Let us Discuss the Crazy Sam Rockwell Scene in The White Lotus
One more HBO Another clip from Walton Goggins' White Lotus that stole the show on Sunday night. But this time, viewers were not as taken aback by Goggins' melancholy Rick in the fifth episode of the third season of the show, which is set in Thailand. In Bangkok, Rick reunites with his old friend Frank, who is played by Sam Rockwell in an unexpected cameo. Frank has changed considerably since they last saw each other. The expat, who used to party a lot, has been sober for ten months. And Buddhism is the higher force he has discovered. He tells Rick that this metamorphosis started with a bizarre sexual journey, and Rick stares at Frank the same way many of us did when he released the snakes a few episodes ago.
Frank is true to his name.
Rick does not appear to be the type of person who makes social calls, and it is true that he had a reason for seeing Frank again. Frank gives Rick a leather bag with a gun when they meet at the hotel bar in Bangkok. Rick apparently asked for the bag because he wants to assassinate the hotel owner who killed his holy father. (Now that Gaitok's revolver is in the hands of unstable Southern patriarch Tim, two terrified white middle-aged men are frantically armed.)
However, it becomes clear why Lotus creator Mike White bothered to cast Rockwell in this rather small part once Frank begins speaking. (The fact that Leslie Bibb, Rockwell's longtime companion, was a member of this season's major cast surely did not hurt either.) According to Frank, he traveled to Thailand for the women, much like a lot of dissolute American males, whether they were losers at home or not. He remembers, "I was out of control before long. I became ravenous. You start to lose it after a thousand nights like that, you know. I began to question: Where am I headed with this? I want to f-ck all these women, but why? What is desire? Why is this adorable Asian girl's figure so alluring to me? Because she is completely different from me? Will she somehow make me whole? I came to the realization that no matter how many women I fucked, I would never be content.
So far, so typical of a libido-driven, debaucherous journey to the East by a Western man-child. However, as the monologue goes on, it delves into the type of region that exemplifies White's claim that he has "mild edgelord" tendencies: "Maybe being one of these Asian girls is what I truly want." Rick's mouth is hanging open and his eyes are huge by this point. "Really?" he asks. Indeed, it appears that Frank is really serious. He claims that in an effort to experience the same feelings as the women he slept with during their trysts, he soon started dressing up in women's lingerie and bottoming for white males who were similar to himself. Then, he says, "I became addicted to that." He occasionally hired a local woman to keep an eye on things. I would assume that I am her. I am also observing myself.
To put it mildly, this is a complex web of identity and desire. It would be incorrect to read Frank's story as a coming-out story; it does not really matter how he decides to identify his sexual orientation or gender. He is discussing the elusive nature of identity and the enigmas of attraction. Whether they are our opposites or our duplicates, it is not always obvious if we wish to become them or possess them (even if only for a night). (It seems fitting that this season is filled with multiples and doppelgängers, from Greg/Gary and Chloe to Rick and his girlfriend Chelsea's May-December mirror, the three blonde girlfriends, and the numerous guests who look like characters from previous seasons.) He is addressing a basic misunderstanding between what we want and who we are, which may be ingrained in Western culture.
About that never-ending whirlpool of pain and desire...
Rick is not the only one who could benefit from some of the concepts Frank presents. The episode was characterized by desire and its ills, from the Full Moon Party to the wild night out that Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and company had, to the few characters who remained at the resort.
Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius) goes out with two of his most muscular Russian pals with Jaclyn, Kate (Bibb), and Lori (Carrie Coon) in a scene that could have been taken from Lotus’ love-and-sex-themed second season. It has long been clear that Valentin is what Lori, the only unmarried girl among the three, desires. She makes herself the center of attention all night long by dancing wildly, pulling off her top in the pool, and boasting about her lawyerly skills—all of which certainly do her no favors when it comes to attracting such macho males. She might eventually hook up with more than one of the males, it appears. However, Lori lets them go without a word, much to the obvious annoyance of Jaclyn, who has been pressuring her and Valentin to be together all week. The scene shifts to Lori snoring in bed in the early morning. (It is a vicious shot of her scratching her butt.) Valentin's back, and Jaclyn is the woman he is visiting. In case there is any doubt as to whose idea this was, she whispers into his ear, "Let us f-ck."
