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THE WHITE LOTUS Season 3 – Review by Susan Granger

Susan Granger , , , , , , , ,
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Let’s be honest: Mike White’s The White Lotus: Season 3 isn’t as much fun as the previous two. The satirical anthology that began as a pandemic project on Maui in Hawaii has grown into a huge, Emmy Award-winning, globe-trotting franchise with a glamorous, exotic location and different cast of characters for each season.

Set in Phuket, Thailand, at a luxurious beachside hotel/spa outside of Bangkok, the plot begins with returning Season 1 massage therapist/spa manager Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell) celebrating with her son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) when gunshots resound.

Incoming via motorboat are three lifelong friends – TV star Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), corporate lawyer Laurie (Carrie Coon) and uptight Kate (Leslie Bibb) – along with the Ratcliff family from North Carolina, headed by tormented financier Timothy (Jason Isaacs), his neurotic wife Vickie (Parker Posey), elder son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), younger son Lochlan (Sam Nivola), and spirituality-seeking daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), considering a year-long retreat in a nearby Buddhist monastery.

Angry, sinister Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) is toting a lifelong grudge, much to the dismay of his ever-supportive, much younger girl-friend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood, who resembles the late Shelley Duvall) – and amiable Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) coupled with super-rich yacht-owner Gary (Jon Gries), whom Belinda recognizes as ‘Greg,’ who killed her benefactor Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) in a previous season.

Continuing the contrived upstairs/downstairs theme, there’s Sritala (Lek Patravadi), owner of the posh all-villa resort with her husband (Scott Glenn), in addition to Russian wellness instructor Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius), therapist Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul), and ambitious security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), who adores Mook (Thai pop star Lalisa Monobal).

Epitomized by the menacing plethora of lizards and monkeys amid repetitive water imagery, Mike White’s dramatic narrative is darker and slower-paced, the multiple storylines and faked fantasies less compelling, the characters less empathetic, and the acerbic dialogue less biting about wealth and privilege

As a result on the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, The White Lotus: Season 3 is a frustratingly fatalistic 5 – with all eight episodes now streaming on Max – and renewed for a fourth season.

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Susan Granger

Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at R.K.O., M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures; her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M. As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O'Brien and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. During her adult life, Susan has been on radio and television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic. Her newspaper reviews have been syndicated around the world, and she has appeared on American Movie Classics cable television. In addition, her celebrity interviews and articles have been published in REDBOOK, PLAYBOY, FAMILY CIRCLE, COSMOPOLITAN, WORKING WOMAN and THE NEW YORK TIMES, as well as in PARIS MATCH, ELLE, HELLO, CARIBBEAN WORLD, ISLAND LIFE, MACO DESTINATIONS, NEWS LIMITED NEWSPAPERS (Australia), UK DAILY MAIL, UK SUNDAY MIRROR, DS (France), LA REPUBBLICA (Italy), BUNTE (Germany), VIP TRAVELLER (Krisworld) and many other international publications through SSG Syndicate. Susan also lectures on the "Magic and Mythology of Hollywood" and "Don't Take It Personally: Conquering Criticism and other Survival Skills," originally published on tape by Dove Audio.