"Killer Instincts" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American blackcomedy dramaanthology television series The White Lotus. It is the 20th overall episode of the series and was written and directed by series creator Mike White. It originally aired on HBO on March 30, 2025, and also was available on Max on the same date.
The series follows the guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain. The season is set in Thailand, and follows the new guests, which include Rick Hatchett and his younger girlfriend Chelsea; Timothy Ratliff, his wife Victoria, and their children Saxon, Piper, and Lochlan; Jaclyn Lemon and her friends Kate and Laurie; White Lotus Hawaii employee Belinda; and White Lotus Thailand staff Pornchai, Mook, and Gaitok. In the episode, Saxon attends Chloe's party, while Rick and Frank meet the Hollingers at their house.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.956 million household viewers and gained a 0.23 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise towards the performances (particularly Patrick Schwarzenegger) and build-up to the finale, although many criticized the pacing and under-developed subplots.
Rick (Walton Goggins) and Frank (Sam Rockwell), respectively posing as a film producer and director, meet with Sritala (Patravadi Mejudhon) and Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn) at their home to discuss Sritala starring in a Hollywood film. Frank is ill prepared with his cover story, and struggles to bluff his way through simple questions such as what films he has directed, and which of her films he likes best. When he tries to pitch the fictional role to Sritala, he offends her by describing the character as a former prostitute, as Rick had claimed the role was based on her. Rick helps him out by mentioning that she gets to sing, which pleases her. To calm his nerves, Frank breaks his sobriety and has a whiskey. Rick invites Jim to speak privately about doing business in Thailand and they go to his office.
Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and his parents Timothy (Jason Isaacs) and Victoria (Parker Posey) attend a party at Greg and Chloe's home. Saxon encounters Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and suggests that she is like many of the women there who stay with older, unattractive men for their money. Chelsea denies this and says she knew instantly Rick was her soulmate and believes one of their dueling outlooks, depression and optimism, will eventually win over the other.
Timothy continues to abuse his wife's lorazepam and fantasize about killing her and himself. Saxon confronts his father and demands to know what is happening, telling Timothy that if his troubles are work-related, he needs to know so that his future is not ruined as well. Timothy denies anything is wrong.
At the party, Greg (Jon Gries) privately talks with Belinda (Natasha Rothwell). He admits his true identity but claims he had nothing to do with Tanya's death and came to Thailand to escape the unfounded accusations that he murdered her. He suggests Tanya would have wanted him to live his life in peace, and offers Belinda $100,000 to open her wellness center in exchange for honoring that wish. Frightened, Belinda asks for time to consider it and leaves with her son, Zion (Nicholas Duvernay). Later, Zion urges Belinda to accept the money, suggesting that Greg will come after her and possibly kill them both if they do not come to terms.
Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) tells Saxon that "Gary" is fine with her infidelity because he used to watch his parents having sex as a child and is now aroused by the idea of watching Chloe have sex with Saxon. Saxon is disturbed by the suggestion and refuses to participate. He later walks Chelsea to her room and tries to convince her that he is not as one-dimensional as she thinks, asking her to help him evolve spiritually. She agrees to help him meditate, but when it becomes clear that this is a pretext for flirting with her, she instead grows nervous and gives him several self-help books asking him to leave which he does.
At the resort, Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon) go to dinner. Things are still tense due to Jaclyn's tryst with Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius). Frustrated with Laurie's judgment, Jaclyn claims Laurie's disappointments in life are her own fault. Kate agrees, upsetting Laurie, who leaves to watch a Muay Thai fight with Valentin, Aleksei (Julian Kostov), and Vlad (Yuri Kolokolnikov).
Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) and Mook (Lalisa Manobal) go on a date, where they discuss Gaitok's future plans. He tells her that he is a Buddhist who takes the principles of non-violence seriously, but Mook is unimpressed, saying he should be more ambitious and realistic about life. Later, they attend the Muay Thai fight, where Gaitok recognizes Aleksei and Vlad as the men who robbed the boutique,[a] recalling that Valentin distracted Gaitok at the gate as they forced their way through.
In Bangkok, Rick confronts Jim for murdering his father over a land deal decades earlier. Jim appears to recognize the name of Rick's mother, but does not admit culpability for the killing. Rick points a gun at Jim, but cannot bring himself to shoot him or even hit him, settling for pushing him down. He and Frank quickly leave and dispose of the gun downtown. Rick explains that Jim is a pathetic, frail old man, but he has finally found closure by confronting him.
Rick and Frank celebrate by having some drinks. They bring some local women to a hotel room, where Frank continues to drink excessively and do drugs. Rick does not indulge and only smiles contentedly.
At the monastery, Lochlan (Sam Nivola) tells Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) that he is enjoying the stay, and is considering staying with her for a year, despite his clear discomfort. He says he is desperate not to return home, which disturbs Piper.
After the fight, Laurie and Aleksei have sex. Afterwards, he tells her his mother is ill and he desperately needs to get her to Thailand from Russia to save her life. He pushes Laurie to give him $10,000 to cover it, but she sees through the scam and claims she does not have that much. Aleksei's girlfriend returns, forcing Laurie to escape through a window, during which Laurie notices a large amount of jewelry, though it is unclear whether she realizes it is the stolen merchandise from the boutique.
Timothy fantasizes again about killing Victoria and himself, but this time visualizes killing Saxon as well to save him from the shame and disappointment of his father having ruined his career. He goes to find the gun he had stashed in the villa, but is shocked to find it missing.
