First it was Maui. Then it was Sicily. Now it’s Thailand. But there’s one thing that doesn’t change about The White Lotus, which just dropped the first episode of Season 3 on HBO.
You will be enthralled by the unfolding mystery – which always starts off with a bang, and by that we mean a dead body – the incredible cast and the exotic locales, all part of the fictional yet now nearly-mythic White Lotus luxury resorts.
It’s been more than two years now since Season 2 concluded in a spectacularly explosive finale that saw Jennifer Coolidge’s beloved character Tanya McQuoid meet her end in the deep dark sea off the coast of Taormina.
But before we leave the past and move into the present, it must be acknowledged that the Mike White-created series has accumulated 48 major awards including 15 Primetime Emmy awards.
Shortly before the Season 3 red carpet premiere event held in Los Angeles, White and some of the main cast members met with the media to discuss the joys and challenges of the production half a world away and what viewers might expect from this new crop of characters, who all headed to the Thai hotel’s world-renowned wellness program, or work there.
On board the boats docking at the resort are a couple with post-college, college-age and high-schooler kids (Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola), a trio of female friends including one who is a TV star (Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb, Michelle Monaghan) and an older man-younger woman couple (Walton Goggins and Aimee Lee Wood) whose relationship seems a little shady from the outset.
There’s also one recurring character. Remember Natasha Rothwell from Season 1? As Belinda, the White Lotus Maui spa manager, she’s there to learn more about the wellness center, and to vacation with her son, who is expected to join her a few days after her arrival.
Ironic that she and the series only other recurring character, Coolidge’s Tanya, mixed and mingled with each other in a potential business deal, so we hope that Belinda has a kinder fate–and stays off yachts.
The guests are greeted by the hotel’s friendly employees and one of its owners, Sritala, played by Lek Patravadi, whose agenda includes impressing Monaghan’s television actress.
And thus the drama, and the dark comedy ensue, with themes that are slightly different than previous seasons. Sure, there’s socioeconomic status and sex but there’s also spirituality. And monkeys.
“Thailand is a very complex country with so much going on,” White says. “It really does have all the temples and this spiritual dimension. But then it also is known for Bangkok and the wild nights and so it felt like that would be a great canvas to explore those themes because people kind of either go there for one or the other or a mixture of both. So we wanted to do that in a way that felt honest and hopefully authentic in some way but capture what the vibe really is.”
One of the couples that doesn’t seem to be vibing, at least not with each other, is the one portrayed by Goggins and Wood.
“I think a lot of it for me is about fate versus free will, like how much is destined and how much choice and agency do we have? Because I feel like some people have you know, it’s the fatal flaw, the pride,” says Wood. “And is that destined, that downfall, or did we have a choice?”
Goggins has another take on the mysteries that are at hand in the current season, including why some of the relationships work, some don’t and others focus on the existential crises at hand.
“Spirituality, life and death and 18 really talented people, actors in front of the camera going through an existential crisis written by Mike White, you know, sequestered in a five star resort. Amazing,” he says. “But you know this, you’re going to start asking yourself some shit. And that’s kind of what happened, I think, for all of us.”
Other cast members were humbled by what they saw as the gaps between wealth and poverty in Thailand. For Isaacs, it was somewhat reminiscent of Third World countries he’s visited.
“And then also [there was] the humility of the people inside the resorts who were incredibly kind and gracious,” he recalls. “And I wondered if that was the hospitality industry. But it’s actually the Thai national character, but there is something non-confrontational and gentle and kind about the way the Thai people engaged with each other and with us that was, that reminded me of being in India and other places which have similar massive wealth gaps.”
But back to Rothwell for the final word on TWL.
“Buckle the fuck up. It is big. It’s exciting. It’s like, I read everything, obviously, and I am, like, dying to see what happens,” says Rothwell. “I know. I know. But visually our editor, John, is incredible. Everything is so bespoke and detailed. There’s nothing that’s been left to chance. It’s exquisite television. And I’d say that even if I wasn’t in it. But I am. Ha.’
The White Lotus airs Sunday nights at 9 pm on HBO.
