The White Lotus Season 3 Review

The White Lotus (2021-)

Season 3 - 8 episodes (2025)
Rent The White Lotus on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Mike White
Starring: Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell, Patrick Schwarzenegger
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Each season takes place over one tumultuous week at a different exclusive resort, following the exploits of various guests and employees. This season takes place in Thailand.

Verdict
I've never enjoyed this show as much as the general consensus. It's darkly humorous with groups of people that are barely coping; rich people have problems too. This season is interesting but not compelling. Even the characters I want to dislike, they're balanced where I can empathize with certain parts of their plight. Where I thought this season might go, that never happens. While this is a show about relationships and the journey, the conclusion is underwhelming. Goggins is always fun to watch, but he doesn't have enough to do. The show is interesting; that's faint praise and a condemnation. I never cared for it.
It depends.

Review
Each season features a new setting and characters. It's always been social commentary, taking various characters and putting them in a resort for a week while we examine their relationships. This season is about crises, secrets, and desire. All of those are intertwined.

I hate the how we got here trope, and that's how the first episode begins. It's manufactured drama and this show of all shows doesn't need it. It creates the question of when does someone at this resort completely break down.

At the core of this season are the Ratliff family; Tim (Jason Isaacs), Victoria (Parker Posey), Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), and Loch (Sam Nivola). They're a lot, a stereotypical white privilege family that thinks the rules should only apply to others. An ongoing issue for Tim is a business deal that went bad with huge repercussions. It's why he's on his phone all the time despite the resort rules against phones. The oldest son Saxon is a typical bro. Piper is the impetus for the trip, wanting to interview monks at the monastery.

Jason Isaacs, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Parker Posey, Walton Goggins, Carrie Coon, Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb play Timothy, Saxon, Victoria, Rick, Laurie, Jaclyn, Kate

Three friends are at the resort for a getaway; recently divorced Laurie (Carrie Coon), Kate (Leslie Bibb), and television star Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan). They're all dealing with age and insecurity. Those feelings lead to competing with each other and flirting with male staff. Whenever one of them leaves the room, the other two start gossiping.

Then there's Rick (Walton Goggins). He's up to something, but what that is exactly is unclear initially.

This is a wellness retreat, and I'm not sure anyone is that relaxed. They end up on Gary's (Jon Gries) yacht. He appeared in the first two seasons as "Greg."

Carrie Coon, Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb play Laurie, Jaclyn, Kate

Desperation and contradiction are big themes. Each of these groups have issues that are likely to boil over at some point. Tim is desperate and scared as his bad deal may have legal repercussions. He's afraid of losing it all and not coping well. Kate and Jaclyn feel sorry for Laurie and her divorce. That becomes Kate and Laurie surprised at Jaclyn's behavior. Then Laurie and Jaclyn are shocked at Kate's politics. Whenever one of them leaves the room, the other two start disparaging them. Rick is out for revenge. Saxon and Loch have a drug fueled encounter. What Saxon doesn't realize is that Loch is sexually curious, and that's creating an uncomfortable situation.

With each episode these characters pretend to be okay, while under that facade they are anything but. You think that money brings happiness and that wealthy people have it together, but this proves it's not the case. With more money brings larger problems. Midway through the season, it's just a question of who is going to break first.

The season reaches a point where we're just waiting for what's next. We already know things get crazy. We got a preview of that in the first episode. Rick is ready for vengeance and Tim is getting closer to losing it. Episode seven is just treading water. This should have kicked off in episode six, if not five.

Even in the final episode, I felt like I was still waiting. This builds the same scenes we've already seen. Tim finally reaches a breaking point, realizing most of his family can't manage without their upper class lifestyle. I wondered if this would be the conclusion to Rick's story. Despite the enmity between Laurie, Jaclyn, and Kate they reconcile. While it seems no one had a good time at this resort, by the end these stories seemed more to peter out than conclude. While there were interesting dynamics, the lack of a satisfying conclusion brings the rest of the season down.