Evening Latte

Significant spoilers for all seasons

I’m in the apparent minority of people who think the second season of The White Lotus was significantly better than the first. The first season built main characters so one-dimensionally around rich people stereotypes that they were caricatures instead of people: Jake was only a spoiled mama’s boy, Tanya was only a vapid, disconnected heiress, Nicole was only a control freak CEO, etc. Its attempts at showing the unfairness and immorality of things as big/serious as class inequality and racism felt sort of empty because they weren’t happening to people. If I can’t “believe” most of the characters, then it’s difficult for their circumstances and experiences to have much impact on me as a viewer.

Armond basically saved the season for me from a pure entertainment perspective. Not only was Murray Bartlett’s performance incredible, but he and Rachel were the only guest characters that felt like anything more than a stereotype or token. Watching the incremental breakdown of his sanity from fairly well-masked contempt for the guests at arrival to literally defecating in one of their bags was both intriguing and oddly understandable (which is quite a thing to pull off).

The second season was massively improved by introducing characters who were multi-dimensional and relatable in some way. Except Tanya. But at least she had three people (sometimes more) rolling their eyes at her the whole season, and she got a fitting end by massively overestimating her abilities one last time. Mia and Lucia using every option at their disposal to exploit (and even join) the world of opulence just over the resort wall was heartbreaking and empowering in turn. The consistency of behavioral inheritance (despite one’s best intentions) among the Di Grasso boys was as depressing as it was authentic. Valentina’s journey of self-identity and self-acceptance was beautifully endearing. The chemistry between Cameron, Daphne, Harper, and Ethan crackled as the solid foundation of the season. And we somehow also got great work by Haley Lu Richardson (Portia), Natasha Rothwell (Belinda), Leo Wodall (Jack), and Tom Hollander (Quentin). Truly an amazing season.

So when I heard Carrie Coon and Walton Goggins had signed on for the third season, I was very excited to watch Mike White continue to refine the show and solidify a case for running this pseudo-anthology series back for a long time. Unfortunately, through four episodes, I think this season has veered into new territory: mildly interesting at best, boring at worst, and with no teeth.

None of the groups/subplots have been compelling to me yet. I can’t see any meaningful stakes in the Real-Housewives-vibes group of Laurie, Jaclyn, and Kate; the most concerning thing so far is Jaclyn’s much-younger hot husband not answering his phone. In the first couple episodes, when any two of them were in a room alone, we learned a lot about the absent person. But more recently, that has been limited to meaningful glances after pointed comments. I loved the relatability of the conversation that started with Kate explaining her church attendance and ended with Laurie asking if she voted for Trump. Most of us have been involved in some sort of conversation like that at some point, so it was a welcome connection amidst talk of movie sets and making partner in a New York law firm. I was hoping we’d get more examples of how much they’d drifted apart (along with the ensuing conflict), but episode four mostly had them feeling old/out of place in pursuit of a “fun day.”

The Ratliffs are a collection of stereotypes reminiscent of season one: the alpha CEO father; the sheltered/detached/legally drugged up mother; the archetypal bro elder son; the daughter who means well and is a better person than her family members, but still doesn’t grasp her true privilege; and the overshadowed, meek younger son. I understand that they are currently in the most direct peril of any group due to Tim’s unfolding legal troubles, but it’s frankly easy to forget about that. He’s the only one who knows, and one call per episode with a faceless person telling him essentially the same thing as the previous calls doesn’t build much tension. The scenes highlighting his family’s continuing naivete (with the most poignant being his near-tearful moment with Piper on Greg’s boat) are there to remind us of the impending doom, but we’ve had almost three hours of that; I’m ready for him to start facing consequences and hitting true panic mode as the bubble afforded by Thailand’s remoteness finally pops.

It must be said: it can be a little tough to focus on anything else during our time with the Ratliff family when it’s frequently dominated by the weird vaguely-sexual interactions between the siblings. Saxon calls his younger sister “pretty hot” and openly conjectures about her virginity while Lochlan might actually be in love with her. In other situations, I’d say hinting at incestuous inclinations in what amounts to an aristocratic family could be used as an interesting wink and nod to the historical prevalence of such things, but when when the show bends over backwards to tell us they’re an American family from the South, it seems more like a too-easy joke. I appreciate the performance Parker Posey is giving us, but I’ve known enough people like Victoria (on and off drugs) that her screen time is grating.

Belinda was the one character who really captured me in the first couple episodes. It was neat to get a little closure on her previous season after everything Tanya put her through, and her genuine optimism and enthusiasm were a welcome contrast to the other guests. The mutual crush that developed between her and Pornchai was fun and natural (that awkward tipsy “sooo…we gonna?” pause when he walked her to her room was so well done). Unfortunately, her confirmation of Greg’s true identity in episode four seems poised to throw her into an intrigue arc that will pull her away from Pornchai’s arms, especially with the last scene of the episode revealing that Greg knows both who she is and that she has someone he can threaten.

