The White Lotus S03

Over its three seasons, The White Lotus has become an American TV franchise that at once satirises the insularity of American affluence and the superiority complex of a social media generation that laps up the satire. Much of the show — its characters, reaction shots, music, monologues, conversations, scandals, twists, weekly episodes — is staged with a sense of the memes, hyper-aware humour and internet buzz it generates. The virality is an inextricable part of the design. It caters to — but also skewers — an average woke viewer’s desire to be seen as well as their disdain towards Western capitalism and anti-intellectualism. We are invited to laugh at rich and culturally oblivious vacationers dispensing the emptiest thought farts with the self-seriousness of 13-year-old cinephiles. Note, for instance, the gravity of the score almost mocks the levity of Sam Rockwell’s hysterically hollow monologue about his sexual awakening (if one can even call it that). But we are also lured into identifying with a couple of ‘outsiders’ — people who think they’re better than everyone else — in each of the seasons. In Season 1, it’s a Black teenager tagging along on a Hawaiian holiday with the wealthy white family of her best friend; it’s also a freelance culture writer who’s newly married into money. In Season 2, it’s a straight-laced lawyer who cringes at the superficiality of her husband’s friends; it’s also a frumpy young assistant of an eccentric heiress on a Sicilian holiday.

White Lotus is back with its signature theme – vacation gone awry. Unlikeable rich tourists and their penchant for seeking trouble head to a luxurious resort in Thailand and what unfolds is anything but relaxing. The 3rd instalment follows the series’ template in theme and storytelling. Nothing changes there as it stays true thematically to the previous seasons, but it puts the brakes on the pace a bit. Like its predecessors, this too begins with a mysterious crime and an air of suspicion looms in days that lead up to it. What also stays constant is the eccentricity, dark secrets and debauchery of the rich guests, whose biggest fear is poverty. There is also an amusing yet shocking sexcapade involving incest.

Lust and pleasure, pain and meditation, West and East… can all these inhabit the same space? Well, in Mike White’s third season of ‘The White Lotus’, they do. Those familiar with his award-winning franchise and template are well aware that ‘White Lotus’ is a chain of luxury resorts where the super rich vacay in their quest for the elusive happiness. In the third season, the setting is Thailand, perhaps the perfect place to train the camera on the beauteous and to ask some existential questions too. There are many strands in the story… a seemingly perfect family of five, three childhood friends reuniting, an ageing balding man with a young woman and yet another couple of a similar variant. What they are seeking in this mental wellness resort depends entirely on how you see them and how they see themselves. Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) is catching up with his unburied traumas of the past, young daughter Piper Ratliff (Sarah Catherine) of the seemingly perfect affluent Ratliff family is here to find purpose in Buddhism. Her sex-obsessed brother Saxon Ratliff (Patrick Schwarzenegger) is only looking for bodily fulfilment. Where this pursuit will take him is the most revelatory and shocking part of the series and is certainly meant to rattle.

The White Lotus Season 3 returns after two years with a new group of guests that converge at a luxury resort for a getaway. Of course, their stay is eventful as the looming murder of one of the group is hinted at from the start. Mike White’s Emmy Award-winning series moves to Asia for the latest installment as Thailand is the setting for this story. Even though White’s narrative moves along glacially, there is enough to keep viewers intrigued. This year’s guests include a trio of best friends, played by Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, and Michelle Monaghan; a rich white family led by actors Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey; and a mismatched couple, both in age and temperament, played by Walter Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood. The only familiar face for viewers is spa worker Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), who was present in the first season. With each day, White shows another facet of their complicated relationships with one another as well as their hopes for the future. But which one of these guests is the fallen victim? Mike White is once again the creative force behind this season, which focuses more on individual characters than on an overall arc. The Western guests’ storylines have more prominence this time. However, the narratives for the Thai staff, security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) and hotel worker Mook (Blackpink’s Lisa), are promising. Lek Patravadi also stands out as resort owner Sritala. However, so far, without giving away too many spoilers, most of the characters are circling around one another, hiding away true motives. It’s the same story structure as previous seasons, like some of the guests being resistant to wellness programs, just in a new aesthetic setting.