Mike White On "The White Lotus" Season 3’s Finale: 'People Couldn't Get Past The Dirty Blender Being Used'

What scene from a TV show made you want to throw your remote cause the character was doing something unbelievable?

In The White Lotus Season 3 finale, creator Mike White takes viewers to a terrifying edge — then back again. At the heart of the episode is Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs), a wealthy patriarch facing exposure in a money-laundering scandal. As his life collapses, he nearly poisons his wife and children with piña coladas laced with seeds from the deadly pong-pong tree.

“It’s not a fantasy; it’s a plan,” says Isaacs. But in a moment of primal love, Timothy swats the drink from his son’s hand, unable to go through with it. The family is spared — for now.

That is, until the next morning, when Lochlan (Sam Nivola) unknowingly makes a protein shake in the dirty, unwashed blender that still contains poison residue. He hallucinates monks standing above him, nearly dies, and survives — barely.

That detail, of the poison lingering in a blender, became a surprising flashpoint for audiences. “I was so excited about the finale,” White says. “But it made me realize that some people just can’t get past that Lochlan makes the shake in a dirty blender.”

To White, that visceral, unsettling realism — the grotesque subtlety of death nearly arriving through something so mundane — embodies the show’s uncomfortable beauty. “It’s built to be provocative,” he says. “Not to win a popularity contest.”

Though shaken by online backlash, White remains unfazed long-term. “So whatever,” he adds. “I’m just a head case.”

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Source: Variety

Photo Credit: HBO