35:20

of upstairs, downstairs form of the

35:22

narrative. And this season, it feels

35:24

very upstairs heavy, especially because Belinda

35:26

is in this like work exchange

35:28

program where she is a staff

35:31

member, but she's indulging in the

35:33

same sort of experiences. She's eating

35:35

in the dining room with other

35:37

guests. She's in this kind of

35:39

like strange limbo, like liminal space

35:41

between the two. She feels more

35:43

upstairs this season because she is

35:45

out with guests in a way

35:47

that she wasn't necessarily in the

35:49

first season. So it just kind

35:51

of feels like Mike White doesn't

35:53

really have a lot for Lisa

35:55

and I'm very sorry I cannot

35:57

pronounce his name but Time A,

35:59

the actor. They just don't have

36:01

a ton to do and their

36:03

plot just feels very, very thin,

36:06

very, very stretched. And that's where

36:08

it's like maybe a Thai collaborator

36:10

to weigh in on the experience

36:12

of living in a place. Because

36:14

these resorts, I mean, there are

36:16

ways to travel with more ethical

36:18

intention of not screwing up local

36:20

economies, but these kinds of resorts

36:22

really warp. the local socioeconomic dynamics.

36:24

And I feel like we saw

36:26

a lot of that in Hawaii,

36:28

and we saw a lot of

36:30

it in Sicily, where the locals

36:32

just don't really have good employment

36:34

opportunities. If they don't want to

36:36

work for the resort, there's not

36:39

a lot going on, and thus

36:41

they become scammers. But this season,

36:43

I feel like we're not really

36:45

seeing a good, clear picture of.

36:47

how the White Lotus is messing

36:49

up the local economy and the

36:51

local socioeconomic world of at least

36:53

this island, if not Thailand at

36:55

large. They talk about it. They

36:57

talk about all the shady Americans

36:59

who come to Thailand to hide

37:01

because they're in trouble back home,

37:03

but we're not really seeing the

37:05

same level of narrative integration. And

37:07

I feel like this Guy Talk

37:09

storyline is a perfect illustration of

37:11

like there is not much here.

37:14

This is very thin. There's not

37:16

a lot of meat on this

37:18

bone and we are just stretching

37:20

it out to make it feel

37:22

more important than it really is

37:24

because two hours later we are

37:26

in the same place Timothy did

37:28

not die by suicide. The gun

37:30

is back in the drawer and

37:32

no one is the wiser except

37:34

Guy Talk and eventually presumably Timothy.

37:36

It just feels like, wow, what

37:38

was that all, what was that?

37:40

It was something for Guy Talk

37:42

to do for two hours. Well,

37:44

let's hope it pays off in

37:46

some better way than what you're

37:49

indicating, but I would agree, I

37:51

tend to agree with you so

37:53

far. On a much lighter note,

37:55

but Linda awakes... with poor and

37:57

shy as her son Zion arrives

37:59

from Hawaii, it's a purely screwball

38:01

moment of scrambling not to be

38:03

discovered after having slept with someone.

38:05

And in a demonstration of the

38:07

healthiest family dynamic seen on White

38:09

Lotus, Zion's just happy that his

38:11

mother is happy, apparently for the

38:13

first time in a while. Also,

38:15

poor and shy proposes opening a

38:17

spot together in Thailand. So we'll

38:19

see if that works out. But

38:22

anyway, a fun moment, it's nice,

38:24

it's sweet, it's cute. I don't

38:26

know that we have anything else

38:28

to say at this point about

38:30

that. All right, Kate, apparently up

38:32

early for a phone call from

38:34

home, sees Valentin leaving Jacqueline's room.

38:36

This opens 30 years of resentment

38:38

and anger amongst the friends, hinting

38:40

at long-established dynamics and behaviors that

38:42

are not uplifting any of these

38:44

women. Jacqueline points out that she

38:46

deals with enough gossip in her

38:48

life without her gossiping about her

38:50

too. And Jacqueline also has a

38:52

chance to connect with her husband

38:54

this episode. We learned that he

38:57

was on set and his phone

38:59

died. I don't know if that's

39:01

true, but whatever. But it is

39:03

what she thought. Her initial thought

39:05

was he must be on set.

