• 2 views

‘The White Lotus’ Season 3: Mike White’s Vacation From Hawaii to Thailand Comes Full Circle

  • April 7, 2025
  • 9 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

Reality separates facts from fiction, but is not fiction just a slice of the real pie? At least, in Mike White’s The White Lotus,

it is. The visionary took viewers on a thought-provoking journey on a Hawaii beach four years ago. Although the color of the sand and the speed of the wind changed by the time we touched down in Sicily, Italy, no matter the fleeting landscapes, when the waves came crashing in Thailand, it came full circle. But how did White do it all? 

Despite its character-driven storytelling with self-contained seasons, what made The White Lotus

a shared universe?

The White Lotus: How it began

Mike White’s The White Lotus

features a distinctive narrative with its own set of characters, themes, and setting. While the plots are separate, they exist within a shared universe where elements and themes recur in patterns most unimaginable, quite like life itself.

White takes viewers on a journey, both in psyche and essence, and by the end of season 3, spectators become a part of this sail halfway around the world.

The first season explored the contrast between wealth and poverty, highlighting the struggles of the resort staff and the guests’ entitlement. Jennifer Coolidge, who portrayed Tanya McQuoid, became a central focus of the storyline

. While her initial closeness with Belinda Lindsey, played by Natasha Rothwell, emphasized that even those at the top of hunger games need saving, it was elemental in projecting that not everyone who saves gets saved, especially those who are easy to forget in the rat race of classist mechanisms.

Read More: Why Were There No Lisa Songs Used in ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3? Music Supervisor Reveals

White’s vision, however, allows no place for conventional catharsis, and with one belief system sinking, it was only a matter of time before the others upended. Cue The White Lotus

Season 2.

The White Lotus: Change is the only constant

By the end of The White Lotus

Season 1 finale, Tanya’s emotional baggage took a backseat, but Belinda found some of her own—something she had not even realized existed in the first place.

However, Mike White’s decision to keep clear of Belinda in the second installment highlights his layers of imagination and his familiarity with the readers’ minds. Although he establishes through and through that no belief system, or moral code, is entirely concrete, and every ounce of reality is fleeting, Tanya’s horrific demise and the plot twist that accompanied it underscored a karmic cleansing.

Of course, Tanya’s self-discovery between betraying and being betrayed felt like a full circle, but White had a far bigger picture in mind, making the puppet a master puppeteer by the end.

While Tanya’s downfall and the consequences of her actions could be excused as retribution, White summons the spirit of comparative turbulence, projecting Portia’s growth as a recovery from the trauma her employer could pinpoint but never get out of.

Read More: Jennifer Coolidge’s Emmy Win in ‘The White Lotus’ Brings Unexpected Attention From “cute guys”

As a result, when viewers thought The White Lotus

Season 1 showed Tanya’s closure, Season 2 turned out to be an eye-opener. 

The White Lotus: Full Circle

Mike White’s intentional negligence of Belinda in The White Lotu

s Season 2 was foundational. Through the first two seasons, The White Lotus provided a rich backstory for Tanya and Belinda, clearing the air about their respective motivations. However, one questionable character that recurred throughout the three installments was Greg/Gary, whom Tanya marries in the first, leaving Belinda heartbroken with her unkept promises.

Although each of these character revisits feels like additional information to what viewers already know, it is a constant process of learning and unlearning.

Not once, not twice, but White breaks down the performance of identity multiple times to highlight the mercurial state of mind and human nature in its true element.

Read More: Nicole Kidman Throws Her Hat in The Mix for ‘The White Lotus’, As She Admits Her Love for Mike White’s Work 

Then again, Mike White and his cast clarifies that The White Lotus

is more than what you see.

The White Lotus is a musical chair of power play

Initially, it may seem like a tired and worn-out social commentary on class and privilege. However, when Belinda chooses the “blood money”

from Gary in season 3, she swears to secrecy of not ratting out Gary for his involvement in Tanya’s death despite consistent contemplation, and leaves Pornchai alone with his dreams of making a spa, it feels like a deja vu.

With the waves crashing down, Belinda departing on a boat, and Pornchai trying to smile through the heartbreak, White transported spectators back to season 1, only with some new players standing in those old teary steps that were washed away.

Power play remains at the crux, as the rat race eliminates and provides a platform for the next in the chain to go up.

Mike White does not rely on the old or golden standards of tying loose ends because at the very heart of The White Lotus

lies the complex human nature that falls into the same pattern they often detest. Although he provides a sense of closure for some characters, he leaves room for interpretation and speculation.

Read More: Bigger, Bolder, and More Binge-Worthy as ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Shatters Viewership Records

While a picture-perfect ending and answer to every question could be something many expected, White highlights again and again that it is the opposite of humane. However, even without Tanya, Greg/Gary, and Belinda, every other character throughout the show serves a purpose.

Mike White’s The White Lotus says the unsaid

Mike White’s The White Lotus

may be fictional, but it is made up of real-world themes and problems. The first season showed Belinda’s optimism, showing the road to a lost Tanya, and it ended with a contrasting sense of purpose when her own lack of direction led Rachel Patton to lose hers, ultimately succumbing to a relationship she wanted to walk away from. Though the characters barely knew how their actions caused a chain reaction of after-effects for the others, The White Lotus

was fundamental in showing that demise is not the only way one dies.

In The White Lotus

Season 2, new guests return to another journey of escapism, only to find their true selves. It breaks the myth of taboo relationships, like in season 3, and in the process, it does away with the social stamp of approval of what is right and wrong, making the believers non-believers and vice versa. Season 3 has characters who get on the boat to Thailand, but despite their shared direction, uncertainty fumbles their sense of purpose.

Aimee Lou Wood, who played Chelsea, revealed that her character’s journey at The White Lotus

was initially shrouded in uncertainty

, with unclear motivations. Despite her character’s pursuit of truth, the revelation ultimately proves devastating, leaving many questions unresolved. Mike White’s storytelling has sparked controversy over his treatment of non-conformist relationships. However, it is ultimately redemptive because it unflinchingly portrays reality.

The White Lotus

is divisive in every sense, but the narrative courage is imminent because it diverges from a single POV to spoil fans with multiple perspectives, whether it is the polarizing trio, the suffering Ratliff family, Gaitok and Mook’s moral contrast or Chelsea’s unexpected forever in Rick’s bloody arms. Although it remains to be seen whether and if yes, where he takes viewers on another shore of secrets with The White Lotus

4

, his commitment to realism is a breath of fresh air in a world of formulaic storytelling.

Read More: La Lisa’s Awaited ‘The White Lotus’ Return Earns Her “Princess Diana” of Thailand Title From Mike White

What do you think of Mike White’s The White Lotus

? Let us know in the comments below!

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
You May Also Like