"That's too dark": The White Lotus Season 3 creator Mike White finally answers a long-standing question about the Ratfliffs

The White Lotus Season 3, starring Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, and Sam Nivola, wrapped up on April 6, 2025.

Among the other plotlines, the intense finale episode titled Amor Fati saw the wealthy Ratliff patriarch, Timothy, losing his mind over bankruptcy. Timothy planned to poison his entire family, including his wife Victoria, daughter Piper, and son Saxon (except for Lochlan, who passed his can survive without luxury 'test').

However, Timothy's deadly plans failed as he had a last-minute realization that he loved his family way too much and could not afford to lose them, even if it meant surviving in poverty.

Mike White, the creator/ director of the series, broke down the psychology behind the dysfunctional Ratliff family scenes in The White Lotus Season 3 finale. He told Variety,

"As dark as we go in this show, that’s too dark. You’re showing the weaknesses of human behavior and how that can lead to deadly consequences. At the same time, there’s hopefully enough empathetic humanism to offset all the acid. It’s got enough of everything to be palatable, and yet, you still feel like you’re doing something new.”

What happened to the dysfunctional Ratliff family in The White Lotus Season 3 finale?

The Ratliff's family holiday in The White Lotus Season 3 didn't end with sunburns and souvenirs but with nearly mass poisoning and one near-death experience, setting for one of the most chilling finales of the series yet.

With legal troubles looming and his family cracking under the pressure of losing their wealth, Timothy Ratcliff devised a deadly plan to poison his family using toxic pong-pong seeds blended into pina coladas. He intended to spare his youngest, Lochlan, because he showed signs that he could survive without wealth. But in the end, Timothy backed out and stopped everyone from drinking the poisonous pina coladas. However, he forgot to clean the blender; hence, when Lochlan unknowingly used it in the morning to make his protein shake, he fainted.

Believing his son was dead, Timothy broke down, only to be stunned when Lochlan opened his eyes and claimed to have seen God. The Ratliffs left the resort on a boat, all alive, but deeply shaken and quite scared about the next chapter of their lives.

Is Timothy Ratliff based on a real person? Jasson Issac and the team on The White Lotus Season 3 most interesting characters

The Ratliff family patriarch, Timothy, is undoubtedly one of the most interesting characters of the series. He might not be the most likable one, but he's easily one of the most compelling. Unpredictable, intense, and hard to ignore- he's the character that drives the story forward. Even though Timothy Ratliff's character is not based on a particular person of interest, Mike White and Jasson Issacs have taken inspiration from two infamous and controversial figures.

A producer from The White Lotus Season 3 suggested that Jasson Issac's iconic character, Timothy Ratliff, could be loosely inspired by a member of the French aristocratic family, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes. Unable to bear his poor financial standing and crippling debts, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes killed his entire family, including two dogs, in April 2011, and disappeared. Also called the Nantes murder, the major suspect, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes, remains missing to this date.

Mike White told Variety,

"I kept thinking about how someone could lose the plot and kill the thing that he loves the most — this idea of somebody wanting to protect his family from hardship, and that they couldn’t survive without all the creature comforts they’re used to”

This is what made him craft Timothy's storyline; however, he added a dose of humanity and realization in the most The White Lotus way possible.

On the other hand, Jasson Issacs, who played Timothy, took inspiration from a media mogul, politician, and fraudster, Robert Maxwell, and the mastermind behind one of the UK's biggest financial scandals. In 1991, he died by mysteriously falling from his yacht, although his death was ruled an accident, many thought it was a suicide, including Jasson Issacs, who told Variety,

"He jumped off his yacht and killed himself rather than come onto land, and I thought about him a lot. I thought, ‘You know, it’s not a bad choice for Tim."

The White Lotus Season 3 is available for streaming on HBO Max.

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Also read: The White Lotus Season 3 finale hid a throwback to the previous instalment amidst the deaths

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