39:07

And then she works herself up

39:09

into this lather and then she

39:11

cheats on him. And it's like,

39:13

oh, Jacqueline, self-fulfilling prophecy. I gotta

39:15

say, I wasn't a fan of

39:17

how Lori conducted herself this episode,

39:19

the kara kood character. I mean,

39:21

she broke girl code, first of

39:23

all, by like... Telling Jacqueline that

39:25

like Leslie Bib's character told her

39:27

about you know, like that's not

39:30

cool You know, I mean, like

39:32

she can she can ruin her

39:34

own relationship with Jacqueline but like

39:36

then dragging Leslie Bib's character down

39:38

with her as well. I will

39:40

say Girl Code whatever like there's

39:42

far fewer there's far fewer rules

39:44

than people think I will say,

39:46

yeah, Lori was being a bitch,

39:48

but Jacqueline also did the thing

39:50

she was pushing balance and she

39:52

did keep saying to Lori like

39:54

you're single you should go after

39:56

him he's hot have a vacation

39:58

fleeing and then she's the one

40:00

who sleeps with him and Lori

40:02

indicates that this has been the

40:05

dynamic which I also picked up

40:07

on earlier was oh Jacqueline sleeps

40:09

with all the boys Lori likes

40:11

I think Jacqueline and Lori are

40:13

very sort of like type A

40:15

Alpha types. And if they were

40:17

in separate friend groups, they would

40:19

each be the leader of their

40:21

friend group, but it being in

40:23

the same friend group, they're put

40:25

into conflict with one another. And

40:27

Kate's kind of caught in the

40:29

middle, but I will say that type of person

40:31

that Kate is. The reason I don't like have

40:34

a ton of sympathy for being outed

40:36

as the one gossiping is because A,

40:38

she was the one gossiping. If Kate

40:40

was a real one, she would have

40:42

kept her trap her trap shut. If

40:44

you want to talk girl code, the

40:46

real girl code is taking that to

40:48

the grave. And the fact that, and

40:50

Kate, if you notice, she gossips with

40:53

Jacqueline about Lori, she gossips with Lori

40:55

about Jacqueline, the only time

40:57

they gossip with each other

40:59

about Kate is when she

41:01

more or less admitted devoting

41:03

for Trump. And quite frankly,

41:05

the world we live in, everybody would

41:07

talk shit about that. So that, but

41:09

they're not really. And you could say,

41:12

well, it's because she's married and her

41:14

life seems fairly normal, fairly stable. There's

41:16

maybe not that much to gossip about.

41:18

Like, Jacqueline's got this Hollywood life. Lori's

41:20

life is maybe a little bit not

41:23

working out in the moment. She didn't

41:25

get a promotion. Her daughter's a little

41:27

off the rails, whatever. But I do

41:29

think like the Cape friend. that middle friend,

41:31

that friend that somehow is always

41:33

in the center of all the

41:35

drama, but never the direct cause

41:38

of the drama, but there's always

41:40

a lot of drama. That person

41:42

is sometimes the most toxic in

41:44

the group. And that's why I'm like,

41:46

Lori outing her as the one who

41:49

gossiped, but she gossiped. So I

41:51

mean, and she does, like she's gossiping

41:53

about both of them behind their

41:55

backs. I am loving the writing

41:57

in this subplot, like, like, just...

42:00

When Jacqueline is confronted,

42:02

she denies, she deflects,

42:04

because Karakoon's character wants

42:06

to have a real genuine moment,

42:09

right? She wants to be like, hey, like,

42:11

you did the thing, it's okay, let's

42:13

talk about it, and Jacqueline is

42:15

just will not acknowledge the truth

42:17

of what actually happened, and

42:20

that strikes me as very

42:22

believable. So I really, really am

42:24

loving this subplot, I think

42:26

it's just beautifully written enacted.

42:30

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43:35

Before we get to our final two

43:37

subplots here in this episode, I want

43:40

to mention one quick thing, which is

43:42

that, hey, many people are watching our

43:44

conversations here on YouTube at youtube.com/at decoding

43:47

TV. But according to my metrics, a

43:49

significant portion of you are not subscribed.

