Anyone who has watched and enjoyed The White Lotus will know that nothing happens by chance – or does it? It seems like every clue and easter egg has been carefully placed there by the show's creator, Mike White, but that means the red herrings probably have too.
We're only one episode into the Thailand-set third season and fans are already convinced they've worked out a major plot point to do with the Ratliff family. The wealthy, entitled American family, comprised of Timothy (Jason Isaacs), Victoria (Parker Posey) and their three children, Saxon, Piper and Lochlan, has caught the attention of True Crime fans.
There is a conspiracy theory that the Ratliffs' story is inspired by the 2001 murder of Kathleen Peterson and the trial of her husband, crime novelist Michael Peterson. 'Ratliff' is even the surname of Michael and Kathleen's friend Elizabeth, who was found dead at the bottom of a staircase.
The season three Ratliffs come from the same US state, North Carolina, as the Peterson family. Apparently there is also a Berlin-based photographer called Michael Petersohn whose work in Thailand has earned him notable praise....
That's not all either – fans have also noticed that two of The White Lotus Ratliffs, Parker Posey and Patrick Schwarzenegger, also starred in the HBO dramatisation of the Michael Peterson case, The Staircase, alongside Toni Colette and Colin Firth.
When Michael found Kathleen at the bottom of the stairs in December 2001, he called the emergency services saying that she was still alive and begging them to come as soon as possible. Shortly afterwards, he called back to say she had stopped breathing. It later transpired that Kathleen was already dead before he made the first call and that she had been struck on the head by something.
Michael claimed he had been in the garden by the pool when Kathleen fell, so could not have heard her struggle or had anything to do with the incident. Two months later, he was charged with murder and pleaded 'not guilty', leading to a length court battle.
Matters were made more complicated by the revelation that, while living in Germany years earlier, Michael's friend Elizabeth Ratliff had been discovered a the bottom of her staircase too, and Michael later became the legal guardian of her two daughters.
It was previously thought that Elizabeth had suffered a stroke on the stairs, but her body was exhumed after Kathleen's death and the examiner ruled it another homicide. Michael was convicted of murder in 2003. In 2017, he entered an Alford plea, which is a guilty plea without admitting guilt, and was sentenced to time already served, allowing him to be released. He is now living in North Carolina.
In the HBO adaptation, Parker plays Freda Black, the former assistant district attorney who helped prosecute Michael. She was found dead at her home in 2022. While Patrick plays Todd Peterson, one of Michael's sons.
The Reddit thread about the potential links between the two shows is excitable to say the least. 'That does seem like too many similarities to be a mere coincidence,' one user commented on the post. 'Watch traffic to The Staircase on HBO Max increase exponentially after people find out this connection! Mike White is a smart guy,' wrote another.
Does Victoria need to watch out for staircases in the Thai hotel? Does Saxon know more about his father's dodgy business dealings than he is letting on? We'll have to keep watching to find out...