‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Premiere With Bill Simmons, Joanna Robinson, and Mallory Rubin

Summary

The Prestige TV Podcast: ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Premiere

Host/Authors: Amy Poehler, Mallory Rubin, Joanna Robinson
Episode Release Date: February 17, 2025
Podcast: The Prestige TV Podcast by The Ringer

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Introduction

In the Season 3 premiere of The White Lotus, set against the vibrant backdrop of Thailand, the hosts—Amy Poehler, Mallory Rubin, and Joanna Robinson—dive deep into their instant reactions, character analyses, and speculative theories surrounding the new installment of HBO's acclaimed series.

---

Instant Reactions to the Premiere

The episode kicks off with a brief discussion about Coffee Mate's limited-edition flavors inspired by The White Lotus, setting a thematic tone for their in-depth conversation.

Amy Poehler (00:57):

"As a coffee fanatic, I can't wait to try them. All right. Thai iced coffee in my coffee. Pina colada in coffee."

The hosts express their excitement and skepticism about these unique flavor combinations, paralleling their anticipation for the show's new twists.

---

Character and Plot Analysis

Revisiting Past Seasons

Joanna Robinson reminisces about previous seasons, highlighting the complexity and evolution of characters like Belinda and Greg.

Joanna Robinson (02:26):

"White Lotus season three. I can't even remember how long ago season two was."

Amy Poehler shares her initial thoughts on rewatching elements from season one to better understand the current narrative.

The Ratliff Family

A significant portion of the discussion centers around the Ratliff family, particularly their interactions and the potential for future plot developments.

Mallory Rubin (05:15):

"I actually think we need a quieter contrast to that which the trio of friends provide."

They commend Walton Goggins' performance, noting his character's depth and the sinister undertones introduced in the premiere.

Amy Poehler (05:46):

"I love Walton Goggins. He's one of my favorite of all time."

Mallory Rubin (06:35):

"Goggins is one of my favorite performers, and he was the one I was looking forward to seeing in the show the most."

Saxon and Patrick Schwarzenegger

The hosts discuss Saxon, Greg’s son, portrayed by Patrick Schwarzenegger, delving into his character's motivations and potential conflicts.

Joanna Robinson (07:32):

"She has peaked in her role, showing she's a happy, drugged-up mom just trying to stay out of the way."

Amy Poehler (09:00):

"Chloe's professional energy complements the dynamic perfectly."

---

Plot Theories and Speculations

Ominous Beginnings

The trio explores the series' tendency to open with mysterious and possibly tragic events, setting a foreboding tone for the season.

Amy Poehler (16:11):

"Bad things happen to good people. Bad people never get their comeuppance."

They debate the significance of symbolic elements like monkeys and poisonous fruit introduced in the latest season, pondering their roles in the unfolding mystery.

Mallory Rubin (32:55):

"So here's my poison fruit theory, because I think, like, the fact that it's in Saxon's hand and he's associated with it, and we know that his father is about to be embroiled in scandal."

Potential Showdowns and Hidden Agendas

Speculations arise around Rick’s pursuit of Jim Hollinger and the broader implications of corporate and personal tensions within the resort.

Amy Poehler (30:11):

"So my leading guess is that Rick is going to go looking for him."

Mallory Rubin (30:52):

"He is after some sort of emotional currency or actual currency Money."

The Welfare Retreat and Spiritual Themes

The hosts analyze the integration of spiritual enlightenment themes within the luxurious yet tense setting of the resort.

Amy Poehler (20:33):

"We're here to find spiritual enlightenment. It is just really tasty."

They discuss how The White Lotus consistently presents a facade of paradise while underlying tensions and conflicts simmer beneath the surface.

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Theory Corner

A recurring segment where the hosts propose and dissect various theories about the show's direction.

Amy Poehler (33:09):

"We are taking down journalism. In season three of White Loaded, it's..."

Mallory Rubin (34:07):

"It's a beautiful start to theory corner number two."

Joanna Robinson (54:38):

"So Mike White was just on the Taboo list, and he's like, oh, gay incest. Oh, okay."

They explore potential plot devices, such as corporate conspiracies, hidden romances, and the fates of key characters, all while weaving in humorous banter and pop culture references.

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Character Dynamics and Relationships

Saxon’s Pursuits

Saxon’s interactions with other characters, especially his attempts to connect with women at the resort, are scrutinized with both humor and critical analysis.

Mallory Rubin (43:41):

"You gotta play the numbers."

Amy Poehler (43:55):

"The way that Chelsea literally rolls over and gives him her back."

Women's Friend Group Tension

The friendship dynamics among the three older women are highlighted, focusing on their genuine connections and underlying resentments.

Mallory Rubin (46:11):

"Like, you're there and you have to keep saying out loud these fake compliments. We're the best friends in the world."

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Predictions and Final Thoughts

As the episode progresses towards its conclusion, the hosts engage in forecasting possible developments and outcomes for the season.

Amy Poehler (69:05):

"I think it should be someone. It's not going to be someone I want to die is usually the case."

Joanna Robinson (70:22):

"I think she's the body floating in the water."

Mallory Rubin (70:22):

"No, it's not Amarita. It's not. Zion would run toward his mother, not away from her."

They predict potential character deaths, plot twists involving corporate espionage, and the unraveling of long-standing relationships, all while maintaining an air of suspense and excitement for future episodes.

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Conclusion

Amy, Mallory, and Joanna wrap up the episode by reiterating their enthusiasm for the season ahead, encouraging listeners to stay tuned for more deep dives and discussions in upcoming episodes.

Joanna Robinson (71:39):

"Thanks, guys."

The hosts leave listeners with a sense of anticipation, promising continued coverage and analysis as The White Lotus Season 3 unfolds.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Amy Poehler (00:57): "Thai iced coffee in my coffee. Pina colada in coffee."
• Mallory Rubin (05:15): "I actually think we need a quieter contrast to that which the trio of friends provide."
• Joanna Robinson (07:32): "She has peaked in her role, showing she's a happy, drugged-up mom just trying to stay out of the way."
• Amy Poehler (16:11): "Bad things happen to good people. Bad people never get their comeuppance."
• Mallory Rubin (32:55): "So here's my poison fruit theory..."
• Amy Poehler (33:09): "We are taking down journalism..."
• Amy Poehler (43:55): "The way that Chelsea literally rolls over and gives him her back."
• Amy Poehler (69:05): "I think it should be someone."
• Joanna Robinson (70:22): "I think she's the body floating in the water."

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This comprehensive discussion by The Prestige TV Podcast encapsulates the excitement, intrigue, and analytical depth that fans can expect as the new season of The White Lotus progresses. Whether you're a seasoned follower or new to the series, this episode provides valuable insights and engaging speculation to enhance your viewing experience.

Transcript

[Amy Poehler]

This episode of the Prestige TV podcast is brought to you by Coffee Mate.

[Mallory Rubin]

Coffee Mate has been searching the globe for flavors that pair perfectly with coffee.

[Amy Poehler]

So when they heard that the new season of HBO's the White Lotus was set in Thailand, they were inspired to brew up two new flavors. Thai iced coffee and pina colada flavored creamers.

[Mallory Rubin]

They're available for a short time only, so for the love of coffee, go try them now. Hi, everyone, it's Amy Poehler and I'm launching a new podcast called Good Hang. In preparation for that, I asked some of my friends to send in some videos and give me some advice.

[Joanna Robinson]

Just be yourself and the guests will come. Don't be the celebrity that this is their, like, sixth thing they're doing.

[Mallory Rubin]

I love true crime and cooking podcasts.

[Amy Poehler]

Is there any way you could combine the two?

[Mallory Rubin]

Well, everyone has an opinion and a.

[Joanna Robinson]

Podcast, so join me for Good Hang.

[Mallory Rubin]

It's rough out there. We're just trying to lighten it up a little.

[Amy Poehler]

This episode is brought to you by Coffee Mate. I love a good crossover, especially when it's with a show you love. This time the crossover isn't with another character, but with Coffee Mate. Coffee Mate has collaborated with HBO's the White Lotus to bring us two tropically inspired limited time only flavors, Pina colada and Thai iced coffee flavored creamers. And as a coffee fanatic, I can't wait to try them. All right. Thai iced coffee in my coffee. Pina colada in coffee. I am adventurous when it comes to new flavors, but this sounds truly different. I'm picturing something tropical and refreshing, like a beachside cocktail, but with a coffee twist. Definitely curious to see how it all comes together. Let's try it.

[Mallory Rubin]

Mmm.

[Amy Poehler]

The Thai iced coffee is amazing. It tastes like, like an authentic Thai iced coffee with that, you know, the. The condensed milk sweetness to it. I was very skeptical about the pina colada, but it's surprisingly delicious. The coconut and pineapple notes make it feel like a vacation in a cup. Perfect for sipping while watching the latest episode of HBO's original series, the White Lotus Coffee Mates. The White Lotus flavors are only available for a limited time, so try them now and stream HBO's original series on Max.

[Joanna Robinson]

White Lotus season three. I can't even remember how long ago season two was. It was so long ago that Joanne Robinson and I have never done a podcast in the same room together.

[Amy Poehler]

This is our first incredible in person podcast.

[Joanna Robinson]

I'm gonna go watch some porn. Oh, no, wait.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, I'll watch. Are you Gonna close the bathroom door?

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, I'll watch you watch the porn. Does that sound like something we should do?

[Mallory Rubin]

I mean, right before you came in, Joe asked like, what do I even. What do I even want? And I said, you know, pussy.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

Money, freedom, respect.

[Joanna Robinson]

Listen, he's just dropping knowledge. Patrick Schwarzenegger, our guy. It's White Lotus season three. I don't remember when season two happened. I know you did a rewatch, Mal. I don't. Are you a rewatch before the next season? Because these seasons don't really kind of ma. I mean, there's one thing that matches.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, there's. Well, there's two. There's more than we thought there was. Well, Greg and Brenda. Greg shows up at the end.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, Belinda, I guess. But, yeah, Greg was.

[Amy Poehler]

We thought Belinda was going to be the main connective tissue. And then there's surprise, surprise, Greg drop at the end of this episode.

[Joanna Robinson]

So you're not our rewatch the first two seasons to get in the mood.

[Amy Poehler]

I spot rewatched, but I didn't rewatch the whole thing. Mallory is the A student here just.

[Mallory Rubin]

For the sheer pleasure of it in this case, because obviously this isn't like, necessarily or at all a. The plot continues. I mean, we will have some tether to where we left Belinda in season one. And obviously the fact that Greg is here gives us reason to assume that everything that happened with Tanya will come into play this season. But it's mostly the vibes. I'm like, so am I going to miss an excuse to revisit our time with your guy Alby in Sicily?

[Amy Poehler]

My favorite guy.

[Mallory Rubin]

Your favorite character, Alby in Sicily. Of course not.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

I only watched season one. I felt like I had seen season two enough that I felt comfortable.

[Amy Poehler]

But you did a season one rewatch.

[Joanna Robinson]

I did a season one rewatch.

[Amy Poehler]

How did that work for you?

[Joanna Robinson]

Fun. You know what? Really like Coach Taylor's wife just being back in there.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. It was after a little Sydney Sweeney. Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

After watching season one, Friday Night Lights, I was excited to spend more time with her.

