What might be Timothy Ratliff's secret in The White Lotus Season 3? Speculations explored

The White Lotus returned to our TV screens with the third season. This season introduces us to a wealthy man named Timothy Ratliff, who is on a holiday in the Thailand resort of The White Lotus chain along with his wife and three kids. On the surface, the family looks successful and happy, but we can ascertain that Timothy is hiding something as The White Lotus Season 3 premiere continues to play out.

Right upon landing at the Thai resort, the wealthy family is astounded to learn that the resort has rules prohibiting the use of phones in public areas. This is especially a problem because Timothy's assistant calls him numerous times throughout the first episode of The White Lotus Season 3. The assistant calls Tim to inform him regarding a Wall Street Journal story, that Timothy doesn't want to be exposed.

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Speculations about what is Timothy hiding in The White Lotus Season 3?

Bart Nixon, a journalist working for The Wall Street Journal, is planning to write an extensive piece on someone supposedly linked to the Brunei government named Kenneth Nguyen, who is Timothy's business partner. Timothy interrupts his family dinner and does answer Nixon's call, in which the journalist asks the former some difficult questions about Nguyen. Nixon wants to know whether Timothy worked with Nguyen to establish a fund Sho-Kel.

Timothy responds to Nixon's questioning by saying that while he is aware that "Kenny" moved to Brunei, he hasn't spoken with Nguyen for a while. Hearing this, Nixon deduces that Timothy might still be on cordial terms with Kenneth even if they might not have spoken in a while. Nixon tells Timothy that the investigative piece will be published in The Wall Street Journal the same week.

While Timothy maintains a cool attitude throughout the phone call with Nixon, he immediately calls Kenneth, who doesn't answer the call. A tense and worried Timothy explains the situation about the WSJ investigating Sho-Kel to Kenneth on the voicemail. This call from Nixon serves as a turning point for Timothy in The White Lotus Season 3.

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What is Sho-Kel?

We don't yet what Sho-Kel exactly is, but given Timothy's tense reaction, we can assume that the fund is shady. Most probably, Sho-Kel was a money laundering scheme established by Kenny and Timothy helped to set it up. And the connection to the Brunei government, Sho-Kel probably is masked as a political fund for tax exemption. Whatever, it is Timothy doesn't want it to come out.

None of his family including his wife Parker Posey's Victoria are aware of his situation. Therefore, there's a guilty expression on his face when Victoria tells Timothy that he is a good man. His expression hints that a major portion of his wealth can be attributed to Sho-Kel. If Kenneth is exposed, Timothy might lose everything in the upcoming episodes of The White Lotus Season 3.

In addition to the impending publication of the Sho-Kel story by the WSJ, his family is even more dysfunctional than it seems on the surface, including Victoria's drug dependency as established in The White Lotus Season 3 premiere.

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How dysfunctional the Ratliff family is?

Actress Parker Posey in an interview spoke about the dysfunctional nature of the Ratiff family. She told the interviewer that the family is going to find out something that will disrupt their family in an upcoming episode of this season. Here's how she teased this:

"Something is brewing. Something is going to change their lives. They have no control over it."

Posey described her character as a narcissistic mother who chooses to see just whatever she wants. This is how she puts it:

"I think she sees what she wants and what she sees is pretty perfect. Her perfect children."

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What do you think Sho-Kel in The White Lotus Season 3 is? Tell us your theories.