‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 series review: Take a tranquil trip to Thailand

The first episode of Season 3 of Mike White’s multiple-award winning social satire, The White Lotus, is called Same Spirits, New Forms and boy is that a succinct description! Like the previous two seasons, Season 3 begins with violence.

The White Lotus formula of placing a disparate group of white people in luxury properties in different countries and watching the spontaneous combustions that follow, hits the ground running. Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) is visiting his mum Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) in Thailand. Belinda, who was in Season 1, is in The White Lotus Thailand on a work exchange. Zion is trying to meditate when gun shots ring out and all hell breaks out even as Zion prays to Jesus to keep his mum safe before a serene statue of Buddha.

The scene, like in previous seasons, shifts to a week ago and we meet the main players of the tragicomedy. A generationally rich financier, Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs), with his strung-out wife, Victoria (Parker Posey), and their children, Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), and Lochlan (Sam Nivola), have come to Thailand on Piper’s suggestion.

Rick (Walton Goggins), who does “this and that”, is in Thailand with his much younger girlfriend, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood). There is also a girls’ trip of country club wife, Kate (Leslie Bibb), a recently divorced lawyer, Laurie, (Carrie Coon) and television actor Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) at The White Lotus.

On the staff side, there is the co-owner of the property, former actor Sritala (Lek Patravadi), the manager, Fabian (Christian Friedel), wellness mentors, Mook (Lalisa Manobal) and Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius), security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), meditation coach Amrita (Shalini Peiris), device dictator Pam (Morgana O’Reilly), and Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) who is Belinda’s guide.

The “rich, bald white guys,” as pithily described by Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), a good-time girl and former model, are mainly represented by Greg (Jon Gries, reprising his role from season 1 and 2). When Amrita tells Rick “identity is a prison”, she is speaking for the show as a whole. Rick, perhaps, is beginning to see the glimmer of the bars.

Timothy feels the weight of expectation, which coupled with a brewing crisis, leads to him seeking succour in his wife’s pill bottle. Piper is looking for nirvana while Saxon tries to project a version of himself that he sees as worthy of filling his father’s shoes. Lochlan is shy and as yet unformed, but will be cast along the lines of his privilege.

A still from ‘The White Lotus’ season 3

The girlfriends all seem happy but are in prisons of their own, where Jaclyn has to look after herself for work, Laurie has to deal with a broken marriage and a child who is acting up, while Kate has to keep the polish shining of her Country Club life. The relationship between the three women comes under strain as the stay progresses.

Rick might seem abrasive at first glance but is deeply hurt and vulnerable, while Chelsea comes across as flaky but has tons of common sense and a good heart to boot. The fledgling relationship between Mook and Gaitok is sweet and that of Rick and Chelsea is the most real.

While The White Lotus Thailand is all serene, with sparkling water and gently lapping waves, the constant call-backs to the tsunami is a reminder that still waters run deep and that water is a life preserver as well as destroyer.

The Thai paintings in the titles feature all manner of creatures gobbling up people and other exotic creatures. The clothes are lovely with each character given a distinct look—from the uniforms to Jaclyn’s dressy resort wear, Victoria’s expensive, fussy clothes and Piper’s little-lost-girl clothes. Thailand looks eye-wateringly gorgeous and the writing is sharp as ever, with Victoria earnestly insisting Piper “needs to fear poverty,” or Greg not bothering to differentiate between Quebec and France!

Season 1 had a member of the staff murdered and Season 2saw a guest being killed, the law of averages dictates someone from the staff facing the reaper this time around. We will have to wait for the finale to find that out as well as why the camera is so taken up by monkeys.