I think it’s pretty clear at this point that the Ratliffs are not having a good time in The White Lotus Season 3. Tim’s in trouble with the FBI, the children need help, and now it looks like Victoria, the pill-addicted mom, is starting to get some seriously weird dreams.

In Episode 3, aptly titled “The Meaning of Dreams,” we got a lot of tsunami talk. It might just seem like flavor, an attempt to add color and context to the show’s Thailand setting, but after Episode 3, I’m pretty sure they’re meant to be taken as warning signs that something big’s about to happen.

The Tsunami as a Warning

At the end of Episode 2, Tim watches his family walk into their suite while Lochy tells them about the story of a girl who ran around warning everyone about a tsunami that was about to hit Thailand. This anecdote is actually a real life story about Tilly Smith, who ran around Mai Khao beach to warn everyone about a tsunami just minutes before it hit. She ended up saving about a hundred lives that day.

So it seems only appropriate that Episode 3 should open with an eerie dream that Victoria has of an incoming tsunami that’s about to destroy the Ratliff house. The dream opens with Victoria standing on the beach. She looks across from her to see Lochy sitting next to the two ladyboys that we saw serving the family in Episode 2. Lochy tells her that this is what the ocean looks like just before a tsunami.

The ladyboys then drape Victoria in a towel, and she walks into the ocean as a tsunami comes crashing towards her.

What Does the Tsunami Mean in The White Lotus?

This is going to sound painfully obvious, but the tsunami is clearly an omen, a premonition of something bad to come. But what exactly is it warning us about?

The tsunami rushing towards Victoria and the Ratliff house means that something is about to destroy this family. The first obvious interpretation is that Tim’s involvement with bribery and money laundering is going to ruin his family. Their company will be taken away, they’ll probably lose all their money, and with that, everything that’s holding this family together.

Why did Lochy show up in the dream, and not the other kids, though? What was the significance of the ladyboys? From the very first episode, I guessed that Lochy might be closeted and part of his arc probably involves him coming out as gay to his family. His fascination with the ladyboys and not-so-subtle signs of checking out his own brother and other male tourists around the resort feed into this theory.

But maybe it goes deeper than that? This entire time, Lochy’s been telling us he has a choice to make. What if Lochy isn’t actually gay, but is questioning his gender identity instead? That would also explain his “female side” coming through during his posture correction session. It would also explain the ladyboys being present with him during the dream.

Maybe the thing that “destroys” the family isn’t so straightforward as Tim’s crimes. Maybe the revelation that Lochy doesn’t identify as male is what completely changes the Ratliff family dynamic and affects how the family sees him. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Lochy’s the one who’s been obsessing over tsunami videos and showing them to his parents.

The tsunami could very well be pointing towards a bigger disaster heading towards the entire resort too, of course. After all, the opening credits themselves depict a large ocean wave crashing down on a ship, with people scrambling to safety, getting eaten by animals, or just trying to pretend the tsunami isn’t happening at all.

The Ratliffs may be a microcosm of everything that’s going on in the bigger picture of the resort, but we can’t forget about the threat of that looming disaster that got teased in the very first episode either.