White Lotus Season 3: HBO’s Best Black Comedy Yet [Review]

Warning: The following article contains minor spoilers for The White Lotus Season 3.

Two seasons in, you’d be forgiven for thinking The White Lotus creator Mike White has said all he has to say – all he can say – with the HBO anthology series. But with The White Lotus Season 3, White proves there’s still plenty of mileage left in his luxury resort-centric satire.

Don’t get me wrong: this isn’t some big, bold reinvention of the show’s formula. Like its predecessors, White Lotus‘ third season is another exercise in unpacking big universal themes against a beautiful, exotic backdrop. And it’s still stacked with stellar acting talent (although the roster skews more feminine this time around), with the haves/have-nots divide still firmly in place.

Yet what The White Lotus‘ third season lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in quality and, crucially, consistency of storytelling. Indeed, based off the six episodes supplied to press, Season 3 is the most compelling – and thematically cogent – season of The White Lotus to date.

After Season 2’s Italian jaunt, The White Lotus Season 3 shifts the action to Thailand and another sprawling ensemble of characters.

There’s middle-aged TV star Jaclyn Lemon (Michelle Monaghan) and her childhood pals Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Kate (Leslie Bibb). The old money Ratliffe family, Timothy (Jason Isaacs), Victoria (Parker Posey), Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), and Lochlan (Sam Nivola). Sketchy Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) and his decades-younger girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood). Security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) and his crush, health mentor Mook (Lalisa Manobal). Plus, Season 1’s spa manager Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell) is back, on a working holiday from the White Lotus Hawaii.

Inevitably, the fortunes of all those listed above (and more besides) quickly take a turn for the worse, even sinister. Without getting into spoilers, The White Lotus Season 3 tees up a dead body early, in easily the show’s strongest opening scene so far. Like I said earlier, this bit isn’t exactly new; “Who’s that corpse?” has been White Lotus‘ hook since Season 1, and admittedly, it’s starting to feel as fresh as buffet shrimp (which is to say, “not very”). At the same time, it seems a tad unfair to upbraid White for recycling what is, by now, a signature aspect of the series.

Heck, mystery deaths are arguably as much a part of The White Lotus‘ DNA as its titular resort chain. Grousing about them would be like complaining about the show’s can’t watch/can’t look away social interactions, or its flashes of jet black humor, or its stunningly-shot locations (all of which are very much present and accounted for here). Ditch any of these elements, and it’s not really White Lotus anymore. Besides, you can forgive a slightly stale set-up when White and his cast and crew use it as the launchpad for such an expertly interwoven – seriously: I need to see White’s index cards – intensely watchable narrative.

True, The White Lotus‘ endgame payoffs are often less satisfying than its build-up, and that could be the case again here. As noted above, I haven’t clapped eyes on Season 3’s final two episodes, so I can’t say for certain. However, it’s hard to see White coming up short on this occasion, if nothing else because he signposts where Season 3 is going clearer than ever – not just narratively, but thematically, too.

Wealth disparity (and to an extent, death) permeates every season of White Lotus, but each new batch of episodes has its own pet theme. Season 1 got stuck into colonialism. Season 2 was all about sex. Now, Season 3 sets its sights on religion and spirituality. There’s a real East versus West thing going on this season that manifests itself in a bunch of ways, some more obvious than others. For instance, even the least attentive viewer will clock the juxtaposition of prescription drugs and aggressive agency with meditation and mindfulness. Ditto the clash between Christianity (and capitalism) and Buddhism. White isn’t exactly subtle about any of this.

He’s not much subtler elsewhere, either. Saxon literally spells out the Western, self-gratification-centric philosophy early in Season 3’s run: getting what you want is the key to happiness. Yet where White does show slightly more restraint is in the Eastern philosophy’s gentle, but firm, rebuttal of unchecked consumerism and hedonism. We’re constantly reminded throughout that quenching every base desire can’t make you truly happy or help you find peace, much less fill you up if you’re empty inside.

As a Buddhist monk observes at one point, running away from pain towards pleasure is futile. And if, as Lochlan ponders, life is really just a cosmic test, who’s going to pass? Probably not anyone who builds their entire existence solely around getting paid and getting laid. It’s not that White doesn’t have some compassion for Season 3’s well-heeled players. He’s just honest about where their priorities and hang-ups have led them – and will keep leading them. At the heart of The White Lotus‘ third season is a challenge to seek truth, not hide from it. But most of its stable – even well-intentioned peeps like Piper – seem destined to continue doing the latter.

Naturally, this is the type of material most actors dream of working with – especially with all the juicy interpersonal baggage White injects into every scene. Monaghan, Coon, and Bibb nail the brittle, bitchy dynamics of an old friendship that’s basically run its course. Isaacs, Posey, Schwarzenegger, Hook, and Nivola excel as the family that has everything except what really counts (Isaacs is particularly impressive, displaying dramatic and comic range that may surprise viewers who only know him as Harry Potter‘s Lucius Malfoy).

Equally, Goggins puts his unique charisma to good use as the latest in a long line of dirtbag characters we somehow want to hug, while also scoring some of the third season’s biggest laughs playing off the perfectly cast Wood. Rothwell, Manobal, and Thapthimthong have more thankless roles by comparison, but shine all the same whenever they’re on screen. The same goes for Christian Friedel, Lek Patravadi, Morgana O’Reilly, Charlotte Le Bon, Dom Hetrakul, and Season 3’s other, more periphery performers: it’s five-star service all the way.

Really, the only complaint about The White Lotus Season 3 is that it leaves you wanting more. That’s never a bad thing, though – and HBO’s already announced Season 4, anyway. I’ll definitely be checking in again; I suspect most viewers will, too.

The White Lotus Season 3 premieres on HBO and Max on Feb. 16, 2025.