Mike White’s ‘The White Lotus’ Travels to Thailand for Another Great Portrait of American Privilege Going Haywire

Alci Rengifo

Like a parade of condemned souls, there is a wicked pleasure in watching the latest crop of privileged vacationers land for the third season of HBO’s “The White Lotus.” Creator and director Mike White has found a formula that stays consistent and convincing ways to keep refreshing it. The encompassing theme of his hit is that money doesn’t buy happiness, far from it. Who wouldn’t want to be lounging around the gorgeous getaways of this series? By contrasting the landscapes with simple human folly, White avoids falling into the traps of other shows running past two seasons. Equally crucial is how meticulously good the casting is. 

Thailand is the setting of the latest White Lotus locale. This one is a beachside resort, surrounded by trees and monkeys, with a particular emphasis on wellness. Arriving is the all-American Ratcliffs lead by rich businessman Timothy (Jason Isaacs), his wife, Victoria (Parker Posey) and their kids. Daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) is behind the trip to work on her thesis on Buddhism. Older son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) works for dad and is a workout obsessive who is eager to get laid, while younger brother Lochlan (Sam Nivola) is the greener, more reserved type. Also at the resort is Rick (Walton Goggins) with much younger girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood). He is in a distracted mood because of the real, secret reason he brought them to Thailand. There is also a gang of old friends, Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon). Jaclyn happens to be on a hit TV show, Kate lives in suburban comfort and Laurie is getting over a bad divorce. Passive aggressiveness boils beneath their trio.

There is another set of key characters that run the resort, also brilliantly cast. Fabian (Christian Friedel) is the calm but observant manager. Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) is a security guard who is way too nice for the job and is constantly distracted by being in love with resort employee Mook (Lalisa Manobal of Blackpink). The owner of the resort is the enigmatic Sritala (Lek Patravadi), who has a B-movie acting career in her past. As in the first two seasons, everyone involved gets intertwined in direct and indirect ways that make this season instantly addictive. White likes to build on small revelations that keep growing. For example, Timothy receives an urgent phone call from back home, informing him that the Washington Post is snooping around a major investigation into his business. His getaway becomes a pressure cooker. Resort staff encourage visitors to put away their cell phones for a week, which Timothy clearly can’t do. Meanwhile he has to keep the unfolding events secret from his family. The stress grows when Victoria mentions she would never be able to live poor. More outlets begin phoning, catching on to the story.

Timothy is the core drama and conflict while everyone else evolves in intriguing mini dramas full of raging hormones, midlife crises and injured pasts. White’s writing is very acute about human nature. Gaitok as the likable security guard could have been written as another lovelorn joke. Instead, she is too concerned with attracting Mook to realize she’s also trying to nudge him into wanting more out of his job. The very WASP Ratcliffs make a whole gallery of Oedipus complexes and repressed feelings out of conservative America. Saxon boasts of his masculinity a bit too much and a night of drugged out partying on a particular yacht will take him somewhere unexpected that shakes him to the core. The most diabolically fun group to follow are the three women friends who are a reminder of how even as we age who were in high school isn’t completely left behind. Laurie’s own repressed ideas about Jaclyn surface when the trio go party with a group of hunky Russians led by Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius), their energy healer from the resort. Old insecurities coupled with new ones about losing your footing in your 40s explode onto the surface. 

Aimee Lou Wood in an endearingly offbeat performance seems the sanest of the group as Chelsea, who doesn’t realize Rick has brought them to Thailand to settle an old score. She also makes friends with a character that leads to some connecting threads to past seasons, Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), the girlfriend of Greg (Jon Gries). You might remember him from the last two seasons as the love interest of Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), first meeting her at the Maui White Lotus in season one and returning as her husband for season two’s Italian trip. Tanya is not here, which is a revelation that connects to another returning character, Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), a massage therapist left stung by Tanya bailing out on a business partnership. Now Belinda is here to learn from Thai colleagues, which leads to a new romance for her but a need to confront Greg as well. 

As all these storylines become endlessly watchable with their foibles and cringe behaviors, White also finds deeper resonance for the participants. This season of “The White Lotus” focuses on the idea of spiritual quests and the need to fill the void by seeking answers beyond materialism. Piper reveals she actually wants to live here for a year at a Buddhist center to learn about meditation, which nearly breaks Victoria (“but you’re Christian!”). Timothy, in his torturous, entrapped state might need some spiritual guidance before he takes drastic action. As gorgeous as the resort is, with its stunning swimming pools and lush environment, these characters are either empty or carrying emotional volcanoes. Parker Posey really goes for it as the wife aloof to anything about this country, at one point calling it Taiwan. What’s brilliant about the performance is how Posey evokes the way pride and ignorance can also mask deeper fears and low self-esteem. 

Every episode of “The White Lotus” plants a seed that you have to follow for the rest of the season, whether it is a missing gun or poolside flirtation. Such details work like necessary cogs to keep the rhythm of this series going as we bask in observing the players. White’s unique blend of satire and social commentary never gets stale because there is a timeless quality to the themes. Many of these characters can be found in any era with the same drives, cruelties and dumb missteps. Like moths to the flames, we want pretty things and will do anything to get them. The visitors of this resort already have much, it’s their inner selves they have little control over. There are nods at Thai culture, which is essential, but for the most part, we are trapped with these snobs and pampered children in their own bubbles, addicted to watching how it will all burst.

“The White Lotus” season three premieres Feb. 16 and airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.