Warning: This post contains spoilers for Season 3 of “The White Lotus.”
Ke Huy Quan isn’t the only Oscar-winning actor to have a cameo on Season 3 of “The White Lotus.”
Sam Rockwell, who won the Academy Award for best supporting actor in 2018, made a surprise appearance in Episode 5 on March 16, playing Rick’s old pal Frank. The actor’s real-life partner is Leslie Bibb, who stars as Kate in this season of the show.
Sam Rockwell in Episode 5 of Season 3 of “The White Lotus.”HBO
In the fifth episode, Rick (Walton Goggins) and Frank met up in Bangkok the night before Rick was set to visit Sritala, the owner of the White Lotus hotel in Koh Samui, and her husband — whom Rick believes killed his father before he was born.
As the pair were catching up in a bar, Frank gave a bizarre speech about sexuality, alcoholism and Buddhism, leaving Rick wide-eyed as he tried to understand what Frank was trying to put down.
Sam Rockwell and Walton Goggins play old friends Frank and Rick in Episode 5 of “The White Lotus.”HBO
“Maybe what I really want is to be one of these Asian girls,” Frank says, before the camera cuts to Rick with his mouth wide open as he replies, “Really?”
Rick’s reactions instantly became a meme for viewers, as they also tried to digest watching two of the Ratliff siblings share a shocking kiss, as well as Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) cheat on her husband with hotel wellness guru Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius) during the episode.
“Literally my face the entire time while watching episode 5 of The White Lotus,” one X user posted alongside an image of Goggins looking distressed.
“everyones face watching the white lotus tonight,” another X user wrote, posting four images of Goggins.
“Rick’s facial expressions have me CRYING,” another post on X said.
After Rick makes it through Frank’s alarming speech, he gets what he came for: a black duffel bag that Frank slides across the floor.
Frank gives Rick a black duffel bag containing a gun in Episode 5.HBO
“I hope you don’t have to use it,” Frank says, as viewers learn there is now another gun in the mix besides hotel security guard Gaitok’s — which is currently in the hands of Tim, the Southern father of three who is facing arrest back in the U.S. for fraud.
Tim (Jason Isaacs) had a note and was holding the gun to his head when his wife Victoria (Parker Posey) came out into the living room of their villa, leading Tim to hide the gun as she asked if he couldn’t sleep.
He shared how much pressure he’s under, and Victoria asked him to come back to bed. Meanwhile, their two sons, Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola), were at the Full Moon party, and once back on Greg’s yacht, they kissed.
Schwarzenegger told TODAY.com that the show’s creator Mike White wanted to leave the kiss up for the audience to interpret.
“Was a power shift happening? Is there a different power dynamic between him and Lochy? Is Lochy coming on to him? Is it the drugs? Is it the girls pressuring him? What is it? So, I think he leaves that open-ended for the audience to try to decipher,” Schwarzenegger said.
Schwarzenegger added that one of the themes of the show is that characters walk into the hotel as one person, and leave as another.
“And I think that’s something that’s really relevant and prevalent for for Saxon,” he said. “Him walking into the White Lotus as the most confident and sure person of who he is, and everything gets completely questioned in his experience there.”
