WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The White Lotus season 3 finale.
Lochlan had a metaphysical vision that made him believe he “saw God” while he was appearing to drown inThe White Lotusseason 3 finale. Timothy’s last-ditch effort to save face with his family inspired him to try poisoning them all except Lochlan, who admitted that he could probably find a way to live without his house and privilege. Tim shockingly makes poisoned piña coladas that are infused withtoxic ground-up pong-pong tree fruits, giving them to Victoria, Piper, Saxon, and himself. Even though Tim doesn’t go through with it at the last minute, Lochlan winds up reusing the blender and nearly dies the next morning.
In an attempt to be more like his brother, Saxon,Lochlan makes himself a protein shakeon the morning of the Ratliff family’s last day at The White Lotus Thai Resort.For whatever reason, Lochlan thinks it’s okay to use the dirty blender without cleaning it, leading to him vomiting and passing out. As Victoria, Piper, and Saxon head out to breakfast, Lochlan collapses and looks up into the sky, appearing to die slowly. Like most of his family members, Lochlan doesn’t have a belief system or religion to rely on. When he miraculously wakes up in his father’s arms, however, he seems to have a new understanding of spirituality.
The Water Represented A Transcendental Bridge Between Life & Death
Image via Max
Towards theend ofThe White Lotusseason 3 finale, Lochlan enters a mysterious dreamlike realm in which he is seen swimming at the bottom of a vast pool. He tries to swim up but struggles to, which appears to represent that he is dying from the poisonous fruit seeds. Moments earlier, Lochlan doesn’t call out for help when his family leaves him behind, likely trying to conceal the fact that he is sick out of embarrassment.He lies on his back, staring up at the sun and the palm trees above as his vision blurs, which is when he enters the trance-like underwater spiritual state.
I Truly Can’t Believe The White Lotus Season 3 Killed That Character
After teasing death for eight episodes, I cannot believe that it was THAT specific character who met an untimely fate in The White Lotus season 3.
Althoughhaving hallucinations is not an actual symptom of ingesting the pong-pong tree fruit seeds, Lochlan is seemingly brought to another place in his mind after being poisoned. Lochlan drowning is mostly a metaphor for his seemingly impending death and his spirit transcending into heaven, the afterlife, etc. Lochlan didn’t actually fall into the pool that he collapsed next to and vomited in. Instead, Lochlan swimming towards the surface could represent him fighting for his life as the poison takes hold of him. Timothy interestingly doesn’t check if Lochlan is breathing or if his heart is beating before he comes back to life.
They Appeared To Be Monkish Leaders & Observant Spiritual Guides
As Lochlan swims closer to the surface, he abruptly stops and sees what appears to be four people standing in a semicircle, looking down at him in the water. It’s not explicitly clear who these figures are but they are likely what Lochlan is referring to when he tells his dad upon awakening, “I think I saw god.” The literal identities of these figures are open for debate, but it’s clear that whoever they were, they carried religious or spiritual significance. While they could represent monks, prophets, gods, or fates,the fact that they are faceless and nameless is actually quite telling.
Lochlan achieves a Buddhist understanding of detachment, removing himself from his “monkey mind”, identity, and desires.
What’s most clear from Lochlan’s encounter with these four observers is thatthey represented acknowledgment from “another world” or “the other side.“I’d say these figures are ancestral teachers from a spiritual realm with a strong understanding of Buddhism, divinity, nature, and God. Together, they watch Lochlan, which later leaves him with the impression that someone above is watching him in real life. When Lochlan seemingly dies and sinks to the dark bottom of the pool, he briefly experiences death and nothingness. He achieves a Buddhist understanding of detachment, removing himself from his “monkey mind”, identity, and desires.
What Lochlan Meant About Seeing God In His Near-Death Vision
Lochlan briefly experienced death, which led him to believe he encountered God when he came back to life.In Buddhist thought, death is not a definite end but rather a continuationfrom one reality or experience to the next, like a bridge between worlds. The water Lochlan swam in could represent this transcendental bridge, while the monkish figures above the surface could have been guiding him to another world. Lochlan doesn’t have much of an understanding of Buddhism by the end ofThe White Lotusseason 3, so he may just be calling his first spiritual experience “seeing God” without fully understanding it.
