• Rick confronted his father’s supposed murderer in the latest episode
  • Several writers have a theory about Rick’s father
  • The season finale is set to throw up a few surprises
Walton Goggins in The White Lotus
Walton Goggins is starring in The White Lotus as Rick Credit: IMAGO

White Lotus fans are running wild and running free with their theories ahead of the upcoming season finale. But perhaps one of the most interesting storyline twists that has been proposed could be the most likely to come true.

In the most recent episode, Walton Goggins’ Rick Hatchett finally comes face to face with the man he has been told killed his father. Rick’s whole reason for vacationing at the White Lotus, with girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), has been so he can butter up hotel owner Sritala Hollinger and engineer a meeting with her husband, Jim.

Is This White Lotus Fan Theory the Most Accurate One of the Season?

Rick revealed to Chelsea earlier in the season that the reason he needed to travel onto Bangkok, leaving her behind at the White Lotus, was because Jim Hollinger murdered his father. Rick was bestowed this information by his mother as she was dying. He was led to believe the murder occurred over a land dispute.

However, when finally eye-to-eye with Hollinger at his Bangkok home, Rick opts against shooting him, and instead tips the elderly man over in his chair, before fleeing back to the city with Rockwell’s Frank, for a night of wild celebration, finally relieved at confronting the man who has caused him so much anguish throughout his life.

But is all as it seems with Rick and Jim? Given that there is an episode remaining, and this is the White Lotus, it doesn’t feel as if that will be that. Such a significant storyline is unlikely to be wrapped up by the penultimate episode. Especially given the fact that Rick must now return to the hotel owned by Jim’s wife.

So what of the latest fan theory that has begun to make the rounds online? That Rick’s father was not murdered by Jim Hollinger and, in fact, Rick’s father is…….well, I mean, you can see where this is going, can’t you? Yeah, it could be Jim Hollinger, couldn’t it?

Rick Hatchett – Jim Hollinger Jr?

Writing for Mashable, Shannon Connellan proposes, “I argue that Jim Hollinger is actually Rick’s dad, and that Rick’s mother, heartbroken from Jim perhaps leaving her before Rick was born, lied to her son on her deathbed as a final act of revenge. Rick doesn’t have any other information about his father other than he was ‘a good man’ and that he was murdered by some guy called Jim Hollinger who owns a fancy hotel in Thailand. But he never mentions his father’s name, nor do we see a photograph of him.

“When Rick arrives at the Hollingers’ estate, you could argue Jim recognises a part of him straight away, or sees some resemblance to Gloria. Scott Glenn’s performance here is deliberately hard to read but he gazes at Rick like a familiar face; meanwhile Rick is shellshocked at the reality of the man he built up in his head.

“During their confrontation in the den, Jim is again ambiguous in his reactions, though he errs on the side of not remembering. Is it an act? The way Jim says Rick’s mother’s name – “Gloria Hatchett” – back to Rick, to me isn’t a moment of forgetfulness, it’s a revelation to Jim. I suggest Jim remembers Gloria in this moment, but before he can process it, Rick’s got a gun in his face.”

Meanwhile, Philip Sledge over at CinemaBlend made the same prediction, albeit before the penultimate episode had even aired.

“Throughout the first six episodes of The White Lotus Season 3, Rick has been elusive about his father. In Episode 2, “Special Treatments,” he reluctantly opens up about his past (to an extent) during a meditation session, where he reveals that he never met his father and that he was murdered before Rick was born. Then in Episode 4, “Hide or Seek,” he says that Jim Hollinger murdered his father when Rick was a child, making it hard to follow what really happened.

“Though I’m not totally sure what’s going on in this storyline, I do believe that Jim Hollinger is Rick’s long-lost father. A revenge plot seems too straightforward for a show like this, and with so many unanswered questions up to this point, it feels like something more is in store. With Jim’s identity being guarded until at least the penultimate episode (we didn’t see his face in “Denials”), anything could happen, even in this scenario.”

Is Rick Set For His Own Darth-Luke Revelation?

Social media users seem to be pulling the same thread, as well…

Now, if there were anything that could come close to matching THAT Sam Rockwell monologue in White Lotus season three, it would be Goggins getting his very own Darth Vader dad reveal, surrounded by monkeys, massive lizards and gunfire.

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Joe Baiamonte
Joe spent four years heading up SPORTbible’s editorial team before taking over at UNILAD Sport. Joe has regularly provided WWE coverage for almost a decade, interviewing many of the biggest names in the business and covering several major events in the United States and Europe, including four WrestleManias.
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