April 7, 2025 / 11:27 AM EDT / CBS News
Warning, spoilers from Sunday’s season three finale of “The White Lotus” are below.
The highly-anticipated season three finale of “The White Lotus” shocked fans, bringing closure to a major plot line.
Actor Walton Goggins told “CBS Mornings” that some fans got close to guessing what would happen, but no one he spoke with had the correct theory.
“All of us kind of being out in the world had to listen to, had the good fortune of listening to people tell us their version of the story out on the street and I had my fair share,” Goggins said. “I just listened to them the way I listened to Sam Rockwell in episode five … without judgment and just nodding.”
The HBO series followed the fate of the guests and staff at a luxury resort in Thailand. Goggins stars as Rick, a troubled man who is in search of answers about his father’s mysterious past. His character was a major part of the season finale, which aired on Sunday.
In the finale, Rick kills Khun Jim Hollinger, the owner of the luxury resort, who was revealed to be his father only after he shot him.
“Reading it for the first time, understanding that that was where we were headed, and that’s the Mount Everest that we were climbing, I knew that it was going to be a very patient slow walk to get to that point,” Goggins said. “I sympathize so greatly with Rick’s pain because his entire life story was defined by this event that he was told by his mother.”
Goggins credited creator Mike White for how the scene developed, saying, “the genius of Mike White in that revelation, Rick only has a couple of seconds to register it before he is being fired at.”
The gunfire killed Rick’s girlfriend, Chelsea, before he was shot and killed by hotel security guard Gaitok.
“It is the first love story in the ‘White Lotus’ and it was always a love story and their relationship at the beginning of this experience, that wasn’t their relationship three years prior when they met,” Goggins said.
Kelsie HoffmanKelsie Hoffman is a push and platform editor on CBS News’ Growth and Engagement team. She previously worked on Hearst Television’s National Desk and as a local TV reporter in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
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