The White Lotus - series three - starts February 17th

[curiositykilledthiscat]

The Emmy-award winning HBO original series, which offers an inside look at the powerful and wealthy as they navigate complex personal dynamics and face potentially dangerous experiences while on vacation, returns for its third season this month.

"Seeking peace can be a trip," reads the tagline for this season, which was created, written and directed by former "Survivor" contestant Mike White.
This time around, viewers will be whisked away to an "exclusive" resort in Thailand, where an eclectic group of guests and resort employees will play, and likely misbehave, over the span of a week. "The White Lotus" Season 3 guests include a wealthy businessman and his family, three longtime friends who haven't seen each other in a while on a girls' trip and "rugged man with a chip on his shoulder" and his girlfriend, among others.

Anyone else looking forward to this? Starts on Monday and will be shown on Now and Sky. No watching on demand as all episodes will be dropped weekly.

A mixed bag for me.. loved how Saxon changed in a good way and Belinda changed in a bad way.

I was also so pleased they redeemed the three friends - was such a cliche when they were bitching about each other so much and all the time. This felt much more realistic.

I know it's meant to be OTT but if there was a mass shooting at a hotel they wouldn't let you wander off onto the boat and travel home the same day. Can you imagine the police investigation?

I was sad about Chelsea but I think I'd have been even more sad if it was Lachlan.

I also meant to say that whilst I thought Walton Goggins was amazing, I didn't want Chelsea to be with Rick - he was selfish, grumpy, had terrible hair and looked like he would have been a bit smelly.

Really, the guy who took advantage of his passed out brother?! 😂

I get the night made Saxon more open to Chelsea and her philosophy but I agree with most people that it seemed unnecessary to go that far. I'm sure there were other ways to explore.

I loved it, so sad that Chelsea died. She should have left Rick for Saxon. She was doomed with Rick.
Love how so many of the characters don’t get the comeuppance they deserve. It’s better than a predictable ending. However I can’t imagine the Russians or Chloe and Gary are truly happy. Chloe has sold her soul to an old pervert. The Russians will have to carry on with the hustle.
I liked Tim’s journey to the acceptance of his fate. It’s interesting to imagine how the individual family members might deal with it.

Hmmm, I think it was not at all as clever as it could have been or it maybe thought it was. The reveal about Rick’s Dad was not in fact a reveal at all as it was so obvious a few episodes ago. The lingering camera shot of the unwashed blender was unnecessary. In fact there was a general lack of surprise and I wonder why Mike White felt the need to make it sll
so predictable in the end. It’s like it ran out of steam after 7 episodes of very slow and tense build up. I’m going to go back and rewatch S1 and 2 as they really were more entertaining and unpredictable if I recall correctly.

As soon as I saw Walton Goggins' character on the boat arriving at the start of ep one, I thought he'll be the one doing all the shooting. Then I hoped I was wrong. Then it turns out I wasn't.

Horrible ending for Belinda, turning into the sort of rich shithead the show likes to satirize.

I liked Belinda’s ending, it would have been cliche for her to be the only moralistic one saying no to the money. Like everyone else she is susceptible to temptation and the power of money. Good for her I thought, go and live your life, it’s what Tanya would have wanted!

It wasn't taking the money, it was the way she summarily dumped that poor man, who was her friend and also sweet on her, knowing from her own experience with Tanya the disappointment she'd left behind.

I don't think it was so much that she wanted to dump him because she suddenly became heartless and like all the rich people at the resort. She realised she couldn't stay in Thailand with Greg just down the road as who knows what he's capable of? Plus she'd only known Pornchai a week, if that!

Yes I think she missed out on something great with Pornchai but the pull of the money and independence was too great. Plus she didn’t owe him anything, she never promised anything so I don’t think she treated him that badly. She could never have coped staying in Thailand, too many scary lizards!

I wonder where Belinda will end up? I imagine she’d not want to return to Hawaii either (Greg would know to look for her there, if she’s worried about that), and she has a lot of options open to her now.

