While the first season of HBO’s award-winning “The White Lotus” offered a fresh spin on the “Upstairs, Downstairs” or “Gosford Park” structure of storytelling between the haves and the have-nots who struggle to keep them happy, subsequent seasons have proven to be arguably even more ambitious, digging deeper into character-driven storytelling than any other show on television. Writer/director Mike White understands the way people lie to themselves, and how the distractions of day-to-day life can keep issues at bay that come roaring to the surface when a luxurious vacation forces “relaxation.” White’s ear for dialogue and gift with character depth—everyone in this show feels like they have a back story, down to the smallest role—are sharper than ever in what might be my favorite season yet of “The White Lotus,” returning this weekend on HBO.
White’s skill set clearly allows the producers of this show to pick and choose their cast, leading to new performers every year—ones that don’t feel like stunt casting as much as talents who want to collaborate with White. Two of the best actors in the history of television enter “The White Lotus” in the third season, and they’re joined by a perfectly-tuned ensemble of veterans, character actors, and new faces. And all of them take their turns on the stage of one of the most gorgeous settings in the history of television, shot with a sharp visual language by White that will be underrated as people focus solely on his writing and underrate his directorial chops. He’s a phenomenal creator, on every level.
The third season of “The White Lotus” takes us to Thailand. It’s a beachside resort like no other, one that focuses on wellness as monkeys climb the trees against a backdrop that could be a painting. As is the norm now, White opens with a mysterious sequence of impending violence as gunshots ring out on the property. That’s really it this time though, although White has a blast playing with “Chekhov’s gunshot” all season, delicately placing guns into the narrative, making us wonder which will be fired. He also films his lavish setting in a way that feels ominous, cranking up the tension in his social comedy by giving us the sensation that something horrible could happen to any of these people, especially the ones who least suspect it.
There are basically four groups of travelers this season. The relatively familiar role of the troubled patriarch traveling with his family is filled by Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs), a businessman who discovers his life at home is crumbling apart under legal investigations shortly after he arrives. He’s been dragged to Thailand by his daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), who wants to study religion there despite the protestations of her flighty mother, Victoria (Parker Posey). Timothy also has two sons: the depressingly aggro Saxton (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and the sweeter Lochlan (Sam Nivola), who big bro quasi-bullies constantly with his sex talk and protein shakes.
On the boat to the resort, Timothy is immediately annoyed by Rick (Walton Goggins) in the way self-proclaimed alpha males often are by one another. Rick is there with his much younger girlfriend Chelsea (the excellent Aimee Lou Wood, arguably season MVP), who thinks they’re just there for fun, but her man has another objective in Thailand that will shape the season.
There’s a brilliantly written trio of old friends named Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon). Jaclyn is a TV star and one of those high-maintenance people who use their status even in their friend group. Laurie is the one currently struggling in life, and Jaclyn and Kate passive-aggressively make sure she remembers that. The dynamic between these three characters is so brilliantly written that I could have just watched them talk for hours. It helps to have a TV legend like Coon, but Bibb & Monaghan match her—all three enlivened by some of the best dialogue on TV.
Finally, in terms of out-of-towners, there’s a return of season one’s Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), there to learn techniques to take back to her resort in Maui. When Belinda is learning about the resort and flirting with her counterpart there, Rothwell is phenomenal. But (in ways I can’t and wouldn’t spoil) she gets dragged back into some narratives shaped by season one and two that can sometimes feel like an anchor on the plot, an obligation that White is forced to return to instead of fleshing out the new ones, and the only weakness anywhere this season. “The White Lotus” has become such a success that I’d like to see a fourth season with absolutely no ties to what’s come before other than thematically and the resort chain that gives it a name.
Of course, there are workers at The White Lotus too, led by the fantastic Tayme Thapthimthong as Gaitok, a security guard who gets caught up in the aftermath of a robbery and an adorable romance with a worker played by Blackpink singer Lalisa Manobal. Christian Friedel of “The Zone of Interest” plays a resort manager; Lek Patravadi is one of the owners; Charlotte Le Bon is great as a former model who bonds with Chelsea over balding boyfriends.
As in most seasons of “The White Lotus,” it’s a lot of faces and arcs to track, but one never gets lost in White’s writing, which remains as good as any show on TV. The focus this season on location and wellness allows the creator to dig into how people shape their entire personalities around things that a program like the one at The White Lotus strips away. For a man like Timothy Ratliff, who is he if you take away his phone and his work? For a star like Jaclyn, who is she without fans or her fawning boyfriend, especially if her friends see through her at every turn? No one is perfect at The White Lotus, but no one is irredeemable either, as White even builds sympathy and interest in his more abrasive characters like Timothy, Rick, and the genuinely awful Saxton.
Finally, this season of “The White Lotus” will likely be the most visually striking drama you watch this year. White takes full advantage of his setting in a manner that brings it to life in ways that even the last two gorgeous settings didn’t produce. The way he constructs his episodes, not just narratively but visually, is arguably without peer on TV right now. He somehow finds a way to capture the opulence and beauty of Thailand while never losing the realism of the stories he’s telling there. It’s a balancing act between the beauty and the humanity. Of course, the show really comes to life where they intersect.
Six episodes screened for review. Premieres on HBO on February 16.
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