[Mallory Rubin]

But, yeah, it's the Mossbacher family. Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Such a different show in a lot of ways that season one versus this show. But some of the DNA is the same. I want to go through. Well, first, I want to go through the units of people.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Joanna Robinson]

And we can decide. You guys can power rank your favorites. We have the rat lifts. We have the fancy cougars. We have Goggins and his girls.

[Amy Poehler]

I said in my notes, Bill's going to call them the cougars. But the Fancy.

[Joanna Robinson]

Fancy Cougars.

[Amy Poehler]

Can you say it the way that he said it? Cougars with relish.

[Mallory Rubin]

You got to play the numbers lot.

[Amy Poehler]

You got to.

[Joanna Robinson]

What do we call the unit for Goggins and. And his lady?

[Mallory Rubin]

What would you call them for Rick and Chelsea?

[Amy Poehler]

Boy, the strange couple.

[Joanna Robinson]

But all right, we'll call them the strange couple. Melinda and maybe it seems like her son Zion, who starts Y. And then the staff. So that's. That's really what we have. So, Joanna, what was your favorite out of the units, what were you the most excited about?

[Amy Poehler]

It's the Ratliff family. Like, obviously, I love Walton Goggins. He's one of my favorite of all time. And I think the. The fancy cougars are great. I'm love. I'm a huge Carrie Coon fan. But Jason, Isaac and Parker Posey, like, slathering on those southern accents. One of them more successful than the other is like, what Parker Posey is doing in her sort of like, drug addled matriarch state, I think is absolutely wonderful. And then Mallory's new favorite person on earth, Patrick Schwarzenegger, is here. But the names on.

[Joanna Robinson]

Can you save that for like 20 minutes in. Don't. Don't shoot your wad now. Just save it. Save all your Schwarzenegger spots.

[Amy Poehler]

Hold on to your one.

[Joanna Robinson]

He was really like Mike White just created a character for Mallory.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, it was just specifically she.

[Mallory Rubin]

I'll refrain from commenting. I've sent Joanna some text messages.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, I've received some messages about this. The names are Saxton, Piper and Lachlan.

[Mallory Rubin]

Lachlan is just three of them.

[Amy Poehler]

Lockie. Three of the most.

[Joanna Robinson]

I was gonna say it's actually Lackey.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

So it's Saxton, not Saxton.

[Mallory Rubin]

Saxon, Saxon, Piper and Lockie.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

Timothy Vicki.

[Joanna Robinson]

My wife asked me actually, did we ever. For our son did. Was Saxton Simmons ever in the mix? And we both remembered no, but Lachlan Simmons maybe as a dog. Like calling a dog Locky. All right, so Joe goes for the rat lifts. What do you have now?

[Mallory Rubin]

No question. And I'm with Joe. Like, Goggins is one of my favorite performers, and he was the one I was looking forward to seeing in the show the most. But start to finish, Bat in a thousand.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, the Ratliffs.

[Mallory Rubin]

In the premiere, I. Every single thing that came out of any of their mouths, I thought was, like, incredible. And they also just. They dominated the episode. Like, they actually clocked the runtime. But it felt like we were with them certainly more than we were with Rick and Chelsea. So I Do I eagerly await Joanna's accent corner thoughts. But hearing Jason Isaacs, Lucius Malloy himself say, what decision you got into? Duke is a life highlight. Is a life highlight also. I mean, college basketball comes to White Lotus. We have a Duke UNC rivalry on the show. Like, this is your dream.

[Joanna Robinson]

Pretty exciting. I. So I'm still trying to figure out what pose he's doing. That would be my nitpick for this episode.

[Amy Poehler]

Are you not enjoying what she's doing?

[Joanna Robinson]

She's three times. I think I'm enjoying it. I, you know, I'm trying, like, I'm around the age range of the parents, so I'm trying to think of even people in my life who are like this or people I've heard about that are like this. And it's a little exaggerated, but I think when she fell asleep at dinner, it clicked into place for me. They're just like, oh, she's just, she's just a happy, drugged up mom that's just trying to stay out of the way.

[Amy Poehler]

Just like a deeply functional drug addict.

[Mallory Rubin]

Claridge's fantastic.

[Amy Poehler]

There's a shot after they, like, settle in after, after Jason Isaacs as, as the. The patriarch who said, like, pam, you're a wonderful person. Pam, you're a wonderful person. How wonderful for you.

[Mallory Rubin]

How wonderful for you.

[Amy Poehler]

But he, like, he, like, stands and looks at the place they've booked, and he's just like, he has never felt like more of a man in his life than, like, look what I have provided. Look what I have conquered for my family. And we know from the phone calls from the press that it's all about to go downhill.

[Mallory Rubin]

So I loved that initial to like, I did my research in Saxon looking at him like, God, you're right. And then he feels compelled to say, I. I don't need a vacation. I love working. And I'm like, wow, it's me and Bill.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, so Mallory is.

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't know which one of us is Saxon. Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

I love working. I don't need a vacation.

[Amy Poehler]

Do you do the Apocalypse Now? Just under the surface of the pool. Swimming pool. Look around for, like, who's at the pool.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's probably my favorite camera angle of the entire.

[Amy Poehler]

Amazing.

[Joanna Robinson]

I really liked how they did that and how they presented him. I mean, he's the obviously the winner character of the first episode. Saxon.

[Mallory Rubin]

No question.

[Joanna Robinson]

So what's our history with Patrick Schwarzenegger?

[Mallory Rubin]

Oh, so I assume that we've talked about this. So I know you're not a Gen V enthusiast, but you. I Assume have never watched any of the Boys or Gen V. No, I know.

[Joanna Robinson]

Those are the two things. He was also in a movie, right? Like, there was one thing that I feel like I intersected with.

[Mallory Rubin]

He's been in some stuff, but he. So he played Golden Boy. His character in GenB. His superhero character is Golden Boy, which is just perfect.

[Amy Poehler]

So he just knows.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

He just knows exactly what he is. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

Golden Boy.

[Joanna Robinson]

Do you think Arnold's proud of him? Do you think he's like, I. I watch by Lotus.

[Mallory Rubin]

He was doing press.

[Joanna Robinson]

You look great.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, he was doing press. He's like, oh, my son did a nude scene. Like, apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

[Amy Poehler]

He's like, I also don't get a good enough pump if I'm not listening to music.

[Joanna Robinson]

Do you think Arnold advised him to actually walk toward the camera with his dong swaying like in Terminator 1? Or he's like, oh, you're just doing the back. You're not doing the front two.

[Mallory Rubin]

Well, we got a little. We did get a little extra.

[Amy Poehler]

A little front reflection. Oh, I think so.

[Joanna Robinson]

I was gonna ask you if you're on the lookout.

[Mallory Rubin]

There's a little. There's a little. There's a little.

[Joanna Robinson]

I remember Theo James in the second season. Mao had, like. Was standing next to her tv.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Squinting.

[Mallory Rubin]

Well, I didn't need. I didn't need to squint. I didn't need to squint because that Theo had Cameron prosthetic. That was a huge difference. No, no, but, like, very memorable at.

[Amy Poehler]

The premiere was this. On the big screen. You got to see Schwarzenegger at work on the big screen.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes. Yeah. You know, we moved quickly from. On the gigantic screen at the Paramount Theater. Saxon asking Lachi, what kind of porn do you like? Hot teacher Bukhaki into his dick swinging in the mirror reflection. Cameron's prosthetic in the. In season two, the Cameron Harper scene, also a mirror reflection, bathroom scene.

[Amy Poehler]

I'm like, wait, how arty. Indeed.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think the way he said bukkake was a new way to say it, and I enjoyed it.

[Mallory Rubin]

It's like Bukhake, wild moment, wild moment.

[Joanna Robinson]

He is. So there's shades of what's his face in season one. Who is married to Daddario.

[Amy Poehler]

Jake Lacey's kid. Jake Lacey.

[Joanna Robinson]

There's some Jake Lacey, but this guy's way more Alpha y. There's also some really fun father son stuff, which we get in sports all the time. He's clearly like the guy being groomed to Take over the business. Like, he could easily be, you know, the Cowboys owner, grooming his son Saxton.

[Mallory Rubin]

And then eventually appearing on Landman in a deeply emotional and moving scene.

[Joanna Robinson]

Right. In the most moving TV scene of the year.

[Mallory Rubin]

Do you know I made her watch.

[Joanna Robinson]

Landman just for the Jerry Jones.

[Amy Poehler]

No, no, for all of it.

[Mallory Rubin]

For all of it.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, Joe likes tv. I would assume that would have been, like, a tour de force for her.

[Mallory Rubin]

I think we met her limit at last with Bland Man.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh, really?

[Amy Poehler]

No, no, no. We had a great time. You had a great time. Not even see Billy Bob's amazing.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

He's so good.

[Joanna Robinson]

All right.

[Amy Poehler]

But it's like, it's Friday Night Lights Methadone. Right. Like when you just rewatched Friday Night Lights, and it's trying so hard to be Friday Night Lights.

[Joanna Robinson]

CrossFit Yellowstone.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

All right, so we'll go back to the Rat Lives. So I have a different answer.

[Amy Poehler]

They're great.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

I loved every second with them.

[Amy Poehler]

Each other.

[Joanna Robinson]

There's so much going on.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

I. I always judge, too. Like, I sneak peeks at my wife to see how engaged she is. And when she's, like, fully 100 engaged, her jaw drops and she goes. Just kind of watches like this. And I was like, oh, you're making the face every time they were on.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

There's so much going on. I love the idea. I can't believe it even took till season three to have an actress for Mike White to go. So I don't know where it's got. Because. So we should mention. All of us made a pact.

[Amy Poehler]

We're not watching ahead.

[Joanna Robinson]

No, we have not watched ahead. My wife was infuriated by this.

[Mallory Rubin]

She was like, just watch.

[Joanna Robinson]

Just go to the second one. They'll never know. And I'm like, you wouldn't even tell.

[Amy Poehler]

Us what you thought of the first one before we had watched it.

[Joanna Robinson]

I didn't tell you anything.

[Amy Poehler]

Not even, like, it was okay.

[Joanna Robinson]

I haven't watched.

[Mallory Rubin]

You didn't even tell us that we were gonna get to see part of Patrick Schwarzenegger's dog.

[Joanna Robinson]

I really did. Um, but. So we deliberately didn't watch ahead.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And so the actress. I'm really excited to see where that goes because I know there's, like, a ton of Hollywood stuff that he's going.

[Amy Poehler]

To pack into this is my favorite line, is when your favorite character of all time, Saxon, is at the pool, and he's like, I recognize you. You're on tv. And she says, thank you.

[Joanna Robinson]

Right.

[Amy Poehler]

And I'm like, that was an accomplishment.

[Joanna Robinson]

And then he says, cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, my God. Michelle Monahan as Jacqueline is tremendous stuff because she is so fake humble. She's like, oh, I would say I would sleep in a tree. I would sleep anywhere. You guys know. They're like, of course you were. Why would I be the face?

[Mallory Rubin]

Right.

[Amy Poehler]

Like, her. They have amazing.

[Joanna Robinson]

She's paying for everything.

[Amy Poehler]

She's paying for everything.

[Mallory Rubin]

They're going to pay for their own treatments. They're going to pay for their own treatments. Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

And, yeah, Carrie Coon being cast as, like, the. The frumpy one. When she has that shot where she walks towards Cameron, that gold bathing suit, she looks amazing.

[Joanna Robinson]

So they're. They're actually trying hard to make her look like the frumpy one out of the three.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, it's just, like, inside of their dynamics. Yeah, yeah. Of course she's hot.

