The White Lotus Season 3 Finale: An Analysis of Carrie Coon’s Viral Performance

Carrie Coon discussed the inspiration behind her now-famous escape scene from the The White Lotus season 3 finale, and it resonates deeply.

“There wasn’t direction,” Coon, 44, shared in an interview with Variety on Monday, April 7. She revealed that the frantic run of her character, Laurie, after hearing gunshots during the episode aired on April 6, was entirely her own creation.

The actress detailed, “I was aware that the gunshot was coming, and we were meant to flee into the bushes, essentially.”

Please be advised: This article contains spoilers for the season 3 finale of The White Lotus.

Coon explained that Laurie’s frantic escape – head down, showing little regard for her friends’ safety after declaring her love for them – was influenced by her upbringing in a country that unfortunately experiences mass shootings with alarming frequency.

“I’m an American and a New Yorker, and if you believe that I don’t know where the exits are in any building I enter, then you’re not paying attention to the news,” Coon said. “I thought, ‘What would someone do?’ A person would absolutely run, would make a break for it.”

She added, “I’m quick. Not as quick as I used to be!” Nonetheless, her speed was evident in the unforgettable scene that took off virally after the finale aired.

Coon recalled, “Some polite Thai workers were kind of moving in the background. I remember thinking, ‘No, no, you need to show some Americans sprinting, hitting the deck, and diving into the lagoon.’ The Americans are serious about this—they know what’s at stake!”

In the season finale, Laurie, Kate (Leslie Bibb), and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) witnessed Rick (Walton Goggins) shoot Sritala’s (Lek Patravadi) husband, Jim (Scott Glenn), who is later revealed to be Rick’s father, on a bridge in Thailand. When they heard the gunshot, all three women quickly took off.

Laurie took the lead, darting away from the scene as if she were a college track star. Kate and Jaclyn were close behind, yelling as they sought safety. There was also a splash as another person jumped into the lagoon.

After the traumatic event, the three friends boarded a boat, departing from Thailand. They were visibly impacted by the shooting, yet chose not to discuss it. (However, they found closure during their final group dinner, where Laurie candidly expressed her sadness and the importance of their friendships.)

Rick, on the other hand, met his end in the finale after being shot during a confrontation with Sritala’s guard. His girlfriend, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), was also killed in the fray.

“Honestly, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. I’m crying in my car. This show has been my entire life, and now it’s over, leaving me back in my home with my dog, trying to remember who my friends are and what I did before this show,” creator Mike White told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Wednesday, April 2, giving a hint about the finale. “I don’t want to become one of those confused individuals who has lost their way.”

He also mentioned: “I had to take these MMPI psychological tests, and the results indicated, ‘You’ve become one standard deviation less nice than you were in 2018.’ Yep, that sounds about right.”

Charlotte Le Bon, who portrayed Chloe on the show, mentioned to THR at the time that, “People are going to dislike Mike White” based on the characters he decided to eliminate.

The White Lotus is available for streaming on Max.