The White Lotus packs its metaphorical (and very expensive) luggage and heads to Thailand for its third season, promising a fresh crop of privileged problems and sun-drenched anxieties. As always, the setting is as much a character as the guests themselves, a lush, exotic backdrop against which the foibles of the wealthy unfold with tragicomic precision.
From the moment the new guests arrive, the familiar White Lotus dance begins. Timothy, tethered to his phone despite the resort’s digital detox policy, embodies the modern traveler’s inability to truly unplug. Piper and Lochlan, seeking spiritual solace, venture to a local monastery, likely to find more cultural confusion than enlightenment. Saxon, ever the romantic, embarks on a quest for love, or at least a fleeting connection, in this unfamiliar land.
Elsewhere, Belinda settles in, presumably to observe and judge the swirling chaos around her. Chelsea contends with a perpetually distracted Rick, a dynamic that feels as timeless as it is tiresome. And then there are Kate, Laurie, and Jaclyn, a trio of friends whose girls’ getaway carries the weight of unspoken expectations and simmering resentments.
The White Lotus airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.