[Joanna Robinson]

They're really working it.

[Amy Poehler]

But they're having, like, Leslie Bibb and Michelle Monahan's character. Kate and Jacqueline just compliment each other and they're like, oh, and. And you look great, too. Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

Who's your doctor?

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, yeah. Just the basics. Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

Just some maintenance.

[Joanna Robinson]

And your daughter seems like she's really turning into a cool girl.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Like, they hate each other.

[Joanna Robinson]

So they've known each other since age nine.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Joanna Robinson]

And then they all went different paths. So our guess is the Leslie. Leslie Bibb, by the way, who I feel like has never been in completely the right thing. Like, she was in the mix. She's in a lot of movies, TV shows. This is probably the best look she's had, I think. Right.

[Amy Poehler]

This is good for her, her character.

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't even know what I remember her from, but I know she's been around for 25 years.

[Mallory Rubin]

Iron Man.

[Amy Poehler]

Where'd she work for? Vanity Fair.

[Joanna Robinson]

Iron Man.

[Amy Poehler]

Iron Man.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. That's probably her biggest thing.

[Mallory Rubin]

Did a spread.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, she. The way that she. Her character, Kate is like, everyone in Austin knows about Dave's business.

[Mallory Rubin]

Everybody knows about Dave.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, everyone knows about Dave's business. She's got all these houses. So, like, she's really successful in her way, and Jacqueline's really successful in her way. And we don't know about Laurie, about Carrie Coon's character.

[Mallory Rubin]

Right. She's like a corporate badass.

[Joanna Robinson]

So everything seems fine, even though we know they hate each other. But then.

[Amy Poehler]

No, but there are these little looks. Right.

[Joanna Robinson]

There's little long and fake smiles. But then when they're all having the wine at the end and Carrie Coon is Slamming white chardonnay or whatever.

[Amy Poehler]

She's slurping the shard from the moment she opens that bottle. Yeah. Because she's already been on long plane ride with them or whatever. No, it's just that I love that it's three of them.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

It's the perfect dynamic for two of them to roll their eyes as a third one no matter what, and for.

[Mallory Rubin]

That to always switch.

[Joanna Robinson]

They can't pair off. They can't do two and two. Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

Which of them is going to fuck Valentin and which of them is going to fuck Saxon?

[Joanna Robinson]

Russian, The Valentine, Laurie, massage therapist.

[Mallory Rubin]

I think there is.

[Amy Poehler]

I say Carrie Coon fucks them both. At least Valentin. Yeah, that's what I say.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah. So. So he's everyone's favorite because he's handsome.

[Joanna Robinson]

These three have baggage, though. So what's the baggage? Because again, this is the advantage to us not watching head.

[Mallory Rubin]

So I don't know that it has.

[Amy Poehler]

To be anything further than just sort of like, we all grew up together and one of us got really famous and the other one is really rich and the other one is doing something else.

[Joanna Robinson]

But somebody had to have taken something from somebody. They were two at. Two of them were acting in high school and one made it. There's got to be some sort where somebody took somebody's husband or.

[Mallory Rubin]

That's interesting. Like the Olivia Paula season one equivalent of just like, if you see I have something, suddenly you want it. That aspect of a. But I. I kind of agree that this feels like the. No part of what we're interrogating. Part of the commentary is that actually just normal relationships are fractured and flawed and the people who are, like, nominally your closest friends are maybe going to be the people you resent the most. And the question is going to be when that bubbles to the. And you scream at them instead of, like, finding a way to maybe discuss it calmly. Whereas, like, Rick is on an active hunt tracking Jim Hollinger across the globe. Timothy Ratliff is about to be embroiled in scandal in the Wall Street Journal. So I actually think we need a quieter contrast to that which the trio of friends provide.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's a really cool concept of these three people. Their lives seem like they've turned out differently, but not badly for any of them. No, but that whole concept of these people, you know, forever and then circumstances change. You don't see each other as much. Some people are doing a little better than others. And then how does that all manifest itself when you're in Thailand and the thing that.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, the Thing that White Lotus, now that we're in the third season, like, I feel like when you and I were covering the second season, I felt like I'm not sure I know exactly what the show is yet because we only had that one other example. Now that we've seen two seasons, I'm like, oh, bad things happen to good people. Bad people never get their comeuppance. Like, that's the world we live in and that is fine. And also that this is always just going to be a pressure cooker. Like, because Mike White loves Survivor and he sort of bases on Survivor except.

[Mallory Rubin]

He'S like, David versus Goliath. Great season.

[Amy Poehler]

The other, the idea is not like what happens when you put people on an island and turn up the heat to 11. It's like, what do you give them? Everything. They're in the absolute lap of luxury. And all of this ugliness will come to the surface anyway.

[Mallory Rubin]

The concept on some level being like, let's go to beautiful places and make six to eight episodes of television. Obviously, just on that level. The concept is brilliant, Brilliant. But the concept that core driver, the setting will change, the particular characters will change, the thing that they're arguing about or unhappy about will change. But that concept of like, you can escape your ship but you can't escape yourself is like a just ever renewing resource. Like, no matter. No matter who they put in a given hotel. I will say, though, I don't know if you want to get to this later, but let me just say I would simply not vacation at the White Lotus at this point because there have been two deaths, too many fucking dead.

[Joanna Robinson]

People at the White Lotus end of the vacation, too. It's always like day six. We should leave a day early before somebody dies.

[Mallory Rubin]

Exactly. Or I would leave the village five days.

[Joanna Robinson]

Let's do five days.

[Amy Poehler]

But let's say, like, what's your favorite hotel to stay in? Mallory. Like, do you have a chain name?

[Mallory Rubin]

I can't remember.

[Amy Poehler]

But what's your favorite hotel to stay?

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't think there's an answer. Depends what you like for our location.

[Amy Poehler]

Let's just say we love the Four Seasons. We love to stay in New York.

[Mallory Rubin]

And I do after watching White Lotus.

[Amy Poehler]

Because compared to the Four Seasons or whatever, are you at any given time aware of how many murders, deaths have happened out of four seasons over the over several years?

[Joanna Robinson]

It's a fair counterpart like Cabo's like that. There's always stories like, you read on Apple News, it' tourist dead in Cabo. The time that's the only time I'm aware of it.

[Mallory Rubin]

The deaths in season two would have been huge news, I think. Right. Because that was like a number. It wasn't just Tanya. It was like all the dead bodies on the boat. And so I feel like there's a paragraph in the story about that that's like. And this mere months after Maui White Lotus manager Armand was found next to a mound of his own shit, stabbed in the pineapple stool.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, this has been. So this has been. Thanks for that season one recap.

[Mallory Rubin]

Reinstate my lotus.

[Amy Poehler]

No, but like was it mere months? I mean, so it's been a year at least since White Lotus Season 2 because Greg and his girlfriend have been spending.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's been more. Right. It's been two years.

[Amy Poehler]

Has it been two years?

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, in the real world. But you're saying in the story time. Right. Because Greg and his girlfriend have the house. They've been there for a year.

[Amy Poehler]

They've been in there for a year.

[Mallory Rubin]

And how long did it take him to lock her down without.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, but that's another year, I think.

[Mallory Rubin]

Two years.

[Joanna Robinson]

It was at least two years.

[Amy Poehler]

So I'm just saying three deaths over the course of five years.

[Mallory Rubin]

You convinced me. Let's plan our vacation. The villas look lovely.

[Amy Poehler]

The. The additional layer in this season of like the spirituality aspect.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Is. Is like extra delicious because like yes, this is sort of a rinse and repeat formula. But on top of the luxury of Hawaii and Sicily, we have like. We're here to find spiritual enlightenment. Is just really tasty.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

It's going to be really good.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think it's spiritual enlightenment, but there's also like a level of ominousness. Is that a word now?

[Mallory Rubin]

Not exactly though. Not exactly the way you said it.

[Joanna Robinson]

There is ominicity.

[Mallory Rubin]

There's an ominous. There's a specter.

[Joanna Robinson]

Ominous quality. I used to write once upon a time.

[Mallory Rubin]

I assume what you're talking about on the ominous front is that the menu consists mostly of coconut rice balls and gluten free food.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, and.

[Mallory Rubin]

And then they want you to put your phone away. No wonder.

[Amy Poehler]

It also sounded delicious to me.

[Joanna Robinson]

I was excited for that.

[Mallory Rubin]

I would have rice ball.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes. Now that doesn't know why they were crappy on that digital detail.

[Joanna Robinson]

The music was like a little like.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, of course. The spooky music.

[Joanna Robinson]

And also Thailand just in general, like beautiful. I don't think it's gorgeous. Beautiful on the right day. On the wrong day. It's like a monsoon. Like even like they said in the production, it was I think a little different than just let's go to Hawaii. It's like you go to Thailand, you're getting bit by mosquitoes, you have to shut down the set for three days because it rained.

[Mallory Rubin]

What was the most formative Thailand pop culture experience for you guys? And why is it Jack shepherd getting his ill advised tattoos and lost.

[Joanna Robinson]

I was lost. Is broke down palace and was that in Thailand?

[Amy Poehler]

How can you top lost though? I mean, Claire Danes is a good way to try.

[Joanna Robinson]

Wasn't that Thailand Broke down Palace and Jack getting the tattoos.

[Amy Poehler]

My tip, Jack. Here's my run out of like ominous.

[Joanna Robinson]

Wait, can you hold that?

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, of course.

[Joanna Robinson]

Because we gotta take a break.

[Amy Poehler]

Welcome to Nadia Yada island next on.

[Mallory Rubin]

Metro's Nadia Yada island podcast. I almost fainted when the four new bombshells arrived. Four free Samsung Galaxy A16 5G phones at Metro. No way. And finding out the fourth line is free. Things got heated. That's wild.

[Amy Poehler]

Join Metro and get four free Samsung.

[Mallory Rubin]

5G phones only at Metro plus tax. Bring four numbers and an ID and sign up for any Metro Flex plan. Not available currently at T Mobile or been with Metro in the past 180 days.

[Joanna Robinson]

Daredevil is born again on Disney. Why did you stop being a vigilante? The line was crossed. Sometimes peace needs to be broken.

[Mallory Rubin]

Chaos must reign.

[Joanna Robinson]

On March 4th, the nine episode event begins. I was raised to believe in grace, but I was also raised to believe in retribution. Marvel Television's Daredevil born again. Don't miss the two episode premiere March 4th only on Disney Plus. All right, Joe's gonna do her ominous thing in a second. Yeah, we didn't talk about the other unit of Weird Strange Couple Goggins.

[Mallory Rubin]

We're still gonna go back through the rat lifts.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, we're.

[Mallory Rubin]

We're going back.

[Joanna Robinson]

We're dabbling back.

[Amy Poehler]

We gotta go back.

[Joanna Robinson]

But the third unit is the come back. And I'm like, you guys. I was like, oh, Gogins. Can't wait. Can't wait to see how they unleash. His hair looks terrible. He's smoking. He seems like a dick. I'm like, oh, they're really. They're stripping us down away from the Goggins we know. And they're creating this new alter, Sleazy Goggins.

[Amy Poehler]

They let Jason Isaacs do whatever you want to call that southern accent. And they made Walton Goggins do like ship shaped little northerner vowels.

[Joanna Robinson]

Right?

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. So no draw.

[Mallory Rubin]

Right.

