In The White Lotus Season 3, tensions between our three teeth-gritting besties Laurie (Carrie Coon), Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), and Kate (Leslie Bibb) have been steadily rising for various reasons personal and political. However, in episode 7, the trio's dinner turned into a bonafide home truths session.
As earnest hotel manager Fabian (Christian Friedel) finally took the stage for his first performance at the White Lotus restaurant, the group reached a simmering point where the audience got a fleeting peek into why Laurie has such a problem with Jaclyn's actions, and why she may have offered that resounding wail in her room in the very first episode.
One thing's for sure, we're going to need a little more detail about what happened at Laurie's wedding.
What happens in The White Lotus Season 3, episode 7?
The penultimate episode Season 3 had many an uncomfortable revelation following the choices-were-made rager of a Full Moon Party in episodes 5 and 6 (pour out a smoothie for the Ratliff brothers).
For school friends Laurie, Kate, and Jaclyn, over the course of the day after, Jaclyn's post-party sleepover with wellness coach Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius) becomes the topic of the day in episode 6, with Laurie slowly processing Jaclyn's decision to a) cheat on her boyfriend and b) do so with the man Jaclyn herself was pushing Laurie to have a holiday dalliance with. Laurie's strategy to compute the situation was spending the whole day seemingly laughing it off as Jaclyn flat out lied about it to both Kate and Laurie. But there's more going on here.
In episode 7, over a hastily-ordered bottle of rosé at dinner, Laurie makes a quip about Jaclyn being tired and the whole thing kicks off. Laurie accuses Jaclyn of being untrustworthy when Kate steps in to describe the whole Valentin thing as "not that big of a deal."
"Was it a big deal when she did the same thing with Dave?" Laurie asks, explaining to Kate: "At my wedding she was all over Dave. I'm sure you remember."
Who is Dave, friends? That would be Kate's now-husband. That means 15 years ago, at Laurie's wedding to her ex Brian, Jaclyn was allegedly "all over" the partner of the friend most in her corner right now. We don't know if Kate and Dave were together at Laurie's wedding, but if Laurie is delivering this news as proof of Jaclyn's behaviour patterns, we're guessing they were at least dating (or at the very least Kate had already expressed an interest in him).
Jaclyn denies the event, but we all know she's not only an actor but a pretty good liar by this point with the whole Valentin thing. After Jaclyn and Kate (defending Jaclyn in the moment) drop some crisp and cruel home truths on Laurie, Laurie leaves some of her own revelations on the table and heads off to the Muay Thai fight in town.
So, what exactly happened at Laurie's wedding, Jaclyn?
It's not clear we'll actually get any more information on what exactly happened at Laurie's wedding in the finale.
In episode 1, when the guests first arrive at the White Lotus and the trio settle into their villa for the evening, Laurie calls it a night and heads up to her room. It's here, staring at Jaclyn and Kate having a cozy conversation, Laurie issues the most agonised, mournful, pent-up wail we've heard in an age. It seems like she's burying a truth here about her friends' deep emotional impact on her. Slowly but surely, over the course of the season, we're clued into the dynamic between the three, and it seems to be one of slightly toxic competition from Jaclyn's perspective, particularly with her friends' partners or love interests.
Maybe we'll get a scene where Kate confronts Jaclyn about what happened between her and Dave at Laurie's wedding. Maybe we won't. But the real question will be what Kate now does with this revelation, and whether her friendship is really worth it. Give us the details, Laurie!