43:51

We strongly recommend you subscribe. Give

43:53

us a like if you're enjoying our

43:56

conversations. You'll get many more conversations in

43:58

the future. We're covering... right now. We're

44:00

covering Last of us in the future. We're

44:03

covering and or in the future. So

44:05

be sure to subscribe wherever you get

44:07

your podcast or on YouTube and you'll

44:09

get more of these chats as they come

44:11

along Sarah Mars. Where can people find

44:13

more of your work on the internet?

44:15

You can find my work online

44:17

Laney gossip.com or the Substat, The Squawk.

44:20

All right. Just a couple of other

44:22

plotlines this episode. Back in Bangkok,

44:24

Rick meets with Shritalah about his

44:26

movie, quote unquote, and engages his

44:29

friend Frank to help him with

44:31

the Roos by pretending to be

44:33

a film director. Rick promises the

44:35

situation will not get messy,

44:38

so that means it will probably

44:40

get messy. The two head to

44:42

Shritalah and Jim's house for their fateful

44:44

meeting, and Rick promises to not bring

44:46

a gun, then he brings a

44:48

gun. Probably some weird stuff is

44:50

going to happen, but I'm... really

44:53

excited to see what happens and

44:55

it's a little bit maddening that

44:57

they cut off the episode right

44:59

before we get to this meeting.

45:01

Any thoughts on this subplot

45:03

Sarah Mars? Not so much a thought

45:05

but a postulation. Jim is

45:07

Rick's dad, right? Like that's what's gonna

45:10

be... I mean the ages of

45:12

the actor's workouts, like it's just

45:14

gonna it's just gonna be Jim,

45:16

like when he was retelling... We

45:18

come in on the moment with

45:20

Rick and Frank where he's

45:23

told Frank his story. I

45:25

have to ask though, I have to

45:27

ask, do you know for a fact

45:29

whether or not that's true?

45:31

Oh, this is where the

45:33

screener stopped. Oh, I've not seen the

45:36

last two episodes. Oh, wow. Okay, yeah.

45:38

I thought you had seen the first

45:40

seven. I thought you'd see the first

45:42

seven. Okay, no. Six. So this is

45:44

where we're all caught up in. I've

45:46

always thought what this story he has

45:48

about this man who killed my father

45:50

and all of these things and ruined

45:52

my life. I'm like, that's not going

45:54

to be the truth. Like that's a

45:56

story your mom told you and your

45:58

world is about to be upended. because

46:00

that's the type of show the white

46:02

lotus is, but then I was like,

46:05

oh, it's just, it's going to be

46:07

that Jim is his dad. That's what

46:09

it's going to be. Yeah, it's going

46:11

to be a Darth Vader style. In

46:14

a way, I did kill your dad

46:16

from a certain point of view, you

46:18

know, like, perhaps I think that's very

46:21

possible. It's either going to be what

46:23

you said, or it's going to be

46:25

he didn't actually kill his dad, that

46:27

there was some other explanation. for what

46:30

happened with his dad. He's not even

46:32

gonna know who Rick's dad is. If

46:34

he's not Rick's dad, he's gonna have

46:37

no idea what Rick is talking about.

46:39

I think what I'm looking for in

46:41

the Rick storyline is some reckoning with

46:43

the idea that Rick actually, like Rick

46:46

is like this guy ruined my life

46:48

and like Rick's storyline to me this

46:50

season has felt like he needs to

46:53

reckon with the fact that like ultimately

46:55

you are more in control of your

46:57

life than you're letting on. Right, like,

47:00

people have had tragedies happen to them

47:02

and it hasn't ruined their life. And

47:04

so, like, I'm curious, like, how that's

47:06

going to reflect on what Rick's journey

47:09

is this season. Well, and it feels

47:11

like that would fit into the idea

47:13

of, um, sort of self and identity

47:16

and, yeah, determinism. Also, I am subplot

47:18

to that still, like, Chelsea, like, what's

47:20

the reason? What's going on here? Why

47:22

is he your soulmate? Why? What? I

47:25

mean, please show me, tell me whatever.