[Amy Poehler]

We get like knocks on his hair, he's bald. Like, I feel like Walton Goggins, like, cares a lot about his hair, and I love that for him because they took stuff out.

[Joanna Robinson]

I almost feel like they put, like, patches in it. They. It felt like they were intentionally making it look bad.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, when he first shows up, he looks like bedraggles.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Like, sweaty. And he's been on a.

[Mallory Rubin]

She does recommend a gentleman's facial to him. Rick, the woman at the airport thought.

[Amy Poehler]

You were my dad.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

I love Chelsea Amy from Sex Education. I think she is really fun, and I think she's gonna be really good energy. Megan Fahey, who we loved in season two, it's giving that kind of energy to me, that sort of, like, bubbly in a way that you like.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. She's my favorite. I hope she doesn't die during the season. Character of all of them.

[Mallory Rubin]

Right.

[Joanna Robinson]

She's the one you're like, all right, don't let anything happen to her.

[Amy Poehler]

Exactly.

[Joanna Robinson]

Belinda from season one, who I think some people felt like was borderline MVP season one.

[Mallory Rubin]

Oh, she was tremendous.

[Joanna Robinson]

Pretty boring first episode. Slow start.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

I'm not sure where they're going with her yet.

[Mallory Rubin]

So I think this gets into the question of how much of the connected crime actually is going to be present in this season. Because Belinda and Tanya share a season one storyline. Right. Tanya is going to invest, encouraging her to start her own wellness retreat and then just get swept up in her romance with Greg. Completely bails on Belinda and devastates her to the point where Rachel is sitting there crying and Belinda says, you need advice. I'm fresh out. And, like, walks out. That's her very powerful exit from the show. Right. Like, enough of trying to make you all happy. What about me? It was amazing. Tanya and Greg, obviously, Greg is in season one, but Tanya and Greg and everything that happens there with Quentin, the boat. Belinda knows that Greg was with Tanya.

[Amy Poehler]

So if she sees Greg.

[Mallory Rubin]

If she sees Greg, like, the question she'll remember. Yeah. And, like, what we don't know, the information we don't have through one episode is like, did word of Tanya's death reach Belinda?

[Amy Poehler]

Because once again, it's a death every few years. It's just a barely intermittent, reasonable average.

[Mallory Rubin]

You know, obviously, part of Greg's scheme was because of the prenup. Tanya had to die so that he could get her money. I think we can presume, based on the fact that he's living in a house in a beautiful area, that he got the money. Did Portia never go to the cops to talk about Greg?

[Joanna Robinson]

Go backwards on that? Because for People who don't really remember Greg was the big reveal of this first episode.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Got a big role.

[Mallory Rubin]

LBH's losers back home.

[Joanna Robinson]

So we. Last time we saw him, incredible second season, maybe around the fifth episode, he bounced. All of a sudden, he was gone for the last two. And Jennife Coolidge had gone to that crazy house and.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, and these gays are trying to murder me.

[Joanna Robinson]

And we never knew what happened to Greg. And now he turned up and he clearly cashed in the money, and now he's on some sort of scheme. So again, we don't know anything.

[Amy Poehler]

Celebrating his riches.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, that's too easy. No, I think he's.

[Mallory Rubin]

Is he hiding out? That's the thing. Like, is he living really? Or like, did Porsche go to the cops and say, you got to look into this Greg guy?

[Amy Poehler]

I think, no. Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

That's fucked up, man.

[Amy Poehler]

No, but that's White Lotus.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah. Bummer.

[Amy Poehler]

Like, the shitty couples stay together. Yeah. The people. When we go back to the ratless family. Or I can just say this now, like, there's this war over Locky. Oh, yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

In many respects, there's like, the female.

[Amy Poehler]

Side of the family, the male side of the family. You know, which college is he gonna go to? Is he gonna go scope out babe the pool? Or is he gonna go to, like, the temple?

[Joanna Robinson]

Why is he checking out his older brother on the way to the bathroom?

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, we got a lot of questions about that.

[Joanna Robinson]

A lot of questions.

[Amy Poehler]

With Locky in previous seasons, I would be like, which way is it going to go? Having seen two seasons of White Lotus.

[Mallory Rubin]

I'm like, he's going to pick sex.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, he's going to pick sex.

[Mallory Rubin]

Some serious Targaryen incest vibes with the three siblings in general, especially because your sister's really hot. Your. I'm sure you've noticed she's really hot.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

So Mike White was just on the Taboo list, and he's like, oh, gay incest. Oh, okay.

[Mallory Rubin]

I mean, Zack is talking about how hot his sister is. Locky's watching his brother go walk over to watch porn and masturbate in the mirror. There's a lot going on.

[Amy Poehler]

They're totally normal family.

[Mallory Rubin]

Normal families.

[Amy Poehler]

You'll see.

[Joanna Robinson]

Very, very wonderful for you.

[Mallory Rubin]

How wonderful for you, Pam.

[Joanna Robinson]

And then the staff. Hard. The only one that really jumped out was the young, attractive, smiling one who seems like she's soaking in a lot. Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Good stuff from big MOOC fan. I'm a big Pam fan, honestly.

[Mallory Rubin]

Pam ruled.

[Amy Poehler]

Then there's the. There's the Guy who works the gate, who's got like a crush on me.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, yeah, I liked him a lot.

[Amy Poehler]

A big fan of him.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Moped guy.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, moped guy. Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And then so.

[Amy Poehler]

And the owner and Amarita, who's running the sort of.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

This sort of.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

Spiritual thing at the beginning.

[Mallory Rubin]

Fabian, the manager, who seemed absolutely panicked about the dish being placed or removed prematurely.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh my God.

[Mallory Rubin]

The table.

[Amy Poehler]

And then the manager. The owner.

[Mallory Rubin]

The owner.

[Amy Poehler]

The owner. Here's my question.

[Joanna Robinson]

So what's, what's, what are we calling her? Owner lady? The matron? What. What's our nickname for her?

[Amy Poehler]

Have you ever asked someone to just, just circle the bay while you're getting ready?

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh, she wasn't ready yet.

[Mallory Rubin]

Gotta cruise the bay.

[Amy Poehler]

Circle toe.

[Joanna Robinson]

Everybody's on her terms.

[Mallory Rubin]

Tell em to cruise the bay.

[Joanna Robinson]

So the key with her is that her husband.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Joanna Robinson]

Who our guy Goggins was looking for.

[Mallory Rubin]

Scott Glenn got sick stick is here off star. It is daredevil season.

[Joanna Robinson]

Scott Glenn, he's off somewhere.

[Mallory Rubin]

Bangkok. Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

So he's coming back.

[Mallory Rubin]

Well, I think, I think Rick is going to go looking for him.

[Amy Poehler]

Right.

[Mallory Rubin]

Because he's following him. So he's like, God, I came here, I'm here, I'm in Phuket. And he's in. He's not here. Like, I have to pursue him now.

[Amy Poehler]

Is theory corner.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

We have not watched ahead.

[Mallory Rubin]

No.

[Amy Poehler]

Is he Rick's dad?

[Mallory Rubin]

So that's my leading guess that.

[Joanna Robinson]

See, this is why Joe makes the big bucks.

[Mallory Rubin]

Jim Hollinger is Rick's father. Seems like the leading theory.

[Amy Poehler]

There's just like, couldn't you just see it? Scott Glenn, the Goggins, the bone structure.

[Joanna Robinson]

So either like a son that got shoved to the side or somebody who illegitimate son.

[Amy Poehler]

And he just like me resents like that or like. Yeah. Cause he's disappointed that that guy's not there. Right. That Hollinger's not there. But also just sort of like has. Is looking at his wife in a way that just makes me feel like you chose her, you abandoned my mom for her. Something like that. She used to be like an actress back in her day. What's the story there?

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

So, yeah, that's a theory.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah. And we learn like, we hear that Jim Hollinger is like a very important man.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes. And everyone in Bangkok knows.

[Mallory Rubin]

So like, he's a person of consequence and status.

[Joanna Robinson]

Jim Hollinger, huge guy.

[Mallory Rubin]

He's sick, but like.

[Amy Poehler]

So he owns all of White Lotus.

[Mallory Rubin]

Well, so this is so. Or is it like a franchise Rick, obviously. My guess is that's his dad. Could be like a former. It could be personal. It could be business. Did he fuck him on a business deal or something? That's I think at least a possibility. But presumably he is after either some sort of emotional currency or actual currency Money. But Rick clearly has money. Unless he's living off some.

[Amy Poehler]

He has something. Rick barely works, but they can afford to. White Lotus. They can travel everywhere. But they don't usually travel like this.

[Mallory Rubin]

Because Chelsea says we should always. We should always live like this.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, but are we sure they're banging boots.

[Mallory Rubin]

Oh, yeah. She's like, you want to. You want to tantric later.

[Joanna Robinson]

He doesn't seem that interested in really anything with her, though.

[Mallory Rubin]

Well, I think he's distracted by his pursuit of his. His missing dad, you know?

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

You don't feel like she's playing the part of a girlfriend and they're not actually. Boyfriend, girlfriend.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, interesting.

[Joanna Robinson]

Just like a hired gun, basically.

[Amy Poehler]

I'll think about that.

[Joanna Robinson]

Possibly hooker slash sex worker for the weekend. Nothing like that.

[Mallory Rubin]

No. I think they're. Any travel a lot. Yeah. It's a question maybe of the depth of the connection.

[Joanna Robinson]

Prepared for anything with that relationship.

[Amy Poehler]

But Greg's lady.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Seems like. Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

For her.

[Joanna Robinson]

Might have been. Might have met her on.

[Mallory Rubin]

Right.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. All right. Do you do your omens thing?

[Amy Poehler]

Okay. My ominous. This is not as an incomplete list. Mal. Tell me a few other things. Okay. Monkey motif, right? The monkeys are everywhere. And at one point someone says monkeys can be aggressive. Bill, do you remember when we covered the staircase and there was the owl theory?

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh, yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Because we know that gunshots went off at the beginning of this episode, but we don't know that, like, the body in the water is because of the guns. Does a monkey do it? Is the monkey the killer in season three of White Lotus?

[Joanna Robinson]

There's a lot of guns.

[Amy Poehler]

There was a lot of guns. No guns were going off.

[Joanna Robinson]

There was like four.

[Mallory Rubin]

By the way, that's where you know Patrick. That's where you know Patrick Schwarzenegger from the staircase.

[Joanna Robinson]

Right. Good call.

[Amy Poehler]

Forgot that poisonous fruit.

[Joanna Robinson]

Wait, hold on. Go back to monkeys.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Joanna Robinson]

Are you.

[Amy Poehler]

I'm happy to spend all the time on the monkeys.

[Mallory Rubin]

Great sentence.

[Joanna Robinson]

You love animals.

[Mallory Rubin]

I love an animal.

[Joanna Robinson]

Pro. Monkeys.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

I think these monkeys seemed really chill and super great. I. The rust. I thought the lizard seemed also great. The like. Belinda. I thought the like, the rustling of the leaves and the prospect of something falling on your head in the dead of night was not for me. But yeah, the. The Fact that you could just go out on your. Your deck and hang out with a monkey. Wonderful.

[Amy Poehler]

Would it offend you if a monkey does it this season? If the monkey is a murderer this.

[Mallory Rubin]

Season, I do not believe the monkey is gonna be the murderer of the season based on the sheer volume of bullet spray that we got. But I love that you're keeping an open mind.

[Joanna Robinson]

Counter on monkeys, okay?

