The White Lotus is famous for bringing one character back for each new season. But in Season 3, episode 1, there are two familiar faces, both with a shared connection to Season 1.
The first is Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell), the spa manager who bonds with millionaire Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) during her stay in Hawaii. She's arrived in Thailand on a work trip to learn further treatments and techniques to bring back to her White Lotus spa. The second familiar face, glimpsed only briefly towards the episode's end? Tanya's husband Greg (Jon Gries), who she met at the White Lotus in Hawaii — and who arranged to have her murdered in Sicily in Season 2.
So what is Greg doing at the hotel in Thailand, and what does it say about what's happened to him since the events of Season 2?
What happens with Tanya's husband Greg in The White Lotus Season 3, episode 1?
Sitting alone at the bar after her boyfriend Rick (Walter Goggins) has abandoned her at dinner, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) bonds with another White Lotus guest (Charlotte Le Bon) who's also had a lover's quarrel.
Here's their full exchange:
Chelsea: "My boyfriend's hiding from me."
Woman at bar: "No way, that's like my boyfriend."
C: "Your boyfriend hides from you too?"
W: "Yeah. I mean, he just tells me to get lost because I get on his nerves. But honestly, he's so fucking boring I almost don't even care."
C: "How long have you been here for?"
W: "A year."
C: "You've been at this hotel for a year?"
W: "No, no. We have a house at the top of the hill. We just come down here to eat, but we just got in a fight, so I'm letting him cool off."
The guest then points her boyfriend out in the hotel, and the camera cuts to show Greg sitting at a table by himself.
Why is Greg at the hotel in Thailand?
Greg is now the only character in The White Lotus who has appeared in all three seasons. And despite hiring Quentin (Tom Hollander) to kill Tanya in Season 2 to inherit her money, he clearly hasn't faced any consequences for conspiracy to murder. So what exactly can we glean about what's happened to him from this first interaction?
Well, the implication seems to be that Greg's plan worked, though not in the way he intended. Although Tanya uncovered the plot and ended up taking almost everyone on that boat down with her in the Season 2 finale, she did indeed end up dead. However, as her death would have probably been ruled accidental under the circumstances, we can safely assume Greg inherited her money after all. This is made pretty clear by what his girlfriend tells Chelsea: 1) They have a "house at the top of the hill" in the same part of Thailand as a luxury hotel resort, and 2) They eat regularly at that same luxury resort. Greg clearly has money to burn.
The big question, as Season 3 unfolds, is whether or not his past will catch up with him. Maybe Belinda — who knew Tanya at the time when she first met Greg — will somehow make the connection between them? We'll have to wait and see.
The White Lotus is streaming now on Max, with new episodes dropping weekly.
