I hope you’re ready for a super intense season of The White Lotus because apparently, season 3 is more heavy and dramatic than the show’s ever been. This time around, the guests are staying at The White Lotus in Thailand, which is a luxurious wellness retreat. The central theme this season is Eastern religion/spirituality and death. “They’re all in some kind of hurt,” show creator Mike White explained to Time about the guests in season 3. “Like, they’re all dead, but they don’t know it…because it’s dealing with these existential tropes of facing into the nothingness of self [and] Buddhist themes that have life and death and ethical aspects.”

Speaking of death, we hear gunshots right at the start of season 3, and there’s an unidentified floating corpse. Naturally, I’m already desperate to know: Who’s the shooter in The White Lotus season 3??

The White Lotus Season 3: Shooter Theories

Who’s The Shooter In The White Lotus Season 3?

At the beginning of the first episode of season 3, we see a meditation session — Amrita (Shalini Peiris) is leading the session and Belinda’s (Natasha Rothwell) son, Zion (Nicholas Duvernay), is the client. But just as they begin to meditate, they hear gunshots and Zion cries: “My mother is out there!” They both run away and we see Zion freaking out and saying a prayer for his mother. Then, he spots a corpse floating in the water and looks absolutely horrified. So yeah, the season will lead up to that moment in time and we’ll see what happened when the finale airs in 10,000 years (April).

The show creator has already teased that this season is “much, much darker” than the last two seasons. That leads me to believe that the murder will be more disturbing and chilling than Armond’s and Tanya’s were. Perhaps this could mean a family member kills a family member, a friend kills a friend, or someone kills their significant other. A suicide or murder-suicide is another particularly dark possibility.

Personally, I’m suspicious of Rick (Walton Goggins) at the moment. Why TF is he on this trip or in this relationship if he hates his cheery, super young GF (Aimee Lou Wood) so much? And why is he so interested in Sritala Hollinger? What business does he have with her or her husband?

Walton low-key hinted at what’s to come during an interview with Time. “I read all eight scripts in a day,” he recalled. “It took about 10 hours between a plane ride and then a glass of wine when I got home to get that full experience.” Walton said that he “didn’t anticipate” how it was going to end. “And by the end of it, I was gutted in such a visceral way,” he said. “I use that word specifically. It’s an emotional wrench.” Oof. (This is why I wonder if he found out his character is the killer.)

I could also definitely see Laurie (Carrie Coon) getting violent, because if I was stuck with those insufferable bitches, I know I would. Plus, I have my eye on Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius) because it’s pretty sus that he was distracting Gaitok and keeping the gate open in episode 2…

The White Lotus Season 3 Monkey Theory

@itsmejadeyj I’m right about this one #whitelotus ♬ original sound – Jade🍉

One TikTok creator, Jade, has a theory that the monkeys are the killers this season. In her video about the prediction, she points out that White Lotus deaths are typically “silly and accidental.” She also notes that monkeys are highlighted several times at the beginning of the season. “If you’ve ever been to Thailand, you know those motherfuckers are crazy,” Jade adds. She thinks there’s going to be a hotel room break-in that escalates tension between characters… but it’s actually the monkeys.

As we know, this season is all about religion. In the first episode, Amrita mentions the “monkey mind,” which is actually a Buddhist term for the chaotic, restless state of mind. Between that comment and all the monkeys featured in the show, monkeys are definitely an important theme this season whether or not they’re the killers.

The White Lotus Season 3 Staircase Family Theory

@burtsbeeswhore maybe i’m just hyperfixated but only have one episode to go off of #greenscreen #whitelotus #whitelotusseason3 #parkerposey #thestaircase #truecrime #mikewhite ♬ Aloha! (Main Title Theme) [from “The White Lotus: Season 1”] – Cristobal Tapia De Veer

There’s also an interesting theory that the Ratliff family is inspired by The Staircase, a docuseries about the Peterson family. Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in 2001, and her husband, Michael Peterson, was ultimately found guilty of her murder. There was also another woman in Michael’s life who died, seemingly by falling down a staircase — and her name was Elizabeth Ratliff.

A TikTok creator who posted about this theory points out that Parker Posey, who plays Victoria Ratliff in The White Lotus, also played a lawyer in The Staircase. Coincidence? TBD. The TikToker thinks Victoria is going to be murdered “questionably” by her husband.