[Mallory Rubin]

You're in. You're in on some counters.

[Amy Poehler]

Bunch of monkeys, not counters. It's like murder on the express.

[Joanna Robinson]

Monkeys, I think they get aggressive and territorial and they throw their own poop. Those are two. Those are two negatives in my mind. I don't know if on vacation, I'm like, oh, cool, there's three monkeys alarmed.

[Amy Poehler]

And then trying to be delighted, but, like, mostly a little bit alarmed. You know what I mean by the monkeys?

[Joanna Robinson]

Because the staff isn't saying, like, don't directly make eye contact with any of the monkeys.

[Mallory Rubin]

They're not warning them because they'll either throw their feces at you or shoot you with the.

[Amy Poehler]

I'm not saying the monkey has a gun. I'm just saying.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, we don't make way.

[Amy Poehler]

Startle someone into the water. Does that still count, that the monkey did it?

[Mallory Rubin]

I think you would be able to at least claim that you were right.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, great.

[Joanna Robinson]

I like Joe. I like where you're going. Number two.

[Mallory Rubin]

It's a beautiful start to theory corner number two.

[Amy Poehler]

Poisonous fruit.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah. This was Chekhov's poison seeds, no question.

[Joanna Robinson]

So very, very carefully through that, tossing it up.

[Mallory Rubin]

Pam, an authority.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

It's like. No, it. Like, yeah, it will kill you.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's toxic. You will die.

[Mallory Rubin]

So here's my poison fruit theory, because I think, like, the fact that it's in Saxon's hand and he's associated with it, and we know that his father is about to be embroiled in scandal. Do we think that Saxon will use the poison fruit at some point to try to take out somebody who's coming for his father?

[Amy Poehler]

He would.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah. Wouldn't he?

[Amy Poehler]

And then probably, unfortunately.

[Mallory Rubin]

And then lead to.

[Joanna Robinson]

So the Wall Street Journal reporter comes to Thailand.

[Amy Poehler]

Yes.

[Mallory Rubin]

And it goes wrong. And then somehow sparks a series of events that leads to retribution against the Ratliffs.

[Amy Poehler]

Wow. We are taking down journalism. In season three of White Loaded, it's.

[Joanna Robinson]

Like, why are season five. Here's my question. With this fancy resort that's one of the most expensive places in the world.

[Amy Poehler]

Why are there poisonous fruit trees?

[Joanna Robinson]

Get rid of the fucking fruit. It's toxic fruit. What do people Bring their kids five year olds. Well, the toxic fruit, that's like a.

[Mallory Rubin]

It's a no for you.

[Joanna Robinson]

Immediate out.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Joanna Robinson]

Get rid of the fruit.

[Mallory Rubin]

I think they're going for. Because of the wellness. The central pitch here is the wellness retreat, which I would like to say. This looks beautiful. I will be looking into. I assume we're going to see a similar spike in rates like we did at the Four Seasons in Sicily. We'll be looking into this. As you guys both know, as two of my dearest friends, I haven't been on a vacation in a decade, but I look at it just to think.

[Joanna Robinson]

About the future trip to Anaheim once.

[Amy Poehler]

Should we podcast about this from Thailand? I think we should consider it. But season four. Let's go to wherever they're filming.

[Mallory Rubin]

I hope season four is finally.

[Joanna Robinson]

I have a Thailand season.

[Mallory Rubin]

Cold lotus. Exciting. Cold lotus for season four. It's time. Let's go to a ski resort, please.

[Joanna Robinson]

Cold lotus, I think. Oh, interesting. Okay.

[Mallory Rubin]

Everyone looks great in their bathing suits. It's wonderful. Let's get. Let's get on a ski resort. Okay. Because they're doing like the wellness. I think the part of the pitch is like you are truly communing with nature. You are in the elements. So if they go in and they take out the.

[Amy Poehler]

The.

[Mallory Rubin]

The poison fruit of the bong bong tree, that is not an authentic experience. And if they're asking for a digital one, lawsuit.

[Amy Poehler]

I think the white is thriving despite.

[Mallory Rubin]

Dead bodies of plenty. The only thing that they have more of than the cocktails on the menu are corpses. What if they don't give a shit?

[Amy Poehler]

They might be governmentally protected. I don't know. Maybe you can like cut down these trees.

[Joanna Robinson]

If they fall to the ground, you can pick them up, collect them and put them somewhere else.

[Mallory Rubin]

That's a good point.

[Amy Poehler]

There should be a daily fruit scoop situation out there.

[Joanna Robinson]

Daily toxic fruit scoop.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, exactly.

[Joanna Robinson]

Maybe keep those out of the freaking hotel.

[Amy Poehler]

That's a great one. What's your Thailand take?

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, I'm just never going.

[Mallory Rubin]

Why? It looks beautiful.

[Amy Poehler]

I think the moment.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think the movies and pop culture have really ruined it for me. Where it's clear dance. What was the Naomi Watts movie? Was that in Thailand too with the tsunami?

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, no, no.

[Joanna Robinson]

It was in the Far east somewhere though.

[Amy Poehler]

It was? Yeah. The one with Tom Holland and Ewan McGregor.

[Joanna Robinson]

Really good movie, by the way. Really great movie. I don't know. Something about the Far East. I just. It's. It's like a stay away for me.

[Mallory Rubin]

Seems pretty.

[Joanna Robinson]

I Can't do it. It seems great. My wife is upset and I'll end up. She'll make me go at some point.

[Amy Poehler]

Will you be mad if we go? Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, I think you should go.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, let's go.

[Joanna Robinson]

I just said the elements are too much of a wild card for me.

[Amy Poehler]

But I mean, like, I love that. That's part of this is like, there's. There's monkeys in the trees, there's poisonous fruit, and that's sort of. The whole white lotus vibe is just sort of. To your point, the sinister music. It's like, I don't think Mike White is saying, don't go to Thailand. It's dangerous. You shouldn't go there. But, like, all of these fantasy escapist things are supposed to have this hint of danger to them.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, it's a take your seatbelt off, vacation.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. All right, what's your next one?

[Amy Poehler]

Guys with guns. We've got the Hollinger security team.

[Mallory Rubin]

We do.

[Amy Poehler]

And they are strapped.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes, they are. Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

If someone's gonna shoot off a bunch of guns, I mean, it's a lot of guns. So it's not one person with a gun in this cold open. Right. It's a volley of guns. So it's a shootout.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

And so I'm just saying, like, yes, there's definitely gonna be a shootout. It's definitely not monkeys firing the guns.

[Mallory Rubin]

Could be.

[Amy Poehler]

But I'm just saying, we don't know that the shootout is what results in.

[Joanna Robinson]

So it might be eight guys shooting at one person, but no, it's not like a mass shooter situation.

[Mallory Rubin]

It could be. So the two Hollinger guards who the charmingly flirting with Mook. Yeah. Maybe our guy. Gay talk is like, well, apparently I.

[Amy Poehler]

Do need to maybe sad enough work.

[Mallory Rubin]

Harder to take out the competition here. It's not enough that I'm still receiving letters from my pen pal in Belgium. Rescue okay from drowning.

[Amy Poehler]

Safe list. It's Chelsea. Number one is gay talk. Number two. I and MOOC number three. Those are my safeties. I don't want anything happening to me.

[Mallory Rubin]

But Chelsea got it. In some ways, Chelsea got the clearest. Like, I also agree. I want. I want Chelsea to remain alive and well, but she literally said out loud.

[Amy Poehler]

Even if it kills me, that's on my list.

[Mallory Rubin]

Which is very worrying.

[Amy Poehler]

She's like, I'm gonna save you. Even if it kills me. It's not great.

[Mallory Rubin]

It's incredibly concerning.

[Amy Poehler]

Gay talk.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

Once saved a man from drowning.

[Mallory Rubin]

Very sweet.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Is he going like. Because here, here's here's all the information we have. We have Zion, who we believe is Belinda's son.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

Is in the water. Briefly, pays, prays, and then gets pissed immediately when it doesn't pay off. So looping into our spiritualism question. But, like, we get a therapy. There's seemingly a body in the water.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

We don't know if that person's dead.

[Mallory Rubin]

Right.

[Joanna Robinson]

Did you freeze frame the body to see if it was male, female?

[Mallory Rubin]

As usual, you can't tell.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, couldn't tell anything.

[Mallory Rubin]

I think the only thing I could say with maybe certainty is that it's not Belinda. Because if it's. If it. If it is, that doesn't mean that there's not more than one body.

[Amy Poehler]

But it's not Amarita.

[Mallory Rubin]

It's not. Zion would run toward his mother, not away from her. So I feel like that's a stranger to him. The floating.

[Joanna Robinson]

So my wife was like, oh, yeah. And then his mom's the one floating. And I was like, that's not true. And then we had one of those arguments you have when you've been married too long. And I was like, that's not what happened. It is. Go rewind it. And then we rewind it. You can't see anything.

[Mallory Rubin]

Could be her. And he runs away in horror because he is saying, like, protect my mom. Make sure my mom is okay. And I do think, like, every character ultimately gets, like, a harbinger of doom because we got to keep open all possibilities. And definitely Belinda gets a couple. Like, particularly the jostling of the offering, that made me really nervous. That was like this.

[Amy Poehler]

But I was thinking she was more safe than others because she was, like, participating in an offering ceremony more than, like, say, Rick, who declined even the sort of, like, floral arrangement.

[Mallory Rubin]

But then, like, the jostling and the, like, the sound change, then we got careful. And that made me nervous.

[Amy Poehler]

But there's no way you can tell who's in the water.

[Mallory Rubin]

I think you can't tell.

[Joanna Robinson]

You can't.

[Mallory Rubin]

And the other thing is, because I.

[Joanna Robinson]

Won my argument with my wife, and I'm positive you can't.

[Amy Poehler]

How'd that feel?

[Mallory Rubin]

Good.

[Joanna Robinson]

It was great. I was like. And I get to go. I told you it wasn't Belinda.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And that was it. It was great.

[Amy Poehler]

That does feel great.

[Mallory Rubin]

We also don't know just from the opening, because, like, it's like, okay, what does it mean? That we're starting with Zion. Right. And I think ultimately the answer is we can't.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, that's how White Lotus starts no, but like starts with a hint of something bad happening and then we go backwards.

[Mallory Rubin]

But in season one, we open with Shane at the airport and he is the killer. Like he is directly connected to the crime.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

But in season two, we open with Daphne.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. Well, what I love has nothing to.

[Mallory Rubin]

Do ultimately with what happened.

[Amy Poehler]

No. So it doesn't mean anything.

[Mallory Rubin]

It doesn't. So we can't tell anything from that.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, what is really smart is like with Daphne and Shane, like we were new for certain. Certain.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

A few people who were surviving.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

Zion's not even there yet. He's not even getting there till later in the week.

[Mallory Rubin]

So everyone we're watching. Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Is a candidate. Except for. I would agree Belinda, but we'll see. I. It would be.

[Mallory Rubin]

That would be really sad.

[Joanna Robinson]

Any other omens?

[Amy Poehler]

That's it for right now.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay.

[Amy Poehler]

I think. I think monkeys and poisonous fruit and guys are strapped with guns is. Is what we have going for us right now.

[Joanna Robinson]

Taking one more break. Coming back with some highlights from the episode. Then we'll go into theories. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. So would you call it a lagoon? The body of water in the middle.

[Amy Poehler]

Or like a pond?