I enjoyed the little twist that Rick finally realised he really needed the therapy Chelsea kept foisting on him but couldn’t get it at the precise moment that it might have adverted the shootings because Belinda had booked the session for Zion. (I’ve not watched the first scene back yet, but what was her reason for thinking he needed that rather than, say, a relaxing massage?)

Poor Rick, blundering his way through life driven by pure resentment, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at every opportunity. I still want to know where his money came from.

Exactly… she’s not going to risk running into Greg again and feeling unsafe - knowing what he’s capable of - for the sake of a man she spent one night with. It was too risky for her to stay in Thailand in case Greg got ideas and I for one was relieved to see her on the boat safe and happy with her son.

Too many lizards and more deadly cold blooded wrinkly things!

Lachlan was a deviant. Quizzing his sister on her sex life and sexually abusing his brother! I felt annoyed when he woke up after 'dying'.

Can't say I cared about any of the characters, but I enjoyed this series, more for the build-up than the finale.

To be fair Lachlan only did that after his brother Saxon put him up to it by talking about their sister’s sex life ( not weird at all!)

None of that family seemed particularly pleasant or relatable. Though the Dad did redeem himself a bit at the end with his most human reaction to thinking his son had died and the way it seemed to help him put the money problems ( possibly even jail time) into perspective.

I wanted Lachlan to die too! He was eyeing up his brother, as well as wanking him off!

I wish the incest storyline hadn't happened. It didn't make sense and seemed a incongruous to the rest of the programme.

I didn’t mind who was going to die as they were all pretty dull characters. I think it was a mistake for there to have been eight episodes - going back to six would have resulted in tighter storytelling.

The incest storyline was a terrible idea. Lachlan was clearly meant to be a sympathetic character (being set up for a tragic accidental death, etc) but as we’re seeing in this thread all White managed to do was get a portion of the viewership baying for his blood. And for what? Saxon having a moment of self-realisation? Surely there could have been other ways for him to realise how his douche-y behaviour was hurting him, like realising that Chloe was targeting him on Greg’s pervy instructions?

That could easily have been built up (after Chelsea’s rejection, and Chloe choosing his little brother over him) into something bigger without the nonsensical “Lachlan is a pleaser, therefore incest” stuff.

I did enjoy the series as a whole, more than I thought I would at the beginning. Some bits felt a bit clunky (Chekhov's blender - why wouldn't Lochlan have washed it out?!), Rick's dad was painfully obvious. And the women felt very underdeveloped compared to the men - Chelsea was a bit of a cypher and Mook had no character at all. I know Belinda is supposed to be mirroring Tanya in the first series, but she hadn't promised Pornchai anything, and she barely knew him, really! I'd be getting out of Thailand too. But it was very well shot and definitely created an atmosphere. I'll be watching the next one!

The only thing that surprised me was I thought Gaitok was going to be the hero and end up getting shot. Then Mook would feel terrible for pushing him and also realise she loved him. But now I see Mook wasn’t going to be that involved because of her K pop background.

Belinda will start up her own hotel and that will be s4

I thought the last episode was brilliant, I was gripped all the way through (found episodes 1-7 quite dull)
I don’t blame Belinda for leaving, there’s no way you’d stay around with Gary so close by. I don’t see how anyone can fancy Gary 🙈
Have a huge crush on Rick, although the shots of his bald spot kept putting me off.
Agree that the incest story line was not needed, was really distasteful and was maybe put there for the shock value 🤷🏻‍♀️
Agree that Gaitok was far too good for Mook, he seemed like a beautiful soul

@thatsnotmynamebruh You cant understand how anyone can fancy the half a billionaire Gary?! 😀
I thought this series was way too slow and spent a disproportionate amount of time on characters. The three women were wasted and it was disappointing to see the ‘lonely older woman getting used for money” trope. I know she didnt give him. The money but you know what I mean.

I don’t know … she wasn’t really taken in by him like the young man was taken in by the Italian prostitute last season.

She had a fling and he gave her a sob storey afterwards obviously aiming for money. But he didn’t get it and nor did she give him a backwards glance after she got away. I think she was acting sympathetic to be polite but no indication she was going to give him money.