The White Lotus Official Podcast
Ep. 2: “Special Treatments” with Tayme Thapthimthong, Lalisa Manobal and Sam Nivola
Mon, 24 Feb 2025
Hosts Jia Tolentino and Josh Bearman break down all the key moments in Episode 2. They’re also joined by Tayme Thapthimthong and Lalisa Manobal, who play Gaitok and Mook, as well as Sam Nivola, who plays the youngest Ratliff, Lochlan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who are the hosts of the White Lotus podcast?
Hello, and welcome to the White Lotus official podcast companion to season three. I'm Gia Tolentino.
And I'm Josh Bierman.
And I'm here to warn you that if you haven't watched episode two of season three, watch it right now before listening to this, because we will spoil every single beat of the episode for you.
Chapter 2: What should you know before listening to this episode?
Yes. Although this may be the last warning, because by now you probably know how podcasts work. Yeah. And later on in this episode, we're going to be speaking with Taim Taptim-Tong and Lalisa Manaval, who play Gaitak and Mook, and Sam Nivola, who plays the youngest Ratliff, Lachlan.
Chapter 3: Which characters are discussed in this episode?
Josh, I have a question for you before we get into all of this. This is my toxic sex in the city assortative behavior question. After following these characters for two episodes, who are you? Are you still Goggins?
Yeah, yeah. I'm now stronger in the Goggins direction. When he gets into the treatment center and is there in this kind of spiritual repartee with the guru there. I don't need to detach. I'm already nothing.
Even nothing can be an illusion you tell yourself.
That's when I was like, oh yeah, now I get it. That's where I fit in. Who are you identifying with?
I'm lessening on my Chelsea identification. It's really the party girl aspect of her that I connect with. But she is a little bit more naive and sweet in this episode than I am necessarily. I unfortunately am beginning to identify more with the three women who are constantly talking shit about each other.
And where do you land in that trio?
Oh, God. Well, unfortunately, I'm not. I mean, I'm not a lorry. Never been a lorry. Just kidding. I probably have been a lorry at times in my past. It is one of the women that are eager to be the alpha. This episode is called Special Treatments, and it's once again written and directed by Mike White. The episode starts where the last episode ends, which is like after Carrie Coon has gone to bed.
And Kate and Jacqueline, Leslie Bibb and Michelle Monaghan can really get into the gossip. And the dynamic on display between these three women is that everything that they are doing when it's the three of them together is completely fake. And then as soon as one of them leaves, they snap into the mode of truth-telling.
They probably console themselves by believing that their gossip is actually a form of caring because they're talking about, oh, poor things went through this troubled time. But it's not really constructive, compassionate. It's because they don't do anything. There's no action taken. And then later, the other leg of the stool is present when it's. Laurie and Kate.
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Chapter 4: What are the main themes explored in Episode 2?
Like you wanted to immediately disarm them and take them down.
You could have secured that promotion to be the bodyguard, the international bodyguard.
Yes, yes. But it was fun. The challenge was great. I got to explore my sensitive side. I really enjoyed that.
How did you guys, you know, the romance from the very first scene when the motorbike breaks down and you're kind of making the joke, like, give me a hundred baht or whatever.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's like, it is truly such a sweet and lovely and, like, totally, like, I was immediately invested from that. And I wonder if you guys can talk about that.
The relationship, like we start the show and your characters have clearly have had a slow burning little flirtation for a bit now and are still moving very slow despite Guy Tuck's desire to make it move faster by saying your family already loves me, et cetera. But yeah, tell me about how you sort of together sort of conceived what this relationship and kind of slow burning romance would be.
I think from Guy Tok's point of view, he has been thinking about this for a while. Sort of almost planning out, how do I break this to her, and should I? Because that's what all the hesitation at that lunch table was all about, because I just felt like if I confess this to her, will this kind of backfire on me, and she might be like, whoa, I did not think of you like that.
You're like a brother to me or something and just completely ruined the relationship. But yeah, so I think the way I thought in my head is that I've been staying up all night thinking about this. Should I ask her to lunch tomorrow? And then after I've asked her lunch, probably sitting in my booth and like, okay, how do I convince her that this is a good idea?
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