In season 3 of The White Lotus, the guests are staying at the Thailand branch, which is a luxurious wellness retreat… but I feel quite unwell after that gruesome finale. Ahead of the final episode, show creator Mike White teased that this season’s death(s) would be “much, much darker” than the last two seasons. I can now confirm that’s an accurate statement! “They’re all in some kind of hurt,” show creator he explained to Time about the guests in season 3. “Like, they’re all dead, but they don’t know it…because it’s dealing with these existential tropes of facing into the nothingness of self [and] Buddhist themes that have life and death and ethical aspects.” (The central theme of the season is Eastern religion/spirituality and death.)

We hear gunshots right at the start of the first episode, and there’s an unidentified floating corpse. So, who’s the killer in The White Lotus season 3? It was not the monkeys, LOL.

*Finale spoilers ahead!

The White Lotus Season 3: Who’s The Killer?

Who’s The Shooter In The White Lotus Season 3?

Image Credit: Max

Rick really fucked himself over by going after his “father’s killer”! It turns out that Jim is his father, not the dude who murdered him. Of course, Rick finds out that info seconds after he shoots and murders Jim. Shortly after that, Chelsea dies during a shoot out with Sritala’s guards. Rick is devastated and picks her up, leaving the crime scene with his dead GF. But Gaitok finally becomes the violent, tough guy everyone wants him to be, and he kills Rick before he gets away. To recap, the murderers are: Rick, a guard, and Gaitok.

Timmy Ratliff almost became a murderer when he nearly poisoned his entire family with deadly Piña coladas, but he changed his mind at the last second, declaring: “THE COCONUT MILK IS OFF! THE COCONUT MILK IS OFF!” (Iconic moment.) When Lochlan drinks a protein shake with the poisonous seeds that were still in their blender, he nearly dies, but miraculously comes back to life.

The White Lotus Season 3 Murderer Theories (Written Before Finale)

The White Lotus Season 3 Rick Theory

Personally, I’m suspicious of Rick (Walton Goggins) at the moment. Why TF is he on this trip or in this relationship if he hates his cheery, super young GF (Aimee Lou Wood) so much? And why is he so interested in Sritala Hollinger? What business does he have with her or her husband?

Walton low-key hinted at what’s to come during an interview with Time. “I read all eight scripts in a day,” he recalled. “It took about 10 hours between a plane ride and then a glass of wine when I got home to get that full experience.” Walton said that he “didn’t anticipate” how it was going to end. “And by the end of it, I was gutted in such a visceral way,” he said. “I use that word specifically. It’s an emotional wrench.” Oof. (This is why I wonder if he found out his character is the killer.)

The White Lotus Season 3 Monkey Theory

One TikTok creator, Jade, has a theory that the monkeys are the killers this season. In her video about the prediction, she points out that White Lotus deaths are typically “silly and accidental.” She also notes that monkeys are highlighted several times at the beginning of the season. “If you’ve ever been to Thailand, you know those motherfuckers are crazy,” Jade adds. She thinks there’s going to be a hotel room break-in that escalates tension between characters… but it’s actually the monkeys.

As we know, this season is all about religion. In the first episode, Amrita mentions the “monkey mind,” which is actually a Buddhist term for the chaotic, restless state of mind. Between that comment and all the monkeys featured in the show, monkeys are definitely an important theme this season whether or not they’re the killers.

The White Lotus Season 3 Staircase Family Theory

There’s also an interesting theory that the Ratliff family is inspired by The Staircase, a docuseries about the Peterson family. Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in 2001, and her husband, Michael Peterson, was ultimately found guilty of her murder. There was also another woman in Michael’s life who died, seemingly by falling down a staircase — and her name was Elizabeth Ratliff.

A TikTok creator who posted about this theory points out that Parker Posey, who plays Victoria Ratliff in The White Lotus, also played a lawyer in The Staircase. Coincidence? TBD. The TikToker thinks Victoria is going to be murdered “questionably” by her husband.