What happens in episode four, ‘Hide or Seek’?
WARNING: Major spoilers for season three, episode four ahead.
It’s a new day, and our guests spend the morning contacting loved ones. While Belinda is excited that her son, Zion is due to arrive, Jaclyn struggles to get through to her husband, Harrison. Meanwhile Timothy continues to pop Victoria’s pills without her knowledge.
Gaitok goes to work with an ominous meeting with hotel management looming over him. While Mook hopes it’s a promotion, it’s actually a reprimand from Fabian to do his job better after the robbery. His boss reveals that for security reasons, he has acquired a gun for the team, and the pair will be training at the gun range later that day.
At the Ratcliff’s villa, Saxon is still pushing his protein shakes on Lochlan, and Victoria has finally noticed her pills are disappearing, and confronts her children about it. With nobody fessing up, they talk about their plans for the day – but the conversation is derailed when a drowsy Timothy accidentally exposes his penis when his robe falls open.
Chelsea sweet-talks Rick into joining the excursion on the boat over breakfast, while Laurie and Kate give each other knowing glances while Jaclyn is transfixed on her phone, waiting for Harrison to call. To get her mind off it, Jaclyn decides she and the girls should leave the hotel in search of a good time. She asks Valentin for tips on a cool hang out and insinuates that he should join them to spend more time with the single Laurie.
The Ratcliffs join Chloe and Gary on his boat, but Victoria is suspicious of them. When he sees Chelsea and Rick arrive, the already sullen Tim’s mood darkens even further, and he rushes downstairs to steal Victoria’s entire prescription from her purse, which she had hidden when she first boarded.
Jaclyn, Laurie and Kate head to a new resort, and Jaclyn is immediately spotted by a pair of widowed Australians who recognise her from TV. Jaclyn suspects something is wrong, and storms out when she realises they’ve been sent to a retiree's retreat. She returns to the White Lotus furious, before demanding Valentin comes with them to somewhere “actually fun”.
Belinda confides in Pornchai about her suspicions over Greg/Gary, unable to shake the feeling that he is hiding something.
On the boat, Piper confesses to Lochlan that she didn’t come to Thailand for her thesis, but because she wants to enrol at the nearby meditation centre, hoping to move there for at least a year once she graduates. Lochlan is upset but agrees to support her. Saxon then pulls him away in a bid to win over a group of young women who are on the boat with their older partners. Lochlan proves surprisingly popular with the ladies, impressing them with his talent for close-up magic. Saxon lays it on thick with Chloe as Gary – mostly keeping to the bar – silently observes.
Rick, still being closed and dismissive, is cornered by Chelsea, who begs him to let her in and tell her the truth or she’s leaving him. He confesses he’s come to Thailand to confront the man who killed his father – Sritala’s husband. In further detail, it’s revealed his dad’s body was never found, but his mother told him his name before she died. He admits he won’t know what to do when he sees him, but Chelsea fears he will do something stupid.
As the boat party continues, Victoria gets edgy and panics when she realises her pills are missing. Meanwhile, Piper has a moment with a tripped-out Tim, who gets emotional speaking to her.
Back on the island, Valentin brings the girls to a vibrant market area, with visitors and locals observing the Songkran Festival tradition of holding wide-scale water fights in the streets. He promises to meet them at a club in an hour and leaves them to collect his friends. The girls, dressed up for a night out, are immediately targeted by local kids and are left drenched before escaping to the safety of a local shop. Determined to push through, they make it to the club, meeting Valentin and his two Russian friends.
Belinda, relaxing at a hotel, Googles Tanya and discovers what happened to her in Sicily. News reports also reveal that Greg was wanted for questioning in Italy, and she confirms her suspicion that “Gary” is Greg of the Bureau of Land Management.
On the boat, Chloe asks “Gary” if they can take the boat to a Full Moon party, and he reluctantly allows it, but says he’s got to head home to deal with something. He joins an increasingly drunk Tim at the bar, who openly suspects his host is either “looking for something or hiding from something.”
When the boat docks, Chelsea pleads with Rick not to go to Bangkok, warning him she has a “bad feeling”, but he doesn’t listen and leaves for the airport. Dejected, she heads back to the boat to join the group for the beach party.
With Saxon and Lochlan staying on the boat and heading to the party, the remaining Ratliffs debrief over dinner, with Victoria shooting off about the men on the boat being tax dodgers, which unnerves Tim. He heads to Pam, demanding he get his phone back for a few minutes. Once it’s switched on, the alerts come in thick and fast, causing him to panic once again. He calls his lawyer, who reveals Kenny has rolled over and is cooperating with the feds. The lawyer suggests he plead guilty to embezzlement and fraud, as they could take everything from him - including his house, and bank accounts. Furious, he says he’d rather die than go to prison.
In the security hut, Gaitok takes out the gun for the first time, but is distracted by Mook who is dressed as a dancer for the evening. Joining her for a walk, he abandons his post and leaves the gun out on the table. When he returns, it’s gone. Timothy’s taken it.
Back at his house, Greg looks up Belinda, while the younger guests prepare for a night of revelry as they head on the boat to the full moon party.