REVIEW: The White Lotus — Season 3

What to watch next is the first-world problem of our times. This occasional series highlights what has made the grade or maybe a few that failed the test. From our couch to yours…

Starring: Carrie Coon, Michelle Monaghan, Walton Goggins, Aimee Lou Wood, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Lalisa Manobal
Streaming Service: Max

I’m convinced that Mike White currently has the best job in all of Hollywood.

With Season 3 underway, and the show renewed for a fourth, the creator, writer, and director of The White Lotus can do just about anything he wants. At this point he has the pick of just about any actor he wants, can choose any exotic location in the world to live and shoot the next season, and has a show template that allows him to come up with wildly diverse characters and explore just as many themes.

I hate Mike White. Okay, that’s not fair.

I’m deeply jealous of Mike White.

Because unlike some of the entitled characters that inhabit his luxury world, White has definitely earned the freedom he’s now afforded. Three episodes into the current season proves that. Yet again he’s assembled an amazing mixed cast of great character actors and relative unknowns, this time vacationing at the fictional White Lotus resort in Thailand.

And as with Hawaii and Sicily before it, the location itself gets co-billing alongside the cast. And good Lord does can he make a location shine. Sure, these are beautiful, exotic locations to begin with, but what he does with them is simply sumptuous.

In car advertising — which I’ve worked around the edges of for years — you always shoot B-roll to cut to, usually running footage of the vehicle driving and/or the scenery around it. In TV and film this is usually done by a second unit director, and like B-roll, it’s kind of considered an afterthought.

Not on The White Lotus.

This is the kind of B-roll that gives people of normal means a bucket list of global destinations, this time based on shots of monkeys, lizards, Buddha statues, tiki torches, water lilies, and the like.

We know from the opening prelude of the first episode that something is going to go terribly wrong in the coming days. This time, it’s worse than ever, a seeming mass killing at the resort. What follows beyond the individual stories of the cast is the constant guessing of which character is going to snap. For almost all of them you can see the possibility, which makes for extremely compelling viewing.

And while White has developed a compelling template, it’s not totally original. There’s more than a little Agatha Christie inherent in the cast of characters from all walks of life, one of whom has committed a crime. The great twist on that concept is that instead of a brilliant detective solving a crime after the fact, it’s the audience doing the solving before. Again, it makes the show all the more addictive.

As usual, the whole cast is uniformly excellent. But, I have to single out three as particularly great. First is Walton Goggins who is one of the best character actors of his generation. From his star-making turn in Justified to his hilarious Baby Billy in The Righteous Gemstones (and so many other roles) the dude can just do no wrong.

Like Jennifer Coolidge before her, White’s casting of Parker Posey is a masterstroke — again giving an under appreciated actress an amazing role to shine in. For decades now Posey has been inhabiting quirky characters, usually in independent films most folks don’t see. It’s great that she’s been given a high-profile role that should give her wider acclaim.

Then there’s Aimee Lou Woods who takes the cake with the breakout role in the series. From the moment the British actress appears on screen she’s impossible to take your eyes off. Not just because she’s uniquely attractive, but the personality of the character (and her skills) just jumps off the screen. You’ll get it as soon as she speaks.

It seems like The White Lotus can continue for as long as Mike White wants to do it. With an ever-changing cast, story, and locations to choose from, maybe it will be around long enough for me to become an assistant to the second unit director.

I may not have the technical skills, but I’ve got a good eye and I could shoot the hell out of penguins in Peru, Tigers in India, and any underwater creatures who school around waist deep.

Give me a call, fellow Mike!