GET THE BAG

‘The White Lotus’ Ending: Everyone Is Mad at Belinda

Did she make a happy or tragic choice? Maybe, it’s both.

History loves to repeat itself, and if there’s any moment that proves it, it’s Belinda’s (Natasha Rothwell) storyline in the finale of The White Lotus—where the phrase feels less like a theory and more like a prophecy.

In Season 1, viewers watched Belinda hit an emotional rock bottom, courtesy of Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), the wealthy, cloying, and emotionally unhinged vacationer who led Belinda to believe she would help fund her dream spa business. Tanya pulled a classic Tanya move and bailed at the last second, leaving Belinda crushed and viewers’ hopes for her future dashed along with hers.

Fast forward to this season, and Belinda got a much better exit from the show. This time, she leaves The White Lotus resort in Thailand with her son Zion in tow and a fresh $5 million in her bank account, a bribe from Tanya’s former husband, Gary/Greg (Jon Gries), to stay quiet about his role in his wife’s death.

By all accounts, viewers should be happy for Belinda.

Sure, she may have let Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul), her Thai lover down, ditching their plan to open a spa business together. But she only knew the guy, for what, like a week? Of course, it’s sad, but with millions in the bank, isn’t this supposedly “everything” people wanted for her? Belinda got her happy ending, so why aren’t more people popping champagne bottles in celebration?

Well, it seems like everyone is experiencing a strong case of déjà vu, and let’s just say they aren’t thrilled about it.

“[Not] Belinda doing to Pornchai what Tanya did to her,” one person wrote on X, reacting to the storyline with a gif of someone sobbing.

One user even posted a clip of Tyra Banks’ infamous line from America’s Next Top Model: “I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you,” to express their disappointment in Belinda’s decision.

Meanwhile, others are just happy she made it out of Thailand not only unscathed but also with millions more in the bank, even if that means Pornchai caught a stray along the way.

The parallels between Tanya and Belinda’s actions, and the conflicting emotions it stirs in viewers, are likely exactly what Mike White, the show’s creator, hoped to get out of this storyline.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Rothwell and White discussed their takes on Belinda’s ending and the mixed reactions to it.

“It’s easy to be virtuous and have certain kinds of ideals when you have no money and don’t have to really put your money where your mouth is,” White said. “It’s one thing to be [like], ‘Oh yeah, I’m gonna do this spa for women,’ whatever her sort of fantasy was — but she needs someone to bankroll it. And then you’ve got the money, and it’s like, ‘Can I just be rich for like five minutes?’ I just feel like that’s very honest.”

Rothwell shared a similar sentiment, also noting that Belinda leaves Pornchai with more empathy than Tanya showed when she departed.

“I think there’s more grief on Belinda’s part than perhaps Tanya’s part. Tanya’s about to go get d--k. So, she’s like, ‘Bye girl. I gotta go.’ Belinda’s a little bit more heartbroken — and she doesn’t say no. She’s just like, ‘Right now, I have to get my bearings …’ And I do think that maybe she’d circle back [to Pornchai],” Rothwell explained.

In some ways, it feels like viewers are disappointed in Belinda because they were hoping she would be above it all, hoping she wouldn’t compromise her morals for money like so many other characters do in the show.

However, maybe the dissatisfaction everyone is feeling isn’t about Belinda or her actions, but rather frustration with how power and wealth, along with the accumulation of it (no matter the human cost), seems to be the only thing our society values. And, whether we like it or not, Belinda, like the rest of us, isn’t immune to its sway.

Just some food for thought.

Clare DonaldsonEditorial Intern

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.