Mike White has certainly made an impression with his addictive anthology television series The White Lotus which is a heady brew of satire, dark comedy, and heart-wrenching drama. Although the locales and major characters reliably change each season, there are a number of recurring elements that define the structure of the series:
- an exotic luxury ‘Fantasy Island’ type resort called The White Lotus
- takes place over a week
- wealthy spoiled guests whose seemingly perfect lives are far from perfect, and
- murder, mystery, and mayhem
Each season of The White Lotus features a new raft of colorful characters trying to escape their hectic lives, escape mental cages of their own making, hide their secrets and find out those of others.
The series is effortlessly dialogue-heavy as the interactions between guests and staff often pulsate in a gentle flow of verbal consciousness. Even though an unplanned murder or two occurs in each season, Lotus isn’t so much a crime show, but rather a mediation on people yanked outside their humdrum comfort zones, learning about themselves and what they might do if pushed beyond their boundaries. That’s where the drama happens. Each character is forced to confront their demons.
Each season follows a similar timeline. The quirky guests arrive and greeted by the polite and smiling resort staff. Sometimes their toothy grins barely conceal their contempt for them. The guests are promptly escorted to their suites and they vow to leave their stressful lives behind for the next week as they sip exotic drinks by the pool. There’s a no work rule which is almost always broken. Most of them leave feeling invigorated, elevated, enlightened, and forever changed – but not always for the better.
“The kind of stories that these characters are facing are a little bit more existential and tragic. It has a little bit more of an operatic, dramatic dimension because of the nature of exploring existential, spiritual themes,” says White of Season 3.
Lek Patravadi, Christian Friedel. Photo by Fabio Lovino/ HBO
The Locations
Season 1 was set in Maui, Hawaii and Season 2 was set in Sicily, Italy. Lotus returns with its third outing set in Koh Samui, Thailand.
Season 3 was originally going to be set in Japan because Mike White wanted to explore the country’s Eastern philosophies and spirituality. On his journey to Japan, White detoured through neighbouring Thailand which is also rich in Buddhist culture. While he was there, he contracted a serious respiratory illness which hospitalized him. During his recovery downtime, he came up with the entire storyline for The White Lotus in forty-eight hours. The deal was sealed and Season 3 was now going to be set in a Thailand wellness center and the opening scenes would be a guided breathing meditation.
White is fascinated by Buddhism because it’s not an organized religion per se. It’s based on a set of beliefs, traditions, and a way of life – free of distractions, attachments, and living outside the present moment. He also wanted to contrast with the tonal sharpness of previous seasons. Season 1 explored privilege and class and Season 2 mined the Italian obsession with sex and sexuality.
He isn’t sure where the character arcs and storylines come from exactly. All he understands is that the entire third season is based on key Buddhist principles. Buddhism isn’t overly concerned with assessments and judgments of neurotic and dysfunctional people. It is more a meditation and reflection where we see parts of our selves in others – particularly those traits we don’t like.
Spirit Animals
White extensively utilizes the imagery of spirit animals in this season – especially monkeys which have long been associated with meddling, erratic, and unfocused thoughts in Eastern cultures. They represent our tug of war between finding peace and spiritual calmness and our distracting animal instincts and desires.
The season also makes comments on both men and women and their need to escape their traditional lives. Thailand is full of white expats known as LBH (Losers Back Home) with impossibly gorgeous partners and women who are on the prowl for pleasure and hedonism. Another margerita please!
Morgana O’Reilly, Arnas Fedaravičius, Christian Friedel, Dom Hetrakul, Lalisa Manobal. Photo by Photo by Fabio Lovino/ HBO