[Mallory Rubin]

A pond, yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Just another argument with my wife. She said it was a man made lagoon.

[Amy Poehler]

How big does it have to be? I don't know.

[Joanna Robinson]

This is what we're arguing about. So this is what the white lotus does to you. You have to pause the thing so you can get in another three minute.

[Amy Poehler]

Argument, whatever it is.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, we get a cigarette argument. Nice to have the cigs in the first episode. Goggins just blowing smoke.

[Mallory Rubin]

What a time to be.

[Joanna Robinson]

My wife was like that. She thought the. The family was totally right to say something.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's just rude. We're on vacation. We're on a nice head.

[Mallory Rubin]

They didn't put it out. They just asked him to move to the other side of the boat.

[Joanna Robinson]

And he was a dick. So it's immediate established. He's a dick. The plastic surgery combo. I haven't done anything, just maintenance. Except a little, you know, the basics. So what are the basics? Little Botox?

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, I assume so.

[Amy Poehler]

Peel a lift?

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

No one had. None of them have had like buckle fat removal or anything like that.

[Mallory Rubin]

Wow. I. Yeah, you've lost me completely. I. I stand in awe as always.

[Amy Poehler]

Just a nip and a tuck.

[Mallory Rubin]

I would say they all looked great.

[Joanna Robinson]

Saxon, explain in a lock his strategy for hitting on women. I mean, it's a numbers game.

[Mallory Rubin]

You gotta play the numbers.

[Amy Poehler]

What I love about Saxon, who is objectively a very good looking dude, is that none of the women are interested in him at all.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, but he's like so unfazed because he's such a cocky. And that arrogance, that entitlement is so perfect.

[Amy Poehler]

The way that Chelsea literally rolls over and gives him her back.

[Mallory Rubin]

How do you get a drink in this place? You fucking go to the bar, you.

[Joanna Robinson]

Miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

[Amy Poehler]

True.

[Joanna Robinson]

Listen, it just wasn't his time. In episode one, it was the three older friends wanted to stay together, all older than him. And then Chelsea already had a boyfriend.

[Mallory Rubin]

No, he will fuck one of those women.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's probably going to be Carrie Coon.

[Amy Poehler]

I would say. Leslie, babe.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh, this is good.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, yeah, because they. We. Yeah, I think so too.

[Joanna Robinson]

You don't think the actress is in play?

[Amy Poehler]

Maybe if she starts feeling insecure enough.

[Mallory Rubin]

Well, what if this is great? Yeah, yeah, because she's. Oh, you found the man of your dreams.

[Amy Poehler]

I feel like whoever has sex with him is feeling deeply insecure and needs validation.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's Carrie Coon.

[Mallory Rubin]

Well, they want us to think that, right? Because they're positioning the other two.

[Joanna Robinson]

She shrugged by herself in a room for no reason. I mean, come on.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, has. Has cried much longer and much better on other shows.

[Mallory Rubin]

There was one really powerful whale that was heartbreaking. Like that moment where she looked down at them and they're still there and they're talking and they're chatting. And this, like, I really loved this. Maybe you're right. I mean, I, I am inclined to say the rat. The rat lives are my favorite. But there was a, a strength and an impact in that friend group that was really powerful. Like, you're there and you have to keep saying out loud these fake compliments. We're the best friends in the world.

[Amy Poehler]

We've known each other so long.

[Joanna Robinson]

Tell everybody who's listening. Best friends since you were nine.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, no, I think, I think the Ratliffs made like the biggest, best impression. But in terms of like the long game, we've got our eye on Goggins because he's our guy and we love him always. And yeah, the, the three bays, the.

[Joanna Robinson]

Rad livs have the most plot shit that can go A variety of directions. I think the fancy cougars have a specific dynamic that I can't wait to see play out. I can't wait.

[Amy Poehler]

Mike White does perfectly on these shows. Is like the worst person you've met. Makes a good point. And when Piper's dad is like, pipe, you came all this way. He didn't even set up the interview. I was like, no, he's right.

[Joanna Robinson]

Now that's a good point.

[Mallory Rubin]

I was really with Timothy Ratliff in that moment. And he seems so genuinely disappointed. And clearly these parents have given their kids everything. And it's like, you couldn't just do this one thing though. I would have been. I for sure would have been Piper in that situation. Like, I'll figure it out. I thought the.

[Amy Poehler]

The.

[Mallory Rubin]

The worst person in the world makes the best point. Was going to be when Saxon talked about how horny plane rides make them, you know, a lot of hot women away from home. No one to answer to. Acting all anonymous.

[Amy Poehler]

When you say that when you disembark from a plane ride you never take because you never go on planes, do you also grab your crotch aggressively while you're talking about it?

[Mallory Rubin]

Very natural.

[Joanna Robinson]

Crotch.

[Mallory Rubin]

Crotch, yeah. Getting out of the pool and just kind of like the way he sort. Just the full like laundry gift.

[Amy Poehler]

This.

[Mallory Rubin]

That was great.

[Joanna Robinson]

Very say to the little brother too, like, no, you're a good looking kid, man. Got some pumps.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, you're smart, good looking, lucky. And then. And then dinner. Poor Locky. The dad is like, like, you know, checked out the spa treatments. They have one for posture.

[Amy Poehler]

Posture. That one hit me really hard. I was like straightening up when he was talking about it.

[Mallory Rubin]

So upsetting.

[Amy Poehler]

Also, I just want to say really quickly, Patrick Schwarzenegger, obviously we need like a clear Nepo baby, but Sam Nivola, who plays Lachie, is a stealth Nepo baby. He's Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Navola's kid. And Emily Mortimer is also a Nepo baby because her dad's a famous. Anyway, just.

[Mallory Rubin]

I love it.

[Amy Poehler]

There's nothing wrong with being a Nepo baby. I just. I just love can I really glad.

[Joanna Robinson]

You brought this up. I'm gonna have a defense of Nepo babies. No, no, no, no. Just in acting. No, no. This is.

[Amy Poehler]

Some of them are talented.

[Joanna Robinson]

Just blank it. Nepo babies actually make sense in like acting and singing because you're half of your two parents. And if one of your two parents was like super artistic and great singer or great actor or whatever, it would make sense to me that the DNA would then Trickle down to the next kid. And it's like beyond just, oh, they got an opportunity because of whatever. Nature versus Patrick Schwarzenegger is half Arnold Schwarzenegger. And he carries himself with, like, a swagger and a charisma. That makes sense when you think, like, his dad is Arnold Schwarzenegger and it's.

[Amy Poehler]

Like, yeah, no, I think on the physicality front for sure, but I just think that, like, talent doesn't emerge.

[Joanna Robinson]

No.

[Amy Poehler]

Clearly along genetic lines.

[Joanna Robinson]

But.

[Amy Poehler]

And I don't think, like, if someone.

[Joanna Robinson]

But I think it. It might help in some cases.

[Amy Poehler]

I don't think if someone has a famous parent, they obviously had a hand up, but, like, I don't think that should disqualify them from being admired for their talent. I just, you know, there's like a slight asterisk on their name.

[Joanna Robinson]

Do you know there's been some people who had whatever famous dad, famous mom, that they're just good at acting.

[Amy Poehler]

Absolutely.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's like, this is what it is. This isn't like, oh, they just got it because it's. Anyway, I just want to say that because I think. I think he's good.

[Mallory Rubin]

Patrick.

[Joanna Robinson]

Patrick.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, I think they're both good.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think he's better than Jake Lacy was. And I kind of like Jake Lacey in that season, but I think he's doing a better job. There's more going on with him.

[Amy Poehler]

I think it's too early to tell on that front, but I think that, like, I don't think being a Schwarzenegger disqualifies you from being good at what you do. It's just something that we're all constantly thinking about.

[Joanna Robinson]

But I felt like I heard he was going to be an actor. I'm like, oh, give him a fucking break. Like, of course, like, he's going to do this and people will hire him because. But I actually think he's good.

[Mallory Rubin]

Been waiting for you. To my defense of Patrick Schwarzenegger, I've just been sitting here for. Just waiting for you to take a cruel shot at Jackson Holiday while we're.

[Amy Poehler]

Talking about Nepo babies.

[Mallory Rubin]

I've just been, like, recoiling in fear for the last few minutes, but I avoided it.

[Joanna Robinson]

I did not do that. Wall Street Journal.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yep.

[Joanna Robinson]

Chasing down Ratliff. What do we think they're chasing down? We did not discuss this yet.

[Amy Poehler]

What is fund? Yeah, a fund.

[Joanna Robinson]

Fund of what? But what's the fund?

[Amy Poehler]

I don't know. But, like, this. Isn't this ultimate? Brunai involved?

[Mallory Rubin]

Chel? Yes, Brunai.

[Amy Poehler]

I wouldn't do anything of Brunai 2018.

[Joanna Robinson]

Think it's like a housing thing. Is it a. Like a bitcoin thing? Like, where are we going?

[Amy Poehler]

Like an investment fund that was like, shy in some way.

[Mallory Rubin]

Oil money?

[Amy Poehler]

Like laundering money?

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, money laundering. Yeah, but we don't know. So that's gonna be a thing we find.

[Amy Poehler]

Can I just say that there's a phone number for Nixon, The Wall Street Journal, and I did call it, and it is the Federal Labor. Labor relations number in Washington, D.C. yeah. If you call 771-444-5801.

[Mallory Rubin]

That's the stuff.

[Amy Poehler]

That's me doing my homework.

[Mallory Rubin]

I love it. I need. I need our guy, Jason Isaacs. I need Timothy Ratliff to be smarter than this. He. First of all, you can't take a call from a reporter without knowing what the call's about. Insane, irresponsible. He's supposed to be a hotshot. Like he. That's.

[Joanna Robinson]

He's funneling that to somebody underneath him.

[Mallory Rubin]

Right? There's like some. What is this about?

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, later, when he says. Later, when he says, send me your question. Send me your questions via email. That's where we should have started.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes, he calls Ken Win. No, he calls him the guy. He's like, I haven't talked to him in years.

[Amy Poehler]

Can he. Can he call me back?

[Mallory Rubin]

And he left him a voicemail.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

What now on the theory corner front, do we think Rick hears any of this and is going to be able to use it?

[Amy Poehler]

Do you know?

[Mallory Rubin]

Because he's there.

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't think Rick heard it. He was too busy sucking down that Marlboro Light, really enjoying it. So we think. We think Goggins wants to murder the hotel lady's husband or have some sort of showdown with him, but we don't.

[Mallory Rubin]

Know what it is.

[Joanna Robinson]

He wants some sort of something where there's anger behind it, but we don't know what it is.

[Amy Poehler]

There's always someone who's desperate. Desperate on one of these trips. Like needs money, needs something and is like kind of pretending not to be. He's just doing the worst job of any of these characters to pretend like.

[Joanna Robinson]

He'S not money or revenge. But my question is with the. With the White Lotus. Know who he is? Do they check the backgrounds of the people coming? Because there's not a lot of people.

[Amy Poehler]

They don't even check for murder.

[Mallory Rubin]

Right.

[Amy Poehler]

Or poison fruit.

[Mallory Rubin]

You know what's interesting about. That's a good question. Because he. Chelsea says, like, you just woke. We were supposed to go back to Bali you just woke up one day, you wanted to come here. Like, I wanted to go to Australia. And what does he say? He says, I can't go to Australia. She's like, would you be arrested? So, like, it. That does imply that he has an actual.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think it's almost too early to.

