Mike White’s HBO series The White Lotus has become nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. After the first two seasons swept the TV awards circuit, pulled in millions of viewers, and reminded the world of just how hilarious and talented Jennifer Coolidge is, the show’s third installment is one of the most hotly anticipated series of 2025. Focusing on the disgustingly wealthy, largely amoral, and, for most of them, moronic guests of the White Lotus hotel franchise, the show has been at the forefront of the “eat the rich” trend of storytelling that has dominated TV and cinema for the past few years. HBO has made a killing off taking down the wealthy and powerful, with Succession being their crowning jewel. However, now that the Roys’ absurd antics have ended, The White Lotus has returned to remind us that the lives of the 1% aren’t always so glamorous.
First, we were in Hawaii, then Italy, and we’ve now been brought East to Thailand. The third season follows a similar formula — the show opens on the last day of our guests’ week-long stay, and an act of violence with an unknown perpetrator and victim is shown before we jump back to the start of the week. And while Season 2 felt like White had made lightning strike twice, Season 3 is more of a hurricane — still powerful, but quite messy. Lacking the same amount of humor as the first seasons, along with a very notable Coolidge-sized hole, Season 3 may not reach the heights of its two predecessors, especially its immediate. That said, it’s still mostly enjoyable, as White uses his third installment to tie this universe together and push his characters to even more extreme existential crises.
Who Are the New Characters in ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3?

The opening scene of Season 3 sees a young man during a meditation session at the White Lotus Thailand before several gunshots are heard and hysteria breaks out. He’s terrified about his mother’s well-being, but before he can get to her, the season rewinds to a week prior. Arriving at the serene resort are, as expected, three different sets of guests, including the North Carolina Ratcliff family made up of successful finance man Timothy (Jason Isaacs), his benzoed-out wife Victoria (Parker Posey), their arrogant finance-bro eldest son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), their quiet and spiritual daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) whose thesis on Buddhism they’ve come for, and their reserved younger son Lochlan (Sam Nivola). Already meeting the others’ ire for smoking on the boat is the jaded and irritable Rick (Walton Goggins), who’s vacationing with his much younger English girlfriend, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood).
Last is the group that most resembles socially functioning people, famous TV actress Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) who has treated her two childhood friends, Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon), to a vacation that will allow them the quality time they’ve apparently been missing over the years. What immediately sets the third season apart from the others is a wider focus on the hotel’s staff; the beautiful Mook (Blackpink’s Lalisa Manobal) is the constant object of security guard Gaitok’s (Tayme Thapthimthong) affection. Our beloved Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) from the first season has come to train at the hotel and immediately strikes up a connection with the outrageously handsome spa employee Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul).
‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Lacks the Same Humor and Drama as Previous Installments

The dynamics between the three groups that will be eked out throughout the season are quick to reveal themselves; Piper is hiding a secret from her family about why she really wanted to go to Thailand, while her father starts getting calls from the office about some dodgy dealings from his past coming to light. Only a few hours pass before Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie start bitching about each other once one goes to bed early, revealing that the three women’s lives all contain material for the other two to sink their teeth into. Rick is desperate to get access to the hotel’s wealthy owner while he constantly refutes Chelsea’s affection. Through all this, the characters start to become intertwined, mostly against their will.
When the first official trailer dropped for Season 3, not a lot of action or drama seemed to be promised, and it was an accurate tease, as this season falls behind its predecessors in both humor and drama. The script isn’t as sharp or packed with laugh-out-loud quips, which gives a distinct meandering feel to the narrative progression. Season 3 may be less exciting, but it’s easily the show’s darkest and most existential installment, with death, crime, and spirituality at the forefront, and this is no accident. While the Hawaii hotel was full of spa treatments and Season 2 was all about food and sex, Season 3’s wellness center setting forces all its characters into a much deeper reckoning of their choices.
This is mirrored through White’s direction, which oscillates between sharp focus while characters have conversations, sensual montages of the breathtaking nature that surrounds the mostly ignorant ensemble, and hazy, immersive capturing of people either on the brink of a mental breakdown or in the throes of ill-conceived choices. Paired with a sensual score that features heavy breathing and moaning, Season 3’s script may not be up to par, but White’s direction is still in perfect harmony with it.