Production
Development
The episode was written and directed by series creator Mike White. This was White's 20th writing and directorial credit for the series.[1]
Writing
On Rick's decision to spare Jim, Walton Goggins said, "It was so deeply spiritual and communing with God, because it was peace and serenity on a level that he has never experienced in his life. All it took him to get to that place, in that moment, on that sofa, for everything in the world, for the first time in his life, to be OK."[2] He added, "It took me six months and seven hours of this experience to smile, to really smile. It's not joy, but there's contentment or peace for a moment. Other actors would've arrived at that very different way and lived their life."[3]
Jason Isaacs explained Timothy's consideration over committing murder-suicide, "At this point, Tim is thinking Piper will probably be all right. I don't know what he thinks about Lochlan, but he knows Lochlan isn't like him. He doesn't have the same set of values, so Tim has some hope for the other two kids. But he's thinking Victoria and Saxon will be better off. By the way, he's thinking about all of this while he's out of his mind on drugs. But I'm not sure that he's wrong. From his mindset, it seems like the most sensible choice."[4]
Reception
Viewers
In its original American broadcast, "Killer Instincts" was seen by an estimated 0.956 million household viewers with a 0.23 in the 18-49 demographics. This means that 0.23 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.[5] This was a 28% increase from the previous episode, which was watched by 0.744 million household viewers with a 0.19 in the 18-49 demographics.[6]
"Killer Instincts" received generally positive reviews. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 78% approval rating for the episode, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10.[7]
Manuel Betancourt of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "The episode feels like it was all table-setting for a explosive finale that has, perhaps, too many subplots to tidy up before we check out of the White Lotus this time around. And so, with Gaitok making a case for nonviolence as he goes out on a date with Mook — a key tenet of Buddhism that permeates all we've seen this season — we're now headed to a finale that will no doubt end in anything but."[8]
Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone wrote, "Rather than use the extra time to go deeper into each storyline, it feels like White has just been repeating certain beats over and over, in case we didn't quite understand that the three friends have been having the same arguments for decades, or that Victoria doesn't care for anything about the world outside of her immediate social circle. And several other subplots, like the ones involving Belinda and Gaitok, have barely gotten going at all."[9] Proma Khosla of IndieWire gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "it may not last, but the most monumental choice in this episode might be Rick choosing not to hurt the man who killed his father. After Episode 6's memorable combination of Rick and Frank having a conversation that rattled at least one of them to his core, the duo continue their shenanigans with an absolutely farcical visit to Jim and Sritala's home. After dominating the previous night's conversation, Frank is tasked with bluffing through his entire fake meeting with Sritala, an ordeal so taxing that he breaks his sobriety."[10]
Amanda Whiting of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "After seven hours of watching these people lumber around this fragile world, no one stands out as competent enough or sinister enough to commit a murder on purpose. As it was after the season premiere, my money is on the monkeys."[11] Erik Kain of Forbes wrote, "it's filled with great moments. Great little character moments, pockets of humor (Parker Posey to the rescue) and gorgeous cinematography, sets, and a location to die for (or in, as the case may be). But those moments haven't transcended into a compelling overall story."[12]
Noel Murray of The New York Times wrote, "Throughout this episode, two images recur: the Great Buddha of Thailand statue in Bangkok, and the Muay Thai fighters that several characters go watch. White offers these as opposing options, ever-present: the meditative and the passionate. The White Lotus is concerned primarily with the choices people make between those two, while caught up in the moment."[13] Brady Langmann of Esquire wrote, "It's a shame that we're finally going deep on spirituality, violence, expectations, fear, loathing, and much more in Thailand just as this season is about to end. A couple weeks ago, I criticized season 3 for spinning its wheels a hair too long; I felt like The White Lotus's usually exceptional slow burn of character introductions and ceaseless foreshadowing should not have lasted five episodes. Now, I feel like the HBO series is finally following through with the terms of engagement from a White Lotus season set at a wellness resort in Thailand. Meaning: We're on the receiving end of some deep fucking questions."[14]
Yvonne Villareal of Los Angeles Times wrote, "The storytelling from some of these characters has me flashing back to “Are you Afraid of the Dark?” I love how Chelsea took it all in like it was a moderate level of crazy but not completely bonkers. I feel like Chloe is trying to set up a scenario that would set Greg/Gary off, but I don't know why."[15] Claire McNear of The Ringer wrote, "There were a lot of finallys in this week's episode. Gaitok and Mook finally had their first date, which featured a questionably romantic Muay Thai excursion. And finally, Greg, a.k.a. Gary, squared with Belinda. Yes, he is who she thinks he is, and yes, his poor, beloved wife, Tanya, met a violent—did you say suspicious? — end in Italy. But him living large in Thailand is what Tanya would have wanted."[16]
Accolades
TVLine named Carrie Coon the "Performer of the Week" for the week of April 5, 2025, for her performance in the episode. The site wrote, "Aleksei took the opportunity to hit Laurie up for money, and Coon seamlessly transitioned from sincerely sympathizing to politely fending the guy off. Then she even gave us some physical comedy as Aleksei's jealous ex came knocking on his door, leaving Laurie to scurry out of bed half-naked and then shimmy out of a window, getting slapped in the head by his ex on the way out. It was a rude awakening for Laurie that maybe a vacation fling isn't worth the trouble — and a welcome reminder that, even among a stacked cast, Coon is in a class by herself."[17]
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