[Mallory Rubin]

Predict, like, criminal history or something. But I don't know. He, you know, was taking a googling pictures of his maybe dad. So he's really working through it.

[Amy Poehler]

Maybe he, like some other famous people, took a pet that he did not register to Australia and he's not allowed back.

[Joanna Robinson]

And then Chelsea talking to the lady at the bar who said she'd been with our guy Greg.

[Amy Poehler]

I feel there's a really interesting recasting there because. So Charlotte Le Bon is the actress who's playing that woman. Chloe, She's Kebecois, originally was a Thai actress that they recast with, like a Quebecois actress. And like, I don't have. No. I don't know. I just think that's interesting. Like, in a show where we have, like, as White Lotus always does, there's like, the locals and the non locals. What does it mean that they took this character who was played by a Thai actress and decided to make her, you know, French or French Canadian or something like that? I have no idea.

[Joanna Robinson]

And then the other thing is the. The two questions left are, why did Carrie Coon start crying? Was it just she's at a tough point in her life? Is she hiding something? Does she hate these two people? Is she going to reveal something to them that she didn't have the balls to reveal yet with? Yet?

[Amy Poehler]

Like, I think it's chardonnay, plus all the microaggressions. I think it's sitting around with two women like, you're beautiful. No, you're beautiful. No, you're beautiful. Oh, and you're also here.

[Mallory Rubin]

Oh, yeah, you're here. Like, you're here.

[Amy Poehler]

You're also here.

[Joanna Robinson]

And then, last but not least, the brothers and Laki checking out his brother. Where the hell is that going?

[Amy Poehler]

Was it, like, sexual or was it.

[Joanna Robinson]

It was weird.

[Amy Poehler]

It was weird. I'm just unclear if it's sexual or if it's like he has the kind of body that I would like to have because I'm younger and scrawny. Do you know what I mean?

[Joanna Robinson]

There was a curiosity to the look that seemed intentional.

[Amy Poehler]

I don't disagree with you.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

I'm just thinking how they wrote it in the script, how they were saying.

[Mallory Rubin]

It'S like maybe a combo Right. It's like, oh, I'm studying. Like, he literally. My older brothers told me, like, he's gonna teach me. He's gonna teach me how to get laid. He's gonna teach me how to get buff. He's gonna teach me how to play the numbers game. I'm watching him with interest. I'm learning. And then, like, wait, am I, like, having a response to what I'm seeing here? But again, they're just doing the full Targaryen.

[Amy Poehler]

Is he gay, brother? Does he just.

[Joanna Robinson]

Is there a threesome in play, potentially with the two of them and one other person that could go sideways.

[Amy Poehler]

Three of the children.

[Joanna Robinson]

So that was my last question before we get to predictions. No sex in the first episode, but White Lotus always likes to throw in some sex.

[Amy Poehler]

Promise of tantric later, hopefully.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah. Rick seemed very uninterested in the sex, which was. Which was sad for Chelsea. Yeah. Huh.

[Amy Poehler]

We're holding out hope that the Russian, our Guy Valentine, will come through. It's a numbers game. Saxon has to score eventually. Right.

[Joanna Robinson]

One of the three ladies are hooking up with somebody.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

I think they will all have sex with somebody at some point.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, I hope so. I love that for them.

[Joanna Robinson]

Saxon's definitely having sex with somebody, but.

[Mallory Rubin]

All of the women and I. I think this is, like, a delicate. I think Mike White in White Lotus does this consistently well, but it is delicate to, like, take the three mature women who are friends and, like, you don't necessarily want fighting over a dude to be the thing that unravels them, but also, that is actually does feel like a thing that totally could happen. And so that feels to me, like, very in play. Are they gonna be interested in the same person? Is one of them going to pursue something with. Whether it's Saxon or Valentin or somebody else at the. At the resort, and then. And then another person is like, no, I'm. That's mine.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, there's also. We have the possibility of somebody new joining for a second, third, fourth episode.

[Amy Poehler]

Zion's gonna show up the last couple.

[Joanna Robinson]

Episodes or last couple seasons. There's been people that have come in.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yes.

[Amy Poehler]

Tom Hollander showing up and changing the game in season two. So, yeah, I think. I think who could join. And Zion should not be counted off the list.

[Mallory Rubin]

No.

[Amy Poehler]

I don't know when he's getting that.

[Mallory Rubin]

And also, like, he had that mysterious line about, like, he had been, you know, going through something. Right. Like, there were. There was obviously the. The talk of the finals, but then he also said, like, just finishing finals and some Other stuff. So what is Zion looking for? What does he need?

[Amy Poehler]

Also, in a creepy way, the question of Piper's virginity has come up.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Is this like a sexual. Is this like a stealing beauty, sexual awakening journey for her? She's wearing this, like, I'm sure hideously expensive, but like prairie dress when she goes to the temple, which is like.

[Joanna Robinson]

They desexualized her in the first episode.

[Amy Poehler]

Like a weird thing to wear. Thailand. Which looks hot.

[Mallory Rubin]

Interesting, because, like, I think so. That feels totally in play. But then I. I thought. I was really struck by the moment where her mom. Where the parents were talking. Like, she couldn't have like written a. Her thesis about her own religion. Like, they don't know anything about their own kids. And so I don't believe that Saxon is right.

[Amy Poehler]

Well, that's like question of Virginia.

[Mallory Rubin]

Like, she could have a full. And the fact that he's so judgmental about it when he's talking to Lockhee, like, not just she's not having sex as far as he's concerned, but like, she's depriving herself because of her. Her interest in Buddhism. She has no desire and no passion.

[Amy Poehler]

I had a moment. There's no way this is the case because the people the. The way that Swarzer. But like, I was like, what if he is a virgin? What if he's projecting? There's no way that he has gotten this far in his life without finding someone or paying someone. But like, what if he's project.

[Joanna Robinson]

You're talking about Saxton. Yeah, no, I. I think Locky's a virgin.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, for sure.

[Amy Poehler]

Probably.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think Saxton's having sex in episode two. I would. I would put. I would put my chips on the table right now.

[Mallory Rubin]

I like that as a quiet theory. I think, you know, theory.

[Joanna Robinson]

But no way. He's.

[Mallory Rubin]

I think he probably. Yeah, I do keep his. His number. Just in his four years at Duke is like dozens.

[Amy Poehler]

He's confident, but he's not. He's so like.

[Mallory Rubin]

I think he's probably very bad at sex.

[Amy Poehler]

Deeply bad.

[Joanna Robinson]

Duke or unc. Is Mike White trying to tell us something that. Does he have a side in this that hasn't been revealed yet? Like, is it. Is it possible he's like a big Leitner fan?

[Amy Poehler]

In the 90s, when Parker Posey was.

[Mallory Rubin]

Who do you think her favorite player is? She seems like maybe like a Tyler Hansen.

[Joanna Robinson]

Parker Posey. Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

I don't know.

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't know what he was trying to do with that.

[Mallory Rubin]

Okay.

[Joanna Robinson]

Did the accent. Which accent was worse out of the 10, too.

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, it's Jason Isaacs, who is a British man doing a Southern accent.

[Mallory Rubin]

I repeat viewing.

[Joanna Robinson]

I thought actually Posey was worse.

[Mallory Rubin]

I agree.

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't know what. What state she's from.

[Amy Poehler]

I.

[Joanna Robinson]

Is she from Carolina, where I really.

[Amy Poehler]

I will wait for the true Southerners to weigh. And I am very curious, but I feel like both were bad. Yeah, both were wild. Did you.

[Mallory Rubin]

Did you guys watch Brotherhood when Jason Isaac's the. The former show that Jason Isaacs and Jason Clark did together where they have. Justin Sales will appreciate this. I'm sure he's seen it because it says a crime show set in Providence, Rhode island, and so nothing will really.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's a star show. Right.

[Mallory Rubin]

Nothing will match that. I want to.

[Amy Poehler]

I can't like a Rhode island accent.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's the hardest accent to do.

[Mallory Rubin]

So I do think the fact that I watched and really liked that show just means I'm immune to, like, the impact of him doing a slightly misguided accent.

[Joanna Robinson]

The Rhode island accent's like driving a stick.

[Amy Poehler]

Absolutely.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's like he. You really have to know how to do it.

[Amy Poehler]

Like, it doesn't bother me. I think they're both great, but, like, in an. In a show where all I want is for Walton Goggins to have a Southern accent, it was a lot.

[Joanna Robinson]

So most disappointing thing in the episode for you?

[Amy Poehler]

Oh, I guess a lack of a draw on Walton Goggins.

[Joanna Robinson]

I didn't. I felt like it was a waste of Goggins in the first episode.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, yeah, that. That was my disappointment, but, like a wait and see.

[Joanna Robinson]

A waste of him for what I was, what I had in my head. It's like, oh, my God, he's going to be. And then it was like, all right, I've seen this character before, so I'm interested to see how they flip it.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. Yeah. I want to see how that goes.

[Joanna Robinson]

What about you guys?

[Mallory Rubin]

Seven more episodes, though. This is the longest season yet, so we've got time. Disappointment.

[Amy Poehler]

That Schwarzenegger didn't walk towards the gallery. Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

That cut off the vanity of the sink obscured. Like, you know, I have some questions about what we're working with down there. I don't know if I had, like, one specific disappointing thing, I guess, like, overall, I would say the first episode of White Lot Lotus Season is never my favorite episode of the white Lotus season. And so there's always just like, there are so many. The fact that it's a fun ensemble cast and that's part of. That's the feature like is a little bit. It's the hurdle's high in the first episode because you have so many dynamics to establish. So there's always just that like acclimation period.

[Joanna Robinson]

Can I give you my. My biggest disappointment was Goggins. The thing I want the most.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Just for random, not like big ass thing. Thing I want the most is some episode where she's screening the dailies from like her new movie or her TV show and Mike White gets to do like some sort of fake show. She's like doing some CBS pilot or she's got some sequel to some movie and they have fun with that somehow. I'm hoping they do that.

[Mallory Rubin]

What, what sort of show do you think she's in?

[Joanna Robinson]

Is she a movie actress or a TV show? Yeah, so it's like her new CBS show with Ted Danson. She's the winter sun energy. Yes. They're. They're thrown in a house together. Is she on a show Drama.

[Mallory Rubin]

Is she on a show that would be covered on this podcast?

[Amy Poehler]

No, no, she's on the Walking Dead.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh. She's on like a zombie show.

[Amy Poehler]

People know or like a.

[Joanna Robinson]

Like a last people live show.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, she's famous.

[Amy Poehler]

She's famous.

[Mallory Rubin]

She's legitimately famous. So she's in.

[Joanna Robinson]

So what's that? So that.

[Amy Poehler]

So then IP of some kind.

[Mallory Rubin]

Interesting.

[Amy Poehler]

Something big that people are watching. Something House of Art would cover.

[Joanna Robinson]

So like a Star wars type show.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, she's in season four of the Mandalorian.

[Amy Poehler]

No, I'm sticking with Walking Dead. She plays Maggie on the Walking Dead.

[Joanna Robinson]

Starring in the Star wars show. Baca. I just made that up.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't know. Would that be a show?

[Mallory Rubin]

Could be just drop shots.

[Joanna Robinson]

Chewbacca's relatives.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, Baca. Okay. It's cleaner. Okay.

[Joanna Robinson]

What's your Michelle Moynihan relationship? Monahan.

