Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The White Lotus Season 3, Episode 4.WhenThe White Lotuspremiered on HBO in 2021, it was billed as a limited series. But the show became such a massive hit that writer/directorMike Whitedecided to continue with the storytelling, just switching to various White Lotus hotel locations in each new season. While most ofthe characters have been newin each version,there has been only one character that has appeared in all three seasons. Greg Hunt (Jon Gries) pops up in each iteration, butin Season 3(which premiered February 16), Greg seems to have taken on a new name. So, why has Greg changed his name to Gary, and what is this mysterious man’s story?
Who Is Greg on ‘The White Lotus’?
In Season 1 of the hit show, Greg starts up a flirtatious relationship withditsy billionaire Tanya McQuoid(Jennifer Coolidge, in a career-defining role) at the White Lotus resort in Maui. Both seem to be lonely singletons who are looking for connection. Greg says that he’s a government employee working for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and that he travels a lot for work. He also reveals that he has a terminal illness, so he’s in Maui trying to make the most of the time he has left. Tanya and Greg seem to hit it off, butthere’s always an air of mystery surrounding Greg, like maybe he isn’t being 100% forthcoming with Tanya.
In Season 2, set at the White Lotus in Sicily, it’s revealed thatTanya and Greg are now married. Greg is suspiciously no longer sick, and even though he’s living the life of a wealthy person with Tanya by his side, he seems perpetually aggravated by her. After a few episodes, Greg announces that he has to leave on a business trip, abandoning Tanya in Italy. Tanya confides inher new friend, Quentin(Tom Hollander), about her troubles, but shockingly, it’s unveiled later on that Quentin actually knew Greg in their youth! At one point, Quentin tells Tanya that he fell in love with a ‘cowboy’ when he was in the U.S., and a photograph in Quentin’s house shows him with a young Greg, who just so happens to be in a cowboy hat.
At the end of the season, Tanya figures out thatQuentin and his goons have been hired(most likely by her husband) to kill her. She takes matters into her own hands and successfully eliminates all of them in a wild shootout on Quentin’s yachtin the season finale. However, when she tries to escape from the boat, she foolishly jumps, and hits her head on the way down.Tanya dies tragically, but it seems like Greg gets what he wanted — Tanya’s vast fortune is now his.
Why Is HE Back in ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3?
Tanya’s legacy lives on in the strangest way.
Greg Goes By Gary Now in Season 3 of ‘The White Lotus’
Because Tanya is gone, fans of the series expected that Greg’s character was also a thing of the past inThe White Lotus. However, to great surprise,Greg pops up in the Season 3 premiere, as the balding boyfriend of model Chloe(Charlotte Le Bon). But strangely,Greg is introduced as Gary. She explains to her new bestie, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), that the two of them met in Dubai, and that they’ve been living near the hotel in Thailand. It’s clear that Greg has inherited Tanya’s money, and is living it up in style (with a hot girlfriend and giant yacht to boot). Chloe jokes that Gary is what they call an LBH or a ‘Loser Back Home.’ Even though Greg/Gary is super wealthy now, he doesn’t seem any happier, and grumbles through his interactions with Chloe, as well as withChelsea and her boyfriend, Rick(Walton Goggins). Greg is also still as enigmatic as ever, saying that he does “this and that” when asked about his career. Greg still clearly feels like he has a lot to hide.
But why is Greg going by an alias? Well, it seems likeGreg is trying to distance himself as much as possible from the circumstances surrounding his wife’s death.In Episode 3, Chloe says that Greg’s ex-wife “was so depressed that she couldn’t take it anymore,” and basically walked into the ocean and never came back. Greg insinuating that Tanya died by suicide is pretty far from the truth, since he basically orchestrated her death (even if it was a bit indirectly). By creating this story around Tanya and coming up with a fake name to go by,Greg is attempting to present a brand-new narrativesurrounding not only his relationship with Tanya, but also in regards toher suspicious death. The funny part is that he didn’t even try to be more creative when coming up with a fake name; guess he didn’t think he could remember anything more complicated, so he stuck with a name starting with G and consisting of four letters.
Belinda Is Hot on Greg/Gary’s Trail in ‘The White Lotus’
Greg (or Gary) must have thought that by fleeing to Thailand he had put enough space between his old life and his present life. However, perhaps Greg should have considered not frequenting any White Lotus locations. In Season 3, he has nowcome into contact with spa workerBelinda(Natasha Rothwell), who crossed paths with Tanya in Maui.Belinda immediately recognizes Greg, but when she approaches him, he insists his name is Garyand that he doesn’t know her at all.Belinda can’t let it gothat she knows him, and when she Googles Tanya’s name, she comes across news articles explaining her puzzling death. She realizes that Gary is exactly who she thought he was. It’s odd that Greg has gone through all of the motions of going by an alternate name when he isn’t even wanted for murder; rather, the Italian authorities simply want to ask him some questions surrounding her death.
Even if Belinda doesn’t fully realize it, she has definitely put herself in harm’s way by interacting with Greg at all. In fact,in Episode 4, Greg is seen looking up Belinda on social media, which means she (and her son) are now in his cross-hairs. It’s obvious that Greg will do anything to protect his wealth (based on what he was willing to do to get it in the first place). Will Greg end up orchestrating Belinda’s murder to get her out of the way?Greg’s cover has officially been blown, which means even a fake name won’t be enough to cover his tracks. No matter what actions Greg decides to take now,The White Lotushas set up anotherintriguing and suspenseful storylinefor Greg/Gary to be a part of. Whatever name he decides to go by, this dude is bad news.
New episodes ofThe White Lotusair on Sunday nights on HBO and are available to stream on Max in the U.S.
The White Lotus
