The White Lotus s3, Coconut Balls and Chekov's Fruit
Why a fruit-bearing scene could be the key to solving this season's murder mystery
What to watch on TV tonight: The White Lotus (Sky Atlantic)
***spoilers for series 3, episode 1 below***
The long wait is over; and we’re finally back on holiday with some of the worst groups of humans to exist; over-privileged, over-monied and now over there (Thailand), being hideous to the poor people forced to cater to their every whim at The White Lotus resort, Koh Samui.
Yes, the first episode is a slightly slow-moving set up – as is customary of its creator, Mike White – and some of the new guests feel perhaps too similar to past guests, but then…bang! There’s a jumpscare moment towards the end – discussed below further – which made me confident enough to think: OK, we’re back.
However, one thing: I regret to inform you that the new theme song fails to slap. Season two’s tune – with the “please, these gays; they’re trying to murder me!” overlay – literally made it into the club. But Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s not really giving anything for season three – go on, try and sing it. See? You can’t, whereas s2 you could at least make an approximation of it. Still, the rest of the music and sound design within the show are brilliant – listen out for howling jungle animal noises that morph into porn-like grunts, shouts and cries throughout that leave you constantly on edge. That, combined with the extremely dark, predatory sexual energy that the heinous oldest Ratliff son, Saxon, is giving off makes me think we’re in for a truly twisted tale. Well, White warned us himself, when he revealed that s3 is “much, much darker” than the other two outings, so let’s prepare ourselves for something deeply morbid.
On the plus side, it’s great to finally be introduced to the characters we’ve been imagining since casting was first announced. Finally, Parker Posey as Victoria Ratliff, the drawling, pill-popping mum, who indulges her son’s horrible, sexist behaviour; her husband, Tim (Jason Isaacs), a dickish millionaire who’s dodgy dealing is clearly coming back to bite him in the arse. The lovely Aimee Lou Wood plays Chelsea, the charming, if not slightly woo-woo, much-younger girlfriend of Rick (Walton Goggins), a grouchy old man with some sort of revenge mission bringing him to Thailand. I love the gal-pals, Kate (Leslie Bibb), Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), who’s resentment of each other has clearly grown stronger than the self-professed love they claim to have of each other, and who’s “victory lap” holiday is most likely to end with them all sitting separately, in silence, on the boat on the way home.
And Belinda (Natasha Rothwell)! What a joy to see Belinda back; even though the timing of her wellness cultural exchange can only mean high drama for this spa manager, and her son, who we saw in the opening moments of the show, when someone with a gun was on the rampage.
Oh, and we have our dead body. Let’s not forget that this is a murder mystery, after all. My first thoughts were that it could be a member of staff, as they had that same sort of colour top they all wear, but it’s all there for speculation. No time to sit back on the sun lounger; let’s dive into the mystery further.
What do they eat and drink on The White Lotus?
There’s one cutaway scene to an unexpected character casually eating dinner: GREG! Bloody hell, I did not see that coming, and thought the late Mr McQuoid returning was just an outlandish prediction from the White Lotus fans over on Reddit. Does this mean he will finally get his just desserts for hiring – perhaps the funnest bunch of – gay hitmen out on his wife, Tanya? And will Belinda make the connection if she sees him out and about at the resort? And how will Chelsea and Rick get caught up in it all? Lots to chew on, and I can’t wait to see where this goes.
But as for the food, there’s one early, throwaway scene in episode one that I think deserves to be reexamined — as I first wrote about in Esquire — as the food that they talk about could prove vital to the murder case.
The hideous Ratliff family have just arrived chez White Lotus, and the nice staff member, Pam, is explaining how their week in actual paradise will work. BO-RING, Saxon says scathingly: “What am I supposed to do here all week without my phone, eat a bunch of fruit?”, while picking up a green fruit from the ground.
