The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 1 recap: Why is Belinda in Thailand?

Mike White’s anthology series The White Lotus is back with its third season, and this time it is taking the viewers to Thailand. The season premiered on February 16, 2025 and new episodes will drop weekly, on Sundays.

Following the staple format of the first two seasons, White Lotus Season 3 also kicks off with a murder as the body is found in a lake. Besides featuring new characters as guests, this season brings back Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), from season 1, who was the head of the spa center of the White Lotus establishment in Hawaii.

Belinda is shown to be arriving in Thailand to explore wellness practices of the East so that she can incorporate those back at the Hawaii establishment. Her character is one that appears both as a guest and a worker at the White Lotus chain of hotels. In the words of Rothwell herself, as she told Deadline,

“I think it was exciting to be able to show her on vacation. It’s not a full vacation, it’s a working vacation. But I think when you travel, it allows you to sort of explore a different version of yourself, and I think it was a cool way to introduce the world to a different side of Belinda.”

Let us now explore in detail the events that unfolded in The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 1, including the return of Belinda and the introduction of her son.

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The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 1 marks the return of Belinda

The first episode of the third season introduces Zion (Nicholas Duvernay), Belinda’s son, who is at the Thailand hotel at his mother’s persuasion since she believes he is under a lot of stress and needs to relax.

The opening scene shows him and Amrika (Shalini Peiris), a White Lotus wellness session executive, as they prepare for a meditative session. It is also revealed that Zion has come to Thailand for the first time, which, in his own words, has a lot of similarities to Hawaii, the place where he had grown up.

Zion tries to focus on the meditation session, but it proves to be difficult with the monkeys making noises all around. Things take a dramatic turn when a gunshot is heard, and Zion gets worried about Belinda because she’s in the resort and the sound seems to be coming from somewhere she could be.

In an instant, Zion jumps into the water and encounters a corpse. The identity of the dead is not revealed at that moment, but it’s for sure not Belinda, which is a big relief for Zion.

Belinda, on the other hand, is shown to be having a more relaxed time here since she is not bombarded with responsibilities. Moreover, she also notices other Black guests at the resort, which makes her happy, and she waves at them and acknowledges them.

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A bunch of new guests are introduced in The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 1

A new group of guests is introduced in The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 1 and they arrive on a boat as in the previous seasons. Among this bunch of people are a couple, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Rick (Walton Goggins), who appear quite mismatched and have a huge age difference between them.

Rick constantly discourages an enthusiastic Chelsea, and that leads her to meet Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), who mentions she is having a similar kind of issue with her partner with whom she has come to this establishment.

Here another surprise comes as it is revealed that her boyfriend is none other than Greg (Jon Gries), a recurring character in both seasons. With him introduced as Chloe’s boyfriend and the audience knowing that he was previously married to Tanya, it now remains to be seen how his character is connected to this season and if his schemes from the previous seasons will be answered here.

The White Lotus can be streamed on Max.

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