Much like the title of its first episode, “Same Spirits, New Forms,” HBO Max’s “The White Lotus” third season is hauntingly familiar. It holds the same essence of its previous two seasons, now wrapped in the shiny new packaging of an exotic retreat in Thailand. After three years since the luxurious (and murderous) stay in Sicily, a return to “The White Lotus” was long overdue.
“The White Lotus” follows guests and staff through a week at the resort chain’s location in Thailand, filled with dollars, drugs and deception. Characters from previous seasons reprised their roles: season one White Lotus spa manager Belinda (Natasha Rothwell, “Love, Victor”) and Greg Hunt (Jon Gries, “Dream Corp LLC”), using the pseudonym “Gary.”
The show starts off with a literal bang as Belinda’s son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay, “Bel-Air”) runs away from gunshots fired in the resort only to stumble upon an unknown body. By opening the episode with active gunfire, the show ramps up the danger and drama, setting a tantalizingly uneasy tone for the rest of the season.
The first few episodes are honestly a bit of a drag to get through. By season three, longtime viewers know the drill: The guests are super rich, probably putting up false happy masks and definitely harboring secrets. Despite this initial monotony, it’s evident that the show is carefully planting its seeds — however unpredictable their growth.
The Ratliff family already finds itself in hot water back home as patriarch Timothy (Jason Isaacs, “Star Trek: Discovery”) is investigated for previous shady financial dealings. But a more troubling problem arises with his sons: The arrogant eldest son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger, “Gen V”) and the people-pleasing high school senior Lochlan (Sam Nivola, “The Perfect Couple”) engage in an inebriated threesome with Greg’s young wife Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon, “Cheyenne & Lola”).
On paper, the Ratliffs are the picture-perfect Southern family — affluent and Duke University-educated with a strong North Carolinian lineage. The incestuous threesome is the final, shattering blow to a family image which was already fracturing from the first episode. Saxon and Lochlan’s sexual involvement is a new level of perverse, subverting the images of the Ratliff children beyond just being spoiled rich kids. With this added plot point, the show’s creator Mike White was clearly not afraid to face internal conflicts through more perverse stories this season.
One of the more surprising character developments is how White navigates Rick’s (Walton Goggins, “Fallout”) storyline. Rick is a largely mysterious guest who brings along his much younger girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood, “Daddy Issues”). White effectively builds anticipation for Rick by keeping much of his motivations for coming to the resort a secret. However, once Rick’s true intentions are revealed — a familiar narrative of avenging a parent’s death — it is admittedly disappointing. There is nothing necessarily wrong with a classic revenge story. But the two previous seasons of “The White Lotus” have shown that the show’s writers are fully capable of plot twists in their narratives. White could have gone in more creative directions with this season. Instead, he gives Rick a predictable storyline.
The show focused on escalating all its characters’ stories and did so excellently, which only made the disappointment of the finale sting even more. Lochlan’s pseudo-death was poised to become a Greek tragedy. Despite his sexual adventures, Lochlan arguably was the best of the Ratliffs — a final scene with his father confirms that he was still “pure.” To watch him die by ingesting poison only to come back to life almost magically minutes later, it was a slap in the face.
The show’s cinematography, however, did not disappoint, and it is one of the strongest elements of this season. A trip together can be a test of friendship, and this is truly the case for three long-time best friends: corporate lawyer Laurie (Carrie Coon, “The Gilded Age”), rich Texan wife Kate (Leslie Bibb, “Palm Royale”) and actress Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan, “Bad Monkey”). It’s both beautifully awkward and incredibly painful to watch them gossip about each other, building up tension that seems poised to explode in gunshots. The cinematography frames their conversations almost like a tennis match, as compliments, thinly veiled insults and glances that hold 1,000 words are passed between each other. And as they split off into different combinations of two gossiping about the third woman, the cinematography almost makes you feel as if you’re the one being bad-mouthed.
A highlight of the show is the expertly crafted combination of cinematography and sound editing. In episode five, “Full-Moon Party,” guests travel outside of the island for festivities where they are immersed in beachside raves, copious drinks and the beginnings of tumultuous sexual encounters (like the Ratliff threesome). As Jaclyn dances between two young men, colorful strobe lights reveal the sweat and lines on her face — a brief glimpse into who Jaclyn really is: a middle-aged actress yearning for her glory days. In another group, Saxon’s drug trip is dizzying as the camera slows to match his slow mental processing, but the quick, heavy drums are almost overwhelming, allowing the audience to stagger into Saxon’s world. Sound and music have always been crucial in executing the vision of “The White Lotus.” With its never-ending eerie melodies, quick percussive rhythms and Thai pop and rock songs, the show succeeds once more in audibly bringing its audience back to the resort.
The third season of “The White Lotus” presents new dynamics to its series set in the East, a refreshing change to its predecessors in Hawaii and Italy. However, this season has shown that it’s uncertain what else White can introduce in another beachside resort, as this season did not entirely succeed in crafting an outstanding narrative. If White’s intentions to stage the fourth season in a non-tropical destination come to fruition, it is worth staying to watch what guests will do at the next “The White Lotus.”
Daily Arts Contributor Eilene Koo can be reached at ekoo@umich.edu.