[Amy Poehler]

Love, Love, Kiss Kiss. Bang Bang.

[Joanna Robinson]

I mean, she's really strong, like 20 plus year career.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

She's been in some big ass movies. She's played a lot of different missions. I'm never sad to see her, like, really good career. But I would, I wouldn't call her an A plus lister either.

[Amy Poehler]

No, no, but like never unwelcome. And what I love about this, like the way they're. I love that they pick of those three women that they picked Michelle Monahan because like she was always giving sort of girl next door a. I mean, she's staggeringly beautiful, but she's not sort of like ice queen in a tower. Unattainably beautiful. She's like, yeah, your friend from. Who is like, who made it and now plays Maggie on the Walking Dead. Like, you know, it's just sort of like, I. I just think that's a really interesting choice for that role.

[Joanna Robinson]

All right, predictions, let's go. What do you got? Prediction. We'll do season two, episode two prediction, and then big picture, who the death is.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay.

[Joanna Robinson]

We'll do this at the end of every episode.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay. So be ready to Joe's horror. No, I love predictions. What's going to happen in season in.

[Joanna Robinson]

Episode two, Episode two thing you're looking out for.

[Amy Poehler]

To Mal's point, I'm really curious if we get a. How much are they doing a Belinda Greg collision? Like, how much are we considering this a continuation of the earlier story?

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

What do you got, Mel?

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah. I think episode two feels like a bunch of people need to see each other or try to see each other. Rick has to actively try to go pursue Jim. Like, does that mean he leaves the resort? Does he try to find out what his schedule is travel might be? I think it.

[Amy Poehler]

We never leave the resort.

[Mallory Rubin]

I know, I know.

[Amy Poehler]

I'm sad.

[Mallory Rubin]

We, like, had one plate of pasta and clams with Tanya, but we did go on the wonderful ride with Tanya and Greg. Tanya, you can't breathe. I think that Belinda has to see Greg soon. That feels imperative.

[Amy Poehler]

Is there sex in episode two so.

[Mallory Rubin]

That no sex in episode two? I don't think. But I think by episode three, we get sex 100.

[Joanna Robinson]

There's some sort of sex, and it might just be somebody by themselves.

[Amy Poehler]

Okay, we already got that.

[Joanna Robinson]

We didn't totally.

[Amy Poehler]

I know.

[Joanna Robinson]

We didn't totally get lucky.

[Amy Poehler]

Didn't get to walk. So.

[Mallory Rubin]

Guys looking at porn on their iPads or computers in White Lotus. One of the great traditions, as you.

[Amy Poehler]

Know, my favorite, unlike soundproof bathroom.

[Mallory Rubin]

How am I going to jerk off this week?

[Amy Poehler]

All the bathrooms.

[Mallory Rubin]

You go in the bathroom. Ethan jerking off after his run in season two and Harper coming in and him somersaulting off the bed and standing up like, dude, what's up with the bone owner? Fair question. I was jerking off.

[Amy Poehler]

I love, love Ethan.

[Joanna Robinson]

Fair question.

[Mallory Rubin]

Fair question.

[Amy Poehler]

How about you? What's your big. What's your big prediction?

[Joanna Robinson]

I think Saxon has to get involved with somebody in the hotel or at least set his sights on somebody in. My guess, much to both of your horror, is we didn't see him interact with Mookie.

[Amy Poehler]

No. Leave her out of this.

[Joanna Robinson]

That would be my episode two where it's like, no, no. And maybe she likes him. No, don't.

[Amy Poehler]

And that.

[Joanna Robinson]

We head that way.

[Amy Poehler]

This is what White Lotus always is. I'm always like, no. And then it happens.

[Joanna Robinson]

That feels like the no relationship.

[Mallory Rubin]

There's gonna be. We know there's gonna be the musical performance in episode two. Right. Because it's like she's gonna be singing tomorrow night. The owner.

[Joanna Robinson]

Right.

[Mallory Rubin]

So presumably. I mean, they're always all dining at the hotels typically. But presumably everyone will be there. It'll be a chance for the mingling between the different character groups. And presumably because it's the owner performing all of the people who are in the house.

[Joanna Robinson]

Aren't you glad we didn't watch episode two when we did? This really screwed me up the last time.

[Amy Poehler]

So it's eight episodes. Are we doing. We're doing roughly one episode per day because it's one week.

[Mallory Rubin]

The eight days kind of fucks up the math of the week.

[Joanna Robinson]

But they maybe wasn't even seven or eight.

[Mallory Rubin]

It's been six, seven, and now eight. Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Wow.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh. So we're definitely getting more characters, but.

[Amy Poehler]

It'S only one week, so.

[Joanna Robinson]

I know, but people check in the hotel. We're definitely getting a couple more people.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, I think so.

[Joanna Robinson]

Could be Mal in episode five, just checking in with Adam.

[Mallory Rubin]

I'd love to check out her first.

[Joanna Robinson]

Vacation in 12 years.

[Mallory Rubin]

We don't really. It would probably be going with someone else.

[Joanna Robinson]

When is one of her friends from the fourth grade.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah, I'd be going with an old friend. I was your feet.

[Amy Poehler]

You'd be going.

[Mallory Rubin]

I was your hands.

[Amy Poehler]

You'd be going with your. Your Syracuse Book Club.

[Mallory Rubin]

I am going on a trip with them. Literally next week. We're going for a little weekend getaway to. To Charleston. Why not to Charleston?

[Amy Poehler]

I don't know if we can get.

[Mallory Rubin]

There back in two and a half days, but I'll look into it. I'll look into it.

[Joanna Robinson]

Do you think Claire Danes. Did she. Did she definitely steal the thing in Broke Down Palace?

[Amy Poehler]

Absolutely.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay. They never really 100% made it clear how many.

[Mallory Rubin]

Who. What was the over under on Broke down palace references before this podcast?

[Joanna Robinson]

What are big Thailand pop culture?

[Amy Poehler]

No, but I like, I. I am deeply.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's an iconic Thailand movie.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, I'm deeply. This is. That's a real bill coded movie. I think is Broke Down Palace.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, because I. First of all, it was on a lot in the late 90s, early 2000s, but I. I always felt like I missed a scene. And it turns out after you watched it four times, you didn't you didn't. You didn't miss a scene on the.

[Mallory Rubin]

Sex and shipping front.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

Are we shipping Belinda and Punchey?

[Amy Poehler]

100%.

[Mallory Rubin]

Absolutely.

[Joanna Robinson]

Right.

[Mallory Rubin]

They had real energy and chemistry between them right away. And he was very sweet and very welcoming. And she's like, on this exchange program where she gets to go to a different lotus and study and learn. She's there for multiple months.

[Amy Poehler]

Some Thailand movies. Okay, you were right. The Impossible, the Naomi Watts movie.

[Joanna Robinson]

There you go.

[Amy Poehler]

See 100% a Bridget Jones sequel. Because they're basically doing a Brook Dunn palace thing with Bridget Jones. Which Bridget Jones sequel was in Edge of Reason. She goes to jail, she has a wonder bra.

[Mallory Rubin]

It's a whole thing.

[Joanna Robinson]

Wasn't Hangover 3 a Thailand movie?

[Amy Poehler]

Hangover 3? Yeah, definitely. No, part 2. Part 2 is Thailand. Ong bak, obviously, but that's its own thing. I'm looking for American movies set in Thailand. Not a lot.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, not a lot.

[Amy Poehler]

There's a broke down palace, too. Oh, no, no, it's just broke down Palace. Okay, great. Sorry. The poster has something that looks like Roman numerals underneath, and I got really excited for this sequel. And then the beach, of course. The beach.

[Mallory Rubin]

Oh, yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh, the beach. That is one of my wife's favorite bad movies.

[Mallory Rubin]

Classic.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Really good one.

[Amy Poehler]

Good Leo stuff.

[Joanna Robinson]

Great. That's when Leo really established who he was. He's like, what's your big movie after Titanic? He's like, you know what? I want to go somewhere. I can bring my friends.

[Amy Poehler]

I'm going to break up Danny Boyle and Ewan McGregor and it's going to last a long time. Time.

[Joanna Robinson]

All right, last predictions before we go.

[Amy Poehler]

Who's dead?

[Joanna Robinson]

No, just. Yeah, like, who's dead at the end? I think we have to do this at the end of our episode.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah, yeah, I think that's right. I think it should be someone. It's not going to be someone I want to die is usually the case. It's usually someone like. Because, like Armand and Tanya, we weren't like good people necessarily, but we did like them. We weren't, like, rooting for them to die or anything like that.

[Mallory Rubin]

Right. It's like if, if, if. If Rick is the one behind the crime, behind whatever unfolds, if he's the driver of it, then Chelsea is the one who ends up dead in that scenario. Not Rick or not Jim.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Mallory Rubin]

If Tim. If Timothy Ratliff is seeking to evade capture, detection or whatever, Saxon's efforts to help his father, the driver, then Lockheed Or Piper end up dead. Like that's the way.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, by White Lotus rules, it has to be somebody from the first episode that's dead in the last episode. Episode. Unless he switches the formula. It's so we've only had two seasons.

[Amy Poehler]

So Scott Glenn is fine, right?

[Mallory Rubin]

Well, we do see him on a Google image search result. Does that count?

[Joanna Robinson]

I. I think it's Chelsea.

[Mallory Rubin]

You think Chelsea's gonna die?

[Joanna Robinson]

I think she's the body floating in the water. I'm only because she tipped it off with the thing she said that that raised my white. My. My flag.

[Mallory Rubin]

I'm gonna. I'm going with they hope that that's wink to us more than it is a heart.

[Amy Poehler]

Victoria Ratliff.

[Mallory Rubin]

Yeah.

[Amy Poehler]

Death by monkey.

[Joanna Robinson]

Victoria.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. Parker Posy. Death by monkey.

[Mallory Rubin]

Still jet lagged on day seven. Out falls asleep in the pan.

[Joanna Robinson]

Said a monkey.

[Amy Poehler]

Bam. To the gills. Death by monkey.

[Mallory Rubin]

The hope is that it's Greg. Like the hope is that Greg ends up paying. But we can't receive that kind of gift. So he'll get away again. Find another woman.

[Joanna Robinson]

We'll find out. You can watch this on the prestige TV YouTube channel which is called Ringer TV. We can find a bunch of our good stuff. You can watch this on Spotify every week as well. Thanks to all the people behind the scenes who helped us produce this one. Because we have a lot of people behind the glass screen over there. We will see you every Sunday night right after the next episode. We put the episode up. We tape it ahead of time. It's up. And then. Then Joanna on Wednesdays. Rob and I with our guy Mahoney.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Busy time for Mahoney. NBA season.

[Amy Poehler]

Yeah. Severance.

[Joanna Robinson]

Severance.

[Amy Poehler]

A lot going on. UNC versus.

[Joanna Robinson]

I still haven't watched Severance.

[Amy Poehler]

I think.

[Mallory Rubin]

Oh, you're missing out, man.

[Amy Poehler]

You would really like it.

[Joanna Robinson]

I know a lot of people are. I. I know I'm gonna like it. I just. I'm holding. I'm playing hard to get.

[Mallory Rubin]

Okay.

[Joanna Robinson]

Playing. I'm like Michelle Monahan with. With the Schwarzenegger playing a little hard to get. It's going to happen.

[Mallory Rubin]

Thank you.

[Amy Poehler]

All right.

[Joanna Robinson]

Thanks, guys.