But the biggest offense so far is the underutilization of Walton Goggins. There is a difference between 1) a character withholding information from other characters to build stakes and 2) a writer withholding enough important information from viewers that character motivations are frustratingly unclear. The first 3.5 episodes were definitely the latter with Rick. You could have written “Rick is evasive and annoyed” in nearly every scene and just let Goggins riff.

I could have understood using his true reason for visiting the resort as a mini-reveal at the end of the first episode, but they made one of the more charismatic actors alive essentially put on a mask for almost half the season because his character was guarding a big secret. The exceptions were his interactions with Amrita: that mask came off, and it was a great reminder of what he can do. The scenes were short, but the anxiety, self-hate, fear, and (brief) vulnerability he showed were palpable and painful in the best way. I really, really hope him fessing up to Chelsea means a more open performance going forward.

Speaking of Chelsea: they need to break up immediately. He obviously doesn’t care deeply about her, and she is both unrealistic about what he’s willing to invest in the relationship and somewhat concerningly manipulative (she literally cried to get Rick to go on Greg’s boat, then immediately switched to cheery the second she got her way). And she believes in astrology.

I was hopeful about the Mook/Gaitok story since the staff-focused parts of the first two seasons were great (Armond, Valentina, Belinda). But “permanently-smiling nice guy” isn’t enough to keep my attention, and outside of Mook’s intro in the first episode, she hasn’t really had anything to do outside of interacting with Gaitok (though it seems likely that will change in the next episode). It has taken half the season for their burgeoning romance to develop from “close friends” to “confirmed first date tomorrow,” so I’m not holding my breath. At this point, the only reason they seem to exist is to provide a way for Tim to get his hands on a gun.

All that said: we’re only halfway through the season. Sure, all these (assumed) setups are taking too long, and not much has actually happened, but based on the first two seasons, something ridiculous is going to hit soon, and it could turn everything around: a truly unhinged Rick, Tim doing something desperate in an attempt to avoid the inevitable, Laurie pouncing on some weakness of Jaclyn’s to usurp her socially, Lochlan making a move on Piper, Victoria reacting poorly to being forced to experience life without Lorazepam, Greg calling back to season two by inviting Saxon and Belinda to a “friendly” boat ride to clean up loose ends, etc.

Here’s hoping. Except the Lochlan/Piper one.

Coda

What an incredible fifth episode. Just imagine if…

• …Tim would have stolen the gun late in episode two or early in episode three and brought the tension of him keeping it hidden (while very high on Lorazepam!). I think the longer reflection period and one-more-thing impact of Piper’s announcement would have elevated an already-amazing self-reckoning by Jason Isaacs. And every line of Tim’s boat trip becomes electric if you know he’s constantly thinking about the gun back at the villa (his near-tearful scene with Piper, his “finding something or running from something” chat with Greg).
• …Belinda and Pornchai would have hooked up that tipsy night. Exploring that forbidden fruit meets life affirmation dynamic would have been fun all by itself (especially with her son arriving soon), and it would have added another layer of stakes to her eventual suspicions of Greg: Pornchai not believing her about Greg slams the door on their honeymoon phase, and him fully believing her both brings him into danger and sets up an “us versus them” between Belinda/Pornchai and Fabian/Greg.
• …Chloe had gotten Saxon to do something that broke one of his personal rules in episode three. Something small, like skipping a workout to spend time with her or breaking plans with Lochlan. It would have built expectations for the boat ride and humanized him (something his character desperately needed/needs) by showing him ceding control to anyone but Tim.
• …Laurie, Kate, and Jaclyn had done something in episode three between “politely discussing political differences” and “having a drunken night that alienates Kate because she didn’t get topless in the pool or hook up with a staff member.” Neither the visit to the old-person bar nor the water fight in the city showed me anything new about the group or drove a wedge further between them (which is obviously where their story is going).
• …Rick would have confided in Chelsea in episode two and we could have enjoyed Walton Goggins’s take on conflicted Rick as Chelsea tried to talk him out of plans that he knows at some level will end in someone getting hurt or killed. And similar to Tim’s boat scenes: Rick’s scenes with Amrita beome even more riveting (somehow) when we know he may be a day or two away from confronting his father’s killer after flying halfway around the world.

I think any of these would have made the first four episodes significantly more entertaining and caused this episode to feel more like a natural progression as opposed to going from zero to a hundred in all the major plotlines in about half an hour.

And because it has to be said somewhere: Sam Rockwell absolutely knocked it out of the park in the hotel bar scene. The quiet start, the everyday-conversation tone as he lays everything out, the slight-but-great humor of him wrapping up like he’s told just a trite anecdote. Brilliant.