The White Lotus season 3 review: What happened in Season 3 of The White Lotus? What was amiss? If the last two seasons from writer-director Mike White were anything to adhere to, the newest one does not even come close to replicating that same sense of investment in the chaotic bunch of rich people on vacation. None of the characters stick, nor do we actually see any growth in their arc. The brutal and unforgiving season finale might just come close to the nail-biting suspense and thrill, but let’s be very, very honest about the fact here- Season 3 is the weakest of the lot. (Also read: The White Lotus season 3’s Lisa, Parker Posey open up on how Thailand adds a fresh spin and more)
Same spirits, new forms
Season 3 began in Thailand, with the first episode cleverly establishing the characters and the faces we would see for the rest of the episodes. But in the episodes that followed, these characters stayed safe and agonizingly straightforward. Except for one, none of these characters grew or shared a sense of conflict to root for them. The hallmark of the show is how these characters get into trouble and find their way out somehow (or don’t), but in Thailand, all we saw through 8 long episodes were fake suicide attempts, unnecessary subplots involving a theft, and an unhinged, out-of-nowhere monologue from Sam Rockwell.
There is the out-of-touch Ratliff family, including the Lorazepam diva Victoria (Parker Posey clearly having a ball here) who gets the prize for being the most ridiculous and delusional in the lot, not aware of anything that is up with her husband Timothy (Jason Isaacs), and her three children- Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), and Lochlan (Sam Nivola).
The incest subplot, pocketed cleverly in the initial episodes, leads to a half-built resolution between Saxon and Lochlan. The most boring and useless subplot involved Timothy’s fake copouts, which played out over and over again. His crippling anxiety went nowhere except for making things unnecessarily slower.
The others did not help much either. Lisa’s part was all hype and no show as Mook, the sweet and cute hotel staff whose only in service to help Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) get some sort of a killer instinct later. Poor Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) found herself mothering her 50 year-old boyfriend Rick (Walton Goggins) the whole season and was rewarded with a cruel sort of salvation.
There was some momentum in the storyline involving the three girlfriends, Kate (Leslie Bibb), Laurie (Carrie Coon), and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan). Their relationship gets thrillingly complex and messy, and Mike White shows what he is capable of as a writer in charting their interpersonal dynamics. These women have known each other for years and judge each other fiercely and publicly, making no mistake of hiding their own sense of moral disappointment in the mix. The Full Moon party episode works best because of this lot. Mike White gifts the most devastating monologue to Coon, as she finally observes, “I don’t need religion or god to give my life meaning… because time gives it meaning.” The always dependable Carrie Coon is revelatory to watch.
Amor Fati
But where was the narrative nexus? In earlier seasons, there was one character who tied up the rest of them and their storylines in some chaotic manner. In this season, however, there is no such unifying thread. Only Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), who hooks up with the brother(s), and is revealed to be dating Greg (Jon Gries), comes close to be that hook. But even she is detached from the rest of the storylines and has nothing to add to the momentum of the show.
Belinda’s (Natasha Rothwell) arc was, unfortunately, very thinly written and the biggest disappointment of the season. There was also no point in the hue and cry about the hotel manager Fabian (Christian Friedel) trying to find the much-needed confidence to sing, only to cut two seconds from his performance to attend to the gossip girls at the bench. The rest of the hotel staff this season pale in comparison to the previous instalments and have no agency to be stand-alone figures on their own. Nothing happens with them, or through them, or because of them. They are mere bystanders and witnesses.
The conflicts are smaller and detached in retrospect with the whole season. The issue here is that this season of The White Lotus takes itself way too seriously. The show is still good and peppered with moments of calm and concern. But there is no denying it lacks the balance of humour and dread that Mike White would slowly unravel, along with the underlying thematic concerns of class privilege and greed.
This season is slower, less effective and self-aggrandizing in its efforts to live up to the standards it set up for itself in the previous instalments. It not only fails to match that bar but also sinks under its own ignorant weight.
