HBOThe guests at The White Lotus have been telling us a lot about themselves through the books they read in Season 3. But Lochlan’s A Wall of Ocean means more than you think.
Any good holiday is complete with a good book by the pool. But if you’re a fan of The White Lotus Season 3, you’ve likely picked up on the on-screen titles as scary foreshadowing.
In the season finale, this takes the form of Lochlan’s latest read, A Wall of Ocean. But this doesn’t exactly correspond to how our deceased characters were bumped off.
Or does it? We’ve got to do a bit of GCSE English analysis with this one, with the reason why A Wall of Ocean was the perfect choice for The White Lotus Season 3 finale staring us in the face. Warning: spoilers ahead!
A Wall of Ocean is the perfect tease for shocking White Lotus Season 3 finale
As with most White Lotus Easter eggs, the meaning of Lochlan’s book of choice is a metaphorical one. He’s been teasing the Ratliffs with facts about previous tsunamis in the area for the entirety of The White Lotus Season 3, but it’s not a literal ocean wave taking everyone down.
HBOFirstly, it’s important to note A Wall of Ocean isn’t even a real book. While there are other novels of similar names you can buy, this one only exists in Lochlan’s hand. The White Lotus has given him that title to read for a reason – and that’s because our oceanic wall is an emotional one.
In true White Lotus fashion, the floodgates opened here. Timothy’s truth comes flooding out, almost killing the Ratliffs. Piper and Saxon each have their emotional epiphanies, realizing they’re not really the person they want to be. Victoria… well, she’s just oblivious to her core. It’s nice to know that some things will never change.
Further afield, Belinda uses the ocean wall to find new pastures, alongside her newly acquired $5 million dollars. It’s the place where Rick and Chelsea can harmoniously reunite in death, with a scene that brought a tear to absolutely everybody’s eyes. For our trio of besties, a wall of ocean came down, finally making amends after spending seven episodes backstabbing and ripping each other to pieces.
In different ways, The White Lotus Season 3 finale has devastated our cast, crashing down on them just like a tsunami would in a natural disaster. Essentially, this is all happening in their minds and hearts, staying true to Mike White’s impeccable writing style. However, this might be the last time he’s able to lean on the metaphor.
“For the fourth season, I want to get a little bit out of the crashing waves of rocks vernacular, but there’s always more room for more murders at the White Lotus hotels,” White told The Hollywood Reporter.
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