The White Lotus Season 3 sends us to Thailand, but contrary to the first two efforts, it abandons the emotional richness and stinging satire that previously made the show so alluring. Despite a breathtaking setting and an auspicious cast, this season doesn’t regain the tension, sophistication, and multiple-layered narratives that characterized the earlier installments of Mike White’s social commentary.
Since the very first episode, The White Lotus Season 3 presents us with a new set of holidaying elites, familiar premise of rich dysfunction poised to explode. But as the series progresses, they’re stubbornly unchanging. There’s very little development, scant conflict, and hardly any of the scathing commentary that made us invest in Seasons 1 and 2.
The finale attempts to restore the suspense, serving up a couple of harsh twists, but come on—Season 3 is the weakest one so far.
Characters That Don’t Stick
We meet the Ratliff family: Victoria (Parker Posey), her bumbling husband Timothy (Jason Isaacs), and three children. Posey throws herself into the role with wonderfully ridiculous enthusiasm, but the family’s story feels empty. The creepy incest subplot involving Saxon and Lochlan peters out in an anticlimactic finale. Timothy’s hypochondria and orchestrated collapses prolong themselves without purpose.
In the meantime, hotel staff characters such as Mook (Lisa) and Gaitok are underwritten. Sweetly played Mook has no purpose other than to encourage Gaitok’s shallow arc. Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), trapped in a dead-end affair with the much older Rick (Walton Goggins), gets a harsh payoff for her work. These subplots have no emotional impact or thematic resonance that characterized previous seasons.
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A Few Sparks of Brilliance
There is one thread that almost redeems The White Lotus Season 3—the triplet of lifelong girlfriends: Kate (Leslie Bibb), Laurie (Carrie Coon), and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan). They are a volatile, edgy, and powerful trio. On the Full Moon Party episode, Mike White gives us a sampling of his greatness at last. Carrie Coon has a gorgeous, chilling monologue that circles around death and purpose:
“I don’t need god or religion to make my life meaningful. because time makes it meaningful.”
It’s one of the most iconic moments of a season otherwise desperate for dramatic heft.
What Was Missing?
What really made earlier seasons of The White Lotus stand out was the cohesive narrative thread—a character or situation that tied the rest of the cast together in chaos and comedy. The White Lotus Season 3 never gets that thread. Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), who intersects with several characters, could have filled that role, but is strangely disconnected from the larger picture.
Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) is back but criminally wasted. Fabian’s storyline, the stage fright and desire to sing the hotel manager has, goes nowhere, and the rest of the staff are set dressing rather than participants in the narrative. The staff used to have agency, purpose, and power in the past. They are passive bystanders this season.
