{"id":1285,"date":"2025-05-13T23:09:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T23:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/05\/13\/extend-your-stay-at-the-white-lotus\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T23:10:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T23:10:02","slug":"extend-your-stay-at-the-white-lotus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/05\/13\/extend-your-stay-at-the-white-lotus\/","title":{"rendered":"Extend your stay at \u2018The White Lotus\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Much like the title of its first episode, \u201cSame Spirits, New Forms,\u201d HBO Max\u2019s \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d 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 \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d was long overdue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe White Lotus\u201d follows guests and staff through a week at the resort chain\u2019s 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, \u201cLove, Victor\u201d) and Greg Hunt (Jon Gries, \u201cDream Corp LLC\u201d), using the pseudonym \u201cGary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The show starts off with a literal bang as Belinda\u2019s son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay, \u201cBel-Air\u201d) 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>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 <em>definitely<\/em> harboring secrets. Despite this initial monotony, it\u2019s evident that the show is carefully planting its seeds \u2014 however unpredictable their growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>The Ratliff family already finds itself in hot water back home as patriarch Timothy (Jason Isaacs, \u201cStar Trek: Discovery\u201d) is investigated for previous shady financial dealings. But a more troubling problem arises with his sons: The arrogant eldest son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger, \u201cGen V\u201d) and the people-pleasing high school senior Lochlan (Sam Nivola, \u201cThe Perfect Couple\u201d) engage in an inebriated threesome with Greg\u2019s young wife Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon, \u201cCheyenne &amp; Lola\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>On paper, the Ratliffs are the picture-perfect Southern family \u2014 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\u2019s 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\u2019s creator Mike White was clearly not afraid to face internal conflicts through more perverse stories this season.<\/p>\n<p>One of the more surprising character developments is how White navigates Rick\u2019s (Walton Goggins, \u201cFallout\u201d) storyline. Rick is a largely mysterious guest who brings along his much younger girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood, \u201cDaddy Issues\u201d). White effectively builds anticipation for Rick by keeping much of his motivations for coming to the resort a secret. However, once Rick\u2019s true intentions are revealed \u2014 a familiar narrative of avenging a parent\u2019s death \u2014\u00a0it is admittedly disappointing. There is nothing necessarily <em>wrong<\/em> with a classic revenge story. But the two previous seasons of \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d have shown that the show\u2019s writers are fully capable of plot <a href=\"https:\/\/screenrant.com\/white-lotus-ending-explained-real-meaning\/\">twists<\/a> in their narratives. White could have gone in more creative directions with this season. Instead, he gives Rick a predictable storyline.<\/p>\n<p>The show focused on escalating all its characters\u2019 stories and did so excellently, which only made the disappointment of the finale sting even more. Lochlan\u2019s pseudo-death was poised to become a Greek tragedy. Despite his sexual adventures, Lochlan arguably was the best of the Ratliffs \u2014 a final scene with his father confirms that he was still \u201cpure.\u201d To watch him die by ingesting poison only to come back to life almost magically minutes later, it was a slap in the face.<\/p>\n<p>The show\u2019s cinematography, however, did not disappoint, and it is one of the strongest elements of this season. A trip together can be a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.refinery29.com\/en-us\/2024\/02\/11668705\/friendship-breakdown-vacation-travel\">test<\/a> of friendship, and this is truly the case for three long-time best friends: corporate lawyer Laurie (Carrie Coon, \u201cThe Gilded Age\u201d), rich Texan wife Kate (Leslie Bibb, \u201cPalm Royale\u201d) and actress Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan, \u201cBad Monkey\u201d). It\u2019s 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\u2019re the one being bad-mouthed.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>A highlight of the show is the expertly crafted combination of cinematography and sound editing. In episode five, \u201cFull-Moon Party,\u201d 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 \u2014 a brief glimpse into who Jaclyn really is: a middle-aged actress yearning for her glory days. In another group, Saxon\u2019s 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\u2019s world. Sound and music have always been crucial in executing the vision of \u201cThe White Lotus.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>The third season of \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d 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\u2019s uncertain what else White can introduce in <em>another<\/em> beachside resort, as this season did not entirely succeed in crafting an outstanding narrative. If White\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/screenrant.com\/the-white-lotus-season-4-locations-country-predictions-list\/\">intentions<\/a> 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 \u201cThe White Lotus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Daily Arts Contributor Eilene Koo can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/arts\/tv\/extend-your-stay-at-the-white-lotus\/mailto:ekoo@umich.edu\"><em>ekoo@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Much like the title of its first episode, \u201cSame Spirits, New Forms,\u201d HBO Max\u2019s \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1431,678,196,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-1285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-extend","9":"tag-lotus","10":"tag-stay","11":"tag-white"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1287,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions\/1287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}