47:27

Like just, why? So yeah, no, I

47:29

do think there's resolution to be had

47:32

about his sense of self and his

47:34

identity and how this story ties into,

47:36

he's clearly blaming this event for his

47:38

life not turning out in some way.

47:41

Yeah. I'm like, well, you can afford

47:43

the flight lotus. You can afford flights

47:45

to Bangkok on short notice. Rick, you

47:48

seem to be doing okay on some

47:50

level. Like what has gone so wrong?

47:52

We know so little about Rick's background.

47:55

Really, all we know is that he

47:57

says this. man killed my father and

47:59

that has ruined my life and that's

48:01

kind of all we know for sure

48:04

everything else is sort of a big

48:06

question mark and I'm like I'm gonna

48:08

start needing some answers on some of

48:11

this stuff and like yeah what happens

48:13

with Jim and his identity and all

48:15

of that but also like why Chelsea

48:17

are you so devoted to this man

48:20

who was so mean to you? We'll

48:22

see if we get any answers but

48:24

we're at two episodes left so I'm

48:27

not sure it might be a mystery

48:29

for the rest of the time. Finally,

48:31

Gary Gregg is hosting a dinner party

48:33

and Belinda is smart enough not to

48:36

go. But he does invite everyone else

48:38

apparently in the resort. He invites Sack's,

48:40

he confronts Chloe and he says like,

48:43

which one of the brothers did you

48:45

hook up with? And she tells them,

48:47

I think she tells him both of

48:50

them basically, but definitely Saxon. And so

48:52

they're both invited and it seems like.

48:54

section is going to go probably I

48:56

don't think Laughlin's going to go because

48:59

he's at the meditation retreat. Unclear who

49:01

it's going to be but I also

49:03

don't think anyone dies at this thing

49:06

like it's trying to make it out

49:08

to be really menacing and threatening like

49:10

something like that but like the sort

49:12

of mass shooting that we see in

49:15

the first episode happens in the morning

49:17

so like I'm guessing it's like unless

49:19

it's a really long dinner party I

49:22

don't think that's the thing that causes

49:24

The Mastiff. It just feels like the

49:26

setup of a knives out movie. Yeah,

49:28

perhaps. It feels like this is the

49:31

dinner party where somebody dies and they

49:33

call Benoit Blanc. That's all. But I'd

49:35

be surprised if we even see the

49:38

dinner party. Like, we only have two

49:40

hours left. I don't know that we

49:42

have. And nobody wants to go. Nobody

49:45

Saxon's the only one who. For some

49:47

reason it wants to go. The show

49:49

is not going to turn down the

49:51

opportunity to give us an incredibly awkward

49:54

Gary Gregg, Chloe Saxon dinner. I think

49:56

we're definitely getting that scene. And it's

49:58

going to be, it's going to be.

50:01

gloriously awkward because I think, you know,

50:03

Gary Greg is operating at

50:05

a level that Saxon aspires

50:08

to, you know, like, Gary Greg

50:10

feels like somebody who has no

50:12

morality whatsoever and is

50:15

in a lot of control over

50:17

how he conducts his life

50:19

in a way that Saxon probably

50:21

aspires to. That's kind

50:24

of my... my feeling because I think Saxon

50:26

would be like, gur, if the situation

50:28

was reversed, Saxon would be like, gur,

50:30

you know, the guy needs to get

50:33

got, but like Gary Greg is like,

50:35

hey, come to dinner, let's talk this out,

50:37

you know, like, I'm, so I think

50:39

that'll be an interesting dynamic to watch.

50:41

Yeah, that's true. I will say like

50:43

when they show the shot of Chloe

50:45

walking out onto the Lanai of his

50:47

villa in the hills above the hills

50:49

above the resort, it is such a

50:52

spectacular view. I had this thought

50:54

of like this shot is sort

50:56

of the whole season, the

50:58

whole theme, because how can

51:00

you be so miserable when

51:02

you have this view, but this

51:05

this wealth warps people

51:07

in a way that

51:09

makes it almost seemingly

51:11

impossible for them to enjoy.