If Jaclyn, the driving force behind this extravagant girls' trip, is also becoming the antagonist, it is because she has shown herself to be merciless in gratifying her cravings. She thus aligns herself with the hateful Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), who has made it his goal to have his shy younger brother, Lochlan (Sam Nivola), bedded. With Chelsea and Charlotte Le Bon's Chloe aboard the yacht to the Full Moon Party, Saxon yells his life philosophy while momentarily escaping Gary/Greg's (Jon Gries) snooping. "Be assured, Loch. That is how you influence others to follow your wishes. Because the majority of individuals are unsure of their desires," he believes. "All they want is to be used." All they are waiting for is someone to come give them instructions. Ignore the fact that he appears to have taken his life philosophy from a Eurythmics song. What is noteworthy is that he is essentially expressing the exact opposite of what Frank strives for. According to Saxon, our desires establish who we are, and the more we fight for what we want, the more successful we are in life.
This is how he has been speaking the entire season. The answers that Loch gives to his brother are more telling—and concerning. Whether he came up with the concept on his own or by copying his sister Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), he uses what is essentially the theory of karma to oppose Saxon's overly critical mindset: "What if this existence is just a test, like, to determine if we can become better people?" Later, he tells his brother, "One day, I am going to take you down," in a lighthearted but most likely serious manner. Chloe and Chelsea encourage the now-rather drunk boys to kiss in the episode's last scene, which is the most twisted manifestation of this desire to subjugate Saxon. They give a short peck on the mouth in compliance. However, Saxon is visibly reeling as Loch returns with tongue. With all of the sinister energy between the Ratliff children this season, and especially Saxon's unsettling behavior toward his siblings, Loch appears to be reacting to a psychosexual power disparity that has existed from childhood.
Amazingly, this was not even the episode's darkest Ratliff plot. When Piper returns to the resort, she eventually tells her parents the truth and admits that she is also not flawless. She brought the family to Thailand to visit the meditation center, where she intends to study for at least a year after graduating from college, even though the thesis she was supposed to be studying never materialized. Naturally, this infuriates Victoria (Parker Posey), who refuses to listen to her daughter's decision to become a "Chinese" person or go to "Taiwan" (does she really have no idea where she is?). It also demonstrates that Piper is as motivated by want as the rest of her pill-popping, scandal-plagued family. She maintains, "I have to find out what makes me happy."
Tim (Jason Isaacs), Piper's father, is unable to be overly alarmed by her disclosure since, once more, he has stolen Gaitok's (Tayme Thapthimthong) weapon and, as we find out in the episode's last scene, intends to use it to end his own life. However, Victoria leaves with a hilariously ignorant appraisal of a situation she has no knowledge of, just as he has aimed it at his head and is ready to pull the trigger.She tells her husband, "There is no cause to be stressed, Tim," and he promptly conceals the firearm. "You have already achieved success in every aspect." He does laugh, sadly, as she fades away. "Please, God, please," he prays. Give me instructions. If Saxon saw the father he looks up to begging for the one thing Saxon most often identifies with weakness, what would Saxon say?
Fortunately, not all of the episode's displays of desire leave a negative impression. The bedside kiss between Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) and Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) is another example of the hour's hard-earned pleasure. Belinda, who is not used to communicating her own desires, is charmingly embarrassed when she asks him to sleep in her bed (he answers, "Whatever's clever"?). The scenario eventually grants this abused heroine what she longs for, which in turn fulfills the most sincere desires of the audience who have been supporting her for years. This is in contrast to the other plotlines that allow for uncertainty regarding the pursuit of worldly desire.