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Season 3 Is Much Darker Than Past Installments of ‘The White Lotus’

Image Via HBO

Compared to the previous two installments, Season 3 feels much more like White torturing his characters rather than making fun of them. The Ratcliff family’s plot becomes almost grueling as Timothy does everything he can to hide from the other members that they’ll soon lose the life they have become accustomed to. Rick also harbors a dark past with a secret he can’t let go of, making him even more hostile to Chelsea’s constant (and always ill-timed) optimistic words. While viewers could follow along with Season 2 without having seen the first installment, Season 3 is very much connected to the past. Without any spoilers, the shadow of Season 2’s finale, in which our poor Tanya and her various gay friends perished, covers this season.
Those who’ll miss the petty and awkward interactions between people pretending to be happy from the earlier seasons will most likely prefer the scenes involving Monaghan, Bibb, and Coon, as their exchanges call back to the two couples in Season 2 and Connie Britton and Alexandra Daddario’s iconic confrontation in Hawaii. It’s one of the most unapologetically realistic portrayals of toxic friendships, as they all delude themselves into thinking they’re only being cutting about their friends because they care about them — while trying to stifle their own insecurities. It’s a shame that even though this group creates the greatest sense of a shared history, they remain, for the most part, isolated from the rest of the guests. That said, Chelsea does make a new friend, a fellow young lover of an old rich man (who you may recognize), which establishes the web that brings all the characters closer together.
Parker Posey Leads a Phenomenal Cast in ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3

Image Via HBO

The Ratcliffs’ story can start to feel repetitive in The White Lotus Season 3, as there are only so many scenes you can watch of Jason Isaacs (not that he’s hard to look at) having a mental breakdown before it starts to feel mundane. However, the reason you ever want the camera to cut back to this family unit is undoubtedly Parker Posey. I could listen to her drugged-out Southern drawl for all eternity as she waxes poetic on her preference to die over being poor. Her casting drew the most excitement, and it’s clear as to why. Posey’s the perfect substitute for Coolidge’s presence while making her character entirely her own. There’s also a subplot involving the Ratcliff sons that feels like White testing the audience about what they’re willing to sit witness to. While sex, and the subsequent power dynamics and drama that it brings, is a huge presence in the show, this installment feels much more psychosexual, as we see sex wielded for transactional means, power plays, and the total destruction of certain relationships.
Like all seasons of The White Lotus, the show is made by its cast. Leslie Bibb, Michelle Monaghan, and Carrie Coon make their characters feel the most lived-in, oscillating between constant declarations of how much they love their pals and giving one of them a judgmental look about the other in the same second. Their petty grievances and growing annoyances towards one another, with deep-seated insecurities and flaws that are rife for being bitched about, make them the most fully-realized pieces of the season’s ensemble. Their dynamic is by far the most entertaining to watch, and all three actors excel at saying so much just with a quick glance or scrunch of the face.
The season’s most unconvincing dynamic, however, occurs between Rick and Chelsea. While large age gaps between rich men and beautiful women are an everyday occurrence, their chemistry and relationship are hard to buy into. Chelsea is framed as genuinely loving Rick, despite the two never seeming to have a good time together. With Chelsea depicted as optimistic but rather ignorant, and the show revealing very little about Rick, their characters are almost impossible to invest in. Goggins and Woods are both brilliant actors in their own right, but together, they don’t have enough chemistry to elevate their thin character development.
Out of all the characters who seem the most likely to be at the end of the barrel in the final season, Belinda is the frontrunner. Putting the most empathetic and grounded character in the most danger gives the show a sense of urgency it so desperately needs. Belinda feels, in some ways, like the protagonist of this installment, and it’s through her romance and mystery plot that we feel some sense of narrative cohesion. Natasha Rothwell is a pillar of the story, jumping off the screen with her earnestness that works like a breath of fresh air compared to the guests, and her chemistry with Dom Hetrakul is undeniable. K-pop superstar Lisa and Tayme Thapthimthong also make a particularly sweet pairing, although it would have been nice to see the former given more to do. It should be noted that only six out of eight episodes were made available to watch for review. Whether the last two episodes can offer the crescendo that we tend to expect remains to be seen. While this season of The White Lotus feels much more meandering and less sharp, it’s still an entertaining ride, mostly for the performances.
The White Lotus Season 3 premieres on Max on February 16. Episodes will air weekly on Sundays.

The White Lotus

The White Lotus Season 3 can be slow-moving at times with a distinct shift from humor to darkness, but still makes for entertaining TV.

Release Date

2021 – 2024

Network

HBO

Showrunner

Mike White

Directors

Mike White

Pros & Cons

The cast of Season 3 is excellent, with Parker Posey being a notable comedic standout.
The dynamic between Jaclyn, Laurie, and Kate feels lived-in and natural, creating the show’s best moments.
There’s more of a focus on the hotel’s staff, and the connection to past seasons makes for exciting drama.

The show is notably less funny than past seasons, focusing on darker storylines instead.
The narrative can feel quite meandering and slow-moving.
There’s a subplot involving two brothers that some will not enjoy at all.