51:14

anything and like I get it

51:16

with Timothy because he is aware that

51:18

at home things are unraveling and his

51:20

life might be very very different and

51:22

his wife is over here saying I

51:25

don't think I can live an uncomfortable

51:27

life which is a super super dark

51:29

thing to hear your wife say when

51:31

you know there's a very very real

51:33

chance that an uncomfortable life is coming

51:35

her way but I saw that view and I

51:37

was like Every season of the

51:40

White Lotus, these people are in

51:42

the most spectacular, and I know

51:44

that's the whole point of the

51:46

show, it's the whole inspiration that

51:48

Mike White had, was people being

51:51

in these ludicrously beautiful locations and

51:53

having just the worst time. But I

51:55

just was like, you have, every day you

51:57

walk out and this is what you see, and

51:59

you are. so miserable you can't even

52:01

see it. And I'm like, that

52:03

is depressing. And whatever the line

52:05

of money is, where you stop

52:08

seeing the world around you, I'm

52:10

like, I don't, that's it, that's

52:12

the line. Like, there's some kind

52:14

of psychological study that's like money

52:16

can't by happiness. I'm like, no,

52:18

up to a point, it absolutely

52:21

does, because it relieves stress, it

52:23

removes burdens from your daily life.

52:25

But there is a tipping point

52:27

where you have so much money. and

52:29

then it becomes this weird otherness

52:31

and I'm like living in that

52:33

place having that view and being

52:35

unhappy is the other it's too

52:37

much money you have so much money

52:40

you can't enjoy life and I'm like

52:42

I just these people are so miserable

52:44

and they're in the most beautiful place

52:46

and they're all so unhappy and I'm

52:49

like whatever that line is whatever that

52:51

dollar amount is just want to be

52:53

right below it. I never want

52:55

to see a site as stunning as

52:57

the view from Jim's Lanai and

52:59

not take in the moment and

53:02

not be struck by the beauty of

53:04

the ocean and the world and

53:06

they just none of them see

53:08

it. None of them even look

53:10

at it. Chloe zones right in

53:12

on Gary Greg in the pool.

53:14

Gary Greg never even looks at

53:17

the view. They just take it

53:19

for granted in this way that

53:21

I'm like, ugh. Gilitines. Gilitines

53:23

for everybody. None of you

53:26

deserve this. I don't know. I

53:28

think I wouldn't go quite that

53:30

far. I think I agree with

53:33

him with Gary Gregg, but I

53:35

think Chloe definitely recognizes it because

53:37

she does have this scene where

53:39

she talks with her friend, right?

53:41

What's her name? Rick's girlfriend.

53:43

Chelsea. And... You know,

53:45

tells us like, hey, you can find someone else

53:48

and she's like, no, actually, this arrangement is like

53:50

pretty sweet, you know, like, I don't think I

53:52

could get another arrangement that's good for a while.

53:54

And I think when you see the swimming pool

53:56

and all that stuff, it's, it's really showing you

53:58

why she sticks around with this. guy who kind

54:00

of sucks. And that's what we're

54:03

missing with Chelsea. And is a

54:05

verified murderer. Right. That's what we're

54:07

missing with Chelsea. We're not seeing,

54:09

what is the view from Rick's,

54:11

whatever the quote of his line

54:13

is, his bounty, his backyard, his

54:15

porch, whatever, what is that backyard,

54:17

his porch, whatever, what is that

54:19

view that's keeping his backyard, his

54:22

porch, whatever, what is that view

54:24

that view that's just very rich

54:26

and is just very rich. But

54:28

she is afraid of losing it.

54:30

She's so afraid of losing it.

54:32

She's literally willing to stay with

54:34

someone that she fully believes is

54:36

capable of harming her. And that's

54:38

its own prison. That's its own

54:40

trap. And I'm just like, it's

54:43

the gilded cage. All of these

54:45

people are in this gilded cage.

54:47

And I'm just like, none of

54:49

you deserve this. All of you

54:51

are so awful and miserable. And

54:53

you don't even see what's in

54:55

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54:57

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