The White Lotus: Season 3
By Sioph W. Leal
The familiar formula of beginning at the end opens the latest season of The White Lotus but this time gunfire interrupts the tranquillity of the resort before taking us back to the beginning as tourists approach their lavish island resort in Thailand. The eight-episode season is the biggest to date in episode length and being filmed mostly on location at the Four Seasons in Koh Samui, it levels up the grandeur with spectacular and stunning locations that is as much a character as the mostly new faces checking into and working in the White Lotus.
While it would have been interesting to see more of the surrounding areas, this is a show that puts wealthy guests first as it explores their psyches, their greed and their depravity. While it may be obvious to say, the tranquil locations create a striking juxtaposition to the chaotic nature of the affluent guests, so it stands to reason why they are the focus.
After season 2, everyone will mourn the loss of Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya but there are plenty of new characters to help patch that hole with Victoria (Parker Posey) who has some moments of absurdity and seems in a completely different plane of existence to everyone else. There are some similarities but there’s enough to have Victoria and other characters stand on their own without any of the previous season’s expectations that make them an interesting mix. We spend some time with resort employees and owners, but their storylines are lacking compared to the guests in the first six episodes. With such an array of characters, its hardly surprising for some to get lost and with the focus of the show being on the guests, it is to be expected the staff storylines don’t match up to theirs. That’s not a bad thing, there’s still plenty of entertainment. Crossing between each group is Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) from the first season who was left hanging out to dry by Tanya after promises of financial investment were never met by the former guest. It’s a nice nod to the first season and with such a large cast, Rothwell manages to stand out. Even with the long cast list, there’s still some big characters and surprises in store with cameos that we aren’t allowed to disclose but that the audience will love.
Characters aren’t the only familiarity of the third instalment as the familiar formula of White’s show extends past its opening death only to take us back to the guest’s arrival. Interesting enough, the familiar plot structure does not seem tired at all but oddly comforting and since we have that familiarity with the structure, it allows the mystery to subtly grow in the background and favours a character driven approach. Some may find that slow btu it works for this structure, never forgetting the mystery but allowing us (again) to find some attachment to the characters before chaos ensues and death takes them. Those not liking a character driven or slow burn will still enjoy this as and things pick up in the last two episodes provided for screening. Yes, the characters do repeat themselves but there is a lot of tension that White crafts perfectly.
Season 3 of “The White Lotus” will premiere on HBO and Max on Feb. 16th, the first six episodes were screened for review.