‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Review: Shocking, Weird, and Tragic

The long-awaited third season of The White Lotus has been released in full. Without getting into spoilers, we’ll see if the third season held up or dropped the ball.

The new season follows the same formula as the previous seasons. A group of individuals stay at The White Lotus hotel, this time in Thailand. In the finale, someone dies.

Looking to catch up? Here’s who is involved, their storylines, and whether or not it lives up to the four-year wait. No spoilers, I promise!

The Ratliff Family

This wealthy Southern family is the source of drama and anxiety in The White Lotus. Timothy and Victoria are parents to three kids: Saxon, Piper, and Lochlan.  It is implied that their father owns a big company, but he isn’t ethical about how he makes his money. During the vacation, he puts himself, his family, and their money at risk.

At the same time, Victoria is mad at Piper for lying to her parents about traveling to Thailand for a thesis, only to reveal that she was planning to stay there and not return home.  Unbeknownst to everyone else, Saxon and Lochlan’s relationship is reaching highly uncomfortable levels. Family is not supposed to be that close.

Kate, Laurie, and Jaclyn

Jaclyn, Laurie, and Kate are three longtime friends who decide to vacation to Thailand together after not seeing each other for so long. Jaclyn is the “star” of the group since she is a famous actress in a well-known television show. She’s also attractive, which means she has a bit of pretty privilege.

The friends have an interesting dynamic. On the surface, they look very close-knit, but they spend more time talking about each other than showing appreciation. This becomes an issue for several different reasons that pop up throughout their vacation stay. Confrontations, disagreements, and jealousy all arise as a result of their toxic friendship.

Rick and Chelsea

Rick and Chelsea are a couple visiting the resort. Chelsea is very upbeat and bright, while Rick is always brooding and gloomy, but she cares for Rick deeply.

Chelsea becomes friends with Chloe, who is also at the resort with her boyfriend. They form a fun friendship, hanging out with Saxon and Lochlan.

The couple has a few near-death experiences, with Chelsea getting bitten by a venomous snake and caught up in a robbery at the hotel.

Rick takes a detour on their trip and decides to visit Bangkok with an old friend to search for the man who killed his father, which he says is his reason for going to Thailand.

Belinda, Zion, and Pornchai

Belinda, the spa manager from season 2, returns to the show to go on vacation with her son, Zion, at The White Lotus. She starts a romantic relationship with Pornchai, a worker at The White Lotus. He and Belinda plan to become business partners and open a spa together.

That goes off track when Belinda bumps into another returning character from season 2. She quickly catches on as to who he is and realizes she is a part of a major crime. Zion and Belinda work together to confront this character, but that brings a life-changing decision.

Gary/Greg

Another major character from season 2 returns to the show. Tanya’s husband from season 2, Greg, returns to The White Lotus. He’s not going by Greg, which is totally not suspicious at all. Rather, he goes by Gary, and he’s also dating Chloe, the friend Chelsea makes at the resort.

Belinda remembers Greg/Gary as Tanya’s husband and catches on to the fact that he is much more powerful than she previously thought. Greg finds out that they know what he did, so he makes them an offer they can’t refuse. Belinda and Zion are left to make an important decision.

Gaitok and Mook

Blackpink member Lisa makes her acting debut this season, playing the hotel worker Thidapon Sornison, who also goes by Mook. She works there alongside Gaitok, who is a security guard for the hotel. Gaitok expresses his romantic feelings for Mook early on, and he’s always trying to do good. Mook doesn’t reciprocate Gaitok’s feelings too often, but other times, it seems that she does like him but doesn’t want to become serious with him.

Even with a 90-minute finale, The White Lotus season 3 is the weakest out of them all. It’s still good enough to watch, but it lacks a bit compared to the previous two seasons. This season had an additional episode compared to the previous seasons, making for eight episodes in total. Many storylines felt stuck up until the final episode, which had the ‘biggest’ moments.

Season 3 Highs:

For some of its highlights, Chelsea emerges as the star of the show. She is effortlessly likable, funny, and adorable to the point where it’s hard not to like her.

It was nice to see familiar faces return while meeting new ones. Hopefully, we will see some of the iconic characters from this season in the next season.

The death in this season was executed so well, it was heartbreaking. I find that previous deaths in the show haven’t been tragic, but this one was heart-wrenching.

If you look closer at the characters between the first and last episode, a lot of them change for better or for worse. They leave The White Lotus a different person than how they arrived, dead or alive.

Season 3 Lows:

From episode 1, Timothy is always in a daze and stressed about his family’s future. However, we only knew that he was under investigation, but not the severity of the situation.

Gaitok and Mook’s relationship felt pushed to the side. If you look close enough, Gaitok undergoes a character change in the last episode, which affects their relationship, but that could’ve happened earlier, making it feel a little underdeveloped.

Lochlan and Saxon’s storyline wasn’t necessary. The season would have been just fine without exploring that territory. They could’ve easily shifted to Saxon and Chelsea’s relationship instead, exploring the stories we actually care about.

In episode 5, Rick’s friend, Frank, goes on a long tangent about his experiences in Thailand that go off the deep end. After this episode, it’s never brought up again, leaving us to question why we had to endure his monologue in the first place.

Some interesting choices were made this season that dimmed its spark, but it wasn’t a complete failure. The show got some of its highest viewing numbers from this season, reaching as high as 16 million viewers.

The White Lotus was recently renewed for a fourth season by HBO, with production looking to take place next year. Where will The White Lotus season 4 take us next?