“Well, we do have a lot of amazing fruit here,” replies Pam. “But I wouldn’t eat that. That’s the fruit of the mighty pong pong tree and the seeds of the fruit…” – like Saxon – “...are toxic”. How toxic, he asks, like, kill you toxic? “Yeah, it could actually, it’s very poisonous,” she replies. Is this how we end up with the dead body? Why did the camera linger a little too long on Saxon looking closely at the fruit? Is this how we end up with the dead body? I think we might have ourselves Chekov’s fruit.
I’d never heard of the pong pong tree, but White’s clearly been deep into his Asian flora and fauna research and landed on the the pong pong tree – also known as the Cerbera odollam, or (yikes) the suicide tree – and its green fruit, called othalanga. The chemical within its seeds is apparently so toxic that it can cause the heart to stop entirely.
According to The Washington Post, in 19th Century Madagascar, thousands of people died from eating the fruit as part of “trials by ordeal”, used after they were accused of witchcraft or other crimes. And in a 2004 study, it reported it is “responsible for roughly a death per week in Kerala….researchers believe that more people have taken their own life using othalanga than any other plant in the world.” Here’s a new one for The White Lotus: could the dead body be a suicide, rather than a homicide? Wild prediction here: is there some sort of abuse going on in the Ratliff family that ends in death? Or will somebody use it just to take out – right now – the most obvious villain, Saxon? Maybe his sister, Piper? Keep your eyes peeled for someone slipping the green fruit into a tropical fruit salad or cocktail…
What should you eat and drink watching The White Lotus?
While it’s pretty obvious from White’s show that we should EAT THE RICH; it’s not really possible to overthrow the billionaires of late-stage capitalism in the 20 minutes before the episode airs.
So instead, let’s look to South-East Asia for our grub. And don’t worry, despite Rick moaning about it all being: “gluten-free rice and coconut balls”, if you’ve ever been to Thailand, you’ll know the food is incredible. Even the smallest, road-side stalls invariably serve up some of the best dishes that the country has to offer. Som tam, a fiery green papaya salad, is probably one of my all-time favourites, as is something like Kaeng pa, a soupy jungle curry, stuffed with fresh green peppercorns and served up in a traditional metal hot pot.
Then for dessert, obviously we’re not going anywhere near the pong pong fruit, but roti-like pancakes with bananas and condensed milk drizzled on top – super popular on Koh Samui – comes a very close second to the almost religious adoration everyone has for sticky coconut rice and mango. Nothing will transport you back quicker, and it’s such a lovely, comforting dish that everyone from young babies to old grannies love to eat. This recipe is adapted from Meera Sodha’s recipe here.
Sticky coconut rice and mango (Khao neeo mamuang)
Serves 4
Ingredients
200g glutinous rice, something like this from Sainsbury’s is perfect
200ml coconut cream
2 tbsp agave syrup
¼ tsp salt
4 mangoes: alphonso is best, but any variety that’s super sweet and soft, and sliced
Sesame seeds
Method
Prep the rice: rinse it several times in cold water, then put in a bowl, covering with more cold water and leave for a couple of hours, or even overnight.
When you’re ready to cook the rice, line either a bamboo steamer, or like I did, a metal sieve with a cheesecloth or muslin sheet. Drain the rice, then put it in a thin layer on the cloth. Wrap the sides up, and put the lid on.
Steam over hot water for about 25 minutes, or until tender, and take off heat.
While the rice is cooking, put the coconut cream, agave and salt in a small saucepan, heat until hot – watch it doesn’t boil – and is slightly thickened. Take off heat.
Place the hot rice in a bowl and pour in most of the coconut mixture, leaving a little bit left to drizzle on top. Mix, cover, and leave for 5 minutes.
Serve by putting a scoop of the coconut rice in a dish, place a few pieces of mango around it and drizzle on the leftover coconut cream. Top with sesame seeds and enjoy.
To drink? Don’t bother with the rocket fuel Thai rum Sangsom. Instead, crack open a Chang, or rustle up a quick Thai lime soda; fill a glass of ice with sparkling water, squeeze three wedges of lime in there (and, unlike Dorit from Real Housewives) carcass in; bash a few mint leaves and throw in there, add a tiny drizzle of agave syrup, and an even tinier pinch of salt. Stir a few times and serve.
Cheers!