The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 4 Reveals The Real Reason Rick Visited Thailand

This post contains spoilers for "The White Lotus."

When we see Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) for the first time in season 3 of "The White Lotus," his latent anxiety becomes immediately apparent. As the boat carrying the guests slated to stay at The White Lotus' Ko Samui branch zooms towards the shore, we notice Rick's visible discomfort contrasted against his girlfriend Chelsea's (Aimee Lou Wood) endearing optimism. Rick's indifference towards the resort's natural beauty and what it has to offer its guests pervades throughout, rarely budging even when Chelsea gently coaxes him to unwind and have fun. "What kind of chip does this man have on his shoulder?" we are left to wonder, especially when the facades worn by every other guest are in the process of being unraveled.

The first clue we get for parsing Rick's guarded behavior is his disappointment when he learns that the hotel owner's husband, Jim Hollinger, is not present at the resort. The owner, Sritala (Lek Patravadi), becomes the center of attention during her short stay as she is a local celebrity who also pioneered the hotel's health program. Rick's demeanor becomes especially alert whenever Sritala is around, hinting at some sort of truth that he wants to get to by finding an opportunity to talk to her. Well, this opportunity does arrive in episode 3, where Rick approaches Sritala while pretending to be a producer in the entertainment business who wants to introduce her to a director. A meeting with Stritala is arranged in Bangkok, but Rick's true intentions are still kept under wraps.

That is, until Chelsea confronts Rick about his impromptu Bangkok trip in "Hide or Seek." With everything we have learned about Rick's past so far, it becomes clear that the Bangkok meet-up is a part of a revenge plan rooted in grief. Let's dive deeper into Rick's motivations behind visiting The White Lotus, Thailand.

During Rick's wellness sessions with Amrita (Shalini Peiris), he reveals that he has always felt like a non-entity after his father's supposed murder and his mother's subsequent death. "Nothing comes from nothing," he states, after Amrita urges him to reach into his psyche and search for a reason to let go of his painful past. Later on, Amrita gently tells Rick that he does not have to be stuck as he can "escape the karmic cycle" and that she has hope for him. Although Rick seems conflicted, he defaults to his grief and rage and only opens up when Chelsea confronts him about this during Gary/Greg's (Jon Gries) weird yacht party.

Rick strongly believes that Jim Hollinger (Sritala's husband) killed his father, whom Rick perceives to be a good man punished for standing up for what's right. Rick's trip to Thailand was prompted by the assumption that Jim would be at the White Lotus, but as the man is now in Bangkok, he decides to confront his father's killer there. After learning the truth, Chelsea is as sweet and empathetic as always, embracing him to convey that she understands, even though she's terribly worried about him. After all, Rick didn't witness his father's death, and his lifelong aim to hunt down Jim stems from his mother's final words before her demise.

This is a burden Rick has been carrying since his formative years, which has informed his bleak, existential outlook towards life. He feels empty and broken by this unresolved grief and lack of closure, unable to give himself fully, even to those who love him without conditions. This explains his complex relationship with Chelsea, whom he seems to genuinely love and care for, despite coming off as grumpy and aloof. He's absent even when he's physically there with her, his mind forever preoccupied by a gnawing sense of unfinished business.

Will Rick get his revenge without repercussions, or is some kind of unsavory twist going to alter everything? Well, only future episodes of "The White Lotus" can provide us with these intriguing answers.

Episodes of "The White Lotus" season 3 drop every Sunday on HBO.