The White Lotus: the TV phenomenon is back – and it's still next-level viewing

The Guardian

15-02-2025

Sure, The White Lotus is an acclaimed drama, eagerly anticipated after more than two years away from our screens, but it is also a solid and reliable meme factory. From the second season's banger of a theme tune, to every line Jennifer Coolidge's character deigned to speak, when The White Lotus is in season, the internet transforms into its fan account. For such a rich and well-crafted satire on bored elites and their casual cruelty, it really does translate well to screenshots and parodies. These memes, they're trying to murder me!
In an age of fragmented attention spans, then, The White Lotus is that rare cultural phenomenon that still feels like a collective activity. These days, only a handful of shows would warrant mass speculation about how a season is going to end, and The White Lotus has become one of them. Inevitably, it returns for a third series under the heavy weight of expectation. Can it survive the loss of Coolidge's Tanya, killed off with operatic gusto at the end of season two? Can it survive a new theme tune? Thankfully, the answers are yes and yes. It has had a few minor tweakments but the work is subtle, and it basically passes as its former youthful self.
That's not to say Coolidge isn't missed – nobody can compare – but as soon as the series gets back to business, the feeling of being guided by steady hands returns. This is next-level television, still. Apparently, creator Mike White is 'obsessed' with reality TV, which makes a lot of sense. The reality TV playbook is put to work and turned into respectable drama. Every single character is given ample reason to snap, and each new scenario prods and pokes them until they do. It is impossible to look away.
Following Hawaii and Sicily, we are now at the White Lotus resort in Thailand. It opens with a scene of meditation, as a member of staff helps an as-yet-unknown hotel guest in the art of 'calm[ing] our chattering monkey minds'. The peace is shattered by the sound of gunshots, but even that guest lasts longer than I can manage on the Headspace app. Soon, a body is floating past in the water. As in previous seasons, the clock winds back a week, to the new guests' arrival at the resort. We get to know them, with the understanding that at least one of them won't be checking out. Campy Cluedo is ready to have a lot of fun teasing us with all the possibilities of what could have gone so wrong.
The guests are exquisitely awful. There's a southern US Christian family, with Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey as the parents, Timothy and Victoria, who are clearly sitting on top of some financial irregularities, and whose children are oddly close to one another. Eldest son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) is an obnoxious, self-satisfied bro, continuing White's exploration of men and their foibles. There are three waspy blond women on a girls' trip, played by Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb and Carrie Coon. Queen bee Jaclyn (Monaghan) is famous, and their old friendship is crumbling, painfully. Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins play Chelsea and Rick, a couple who appear to have absolutely nothing in common. As Chelsea, Wood takes on Coolidge's roll as principal clown, at least to begin with. Of the staff, there is an early focus on Mook, played by Lalisa Manobal, AKA Blackpink star Lisa, and security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), who may be in love with her.
When The White Lotus first appeared in 2021, its mockery of the super-rich felt novel, but that theme soon became mainstream movie and television fodder. Smartly, White has kept the mega-wealthy in his sights, but shifted his attention slightly to the wellness industry. It does not take long before it starts to go a bit Goop-shaped. The resort offers 'health mentors', gluten-free dinners, digital detoxes and biometric testing. It also provides a lot of alcohol and flawed, miserable human beings, starved of carbs and TikTok, stuck with people they mostly despise. Is it wrong that it feels so good to be there, as it all falls apart?