I’ve been waiting for the newest season of The White Lotus since October of 2022, when season two came out on Max. The White Lotus is a captivating show, a psychological black comedy that’s anthology-style, with new characters and a new storyline each season. Stars like Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Sydney Sweeney, and Theo James have been featured as privileged dysfunctional characters in beautiful resorts around the world.Â
Season three officially premiered on Feb. 16. The eighth and final episode premiered on April 6. This time, the show takes place in Thailand. Upon immediate notice, the theme song was not the usual eerie set of echoes. I wouldn’t have thought that would have made a difference to me, but it felt like a signature of The White Lotus. I was excited to see two returning characters: Belinda and Greg. This ignited some hope in me, because I immediately knew that Tanya wouldn’t be a memory forgotten despite her death at the end of season two.Â
After finishing the show, I am slightly disappointed with how it played out. This season feels very unfinished. One of the most interesting plot lines of the show seemed to fizzle into nothing. Tim Ratliff had been busted for a money laundering situation. Throughout the season, he breaks down, even contemplating the murder of his wife and kids multiple times to avoid putting them through any pain. He steals a gun, he drugs their drinks, and had a close call with one of his sons. Yet, at the end, all he does is tell them things will be different. That’s it. It felt as though the show was ramping this up to be something huge, yet it became nothing. On another note, was Piper’s realization that she was unable to live without her family’s wealth and material items the end of her care for Buddhism? Also, was what happened between Saxon and Lochlan on the yacht significant to the plot and how their family storyline played out? I’m not convinced.
I had a similar criticism for the group of childhood friends: Jaclyn, Laurie, and Kate. It seemed like they were leading for a big blowup, whether it was Laurie and Kate’s concerns with Jaclyn’s fame, Kate and Jaclyn’s political differences with Laurie, or Laurie and Jaclyn reacting to Kate’s partying. Even if a blowup didn’t happen, it seemed at least they’d leave with a strained relationship, yet neither of those things happened.Â
Very little of relevance happened even with Greg and Belinda or Greg and Charlotte. The season focused on a multitude of characters, all having tense or destructive storylines, yet almost all of them went unfinished. Even Valentin faced no consequences.Â
I can only hope that all of this will be answered in the next season. However, this would break the anthology-style dynamic they’ve set in motion. Without reinviting almost the entire same cast back, it would be impossible to address all of this. Maybe this season was deeper, and requires a more thorough analysis to understand what’s happening.