What brings Sam Rockwell to The White Lotus Season 3? Just a cameo or a recurring character?

Rick, who is embroiled in something sinister, has just arrived in Bangkok and is conducting serious meetings to further his agenda. While we expected him to meet up with Jim, who killed Rick’s father, at The White Lotus, and exact his revenge, much against the wishes of his girlfriend Chelsea, the Frank encounter came out of nowhere. Sam is unhinged in this episode and acts as the perfect foil to Rick, and through their interactions, we get to know more about the latter. But before getting into the details of who Rick is, and why Frank hands him an unmarked black bag that contains a handgun, we witness Frank’s monologue about all things him.

We are told that Frank and Rick weren’t really in touch, and it is clear that the former reached out because of his presence in Bangkok. But as old friends who meet up after a really long time, Frank narrates his escapades to Rick. And this is where Sam proves why he is one of the generational talents in cinema. Listening to him talk about his addiction to booze, drugs, and sex, and then his revelation about being sober for almost a year is an oscillating experience. He also talks about gender identity, Buddhism, and how he got off from the ‘never-ending carousel of lust and suffering’.

This proves to be quite a revelation for Rick, who has never seen Frank sober, and the latter credits it all to his connection with his spiritual self that was attained during his stay in Thailand. But be it sobriety, or a life away from crime, it is not going to be easy to stay away, and it is clear that all the high-spirited conversation about spirituality and his hedonistic past is also a facade. How does a changed man with a penchant for spirituality get his hands on a weapon on such short notice? Or is it a case of old habits die hard? Or a case of waiting in peace for the past to catch up, and in Frank’s case, the reason why he had to leave the USA. Nevertheless, Sam’s cameo adds to the randomness of The White Lotus, which is known for its penchant for quirks and outlandishness.

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While many expressed their shock, albeit of the sweet kind, to see Sam Rockwell in The White Lotus, many others pointed out that it was a cameo waiting to happen considering his relationship with actor Leslie Bibb, who is a regular on The White Lotus from Season 1. But will this be the last we see of Frank in The White Lotus? Considering we never knew we would see him, one can never say never.