All my suspicions for The White Lotus season 3
Yesterday, HBO and Max dropped the first teaser trailer for the third season of creator Mike White’s iconic modern murder-mystery series, The White Lotus.
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While only a few seconds long, the clip teased boats, boxing, a beloved returning cast member and the ominous warning that “What happens in Thailand, stays in Thailand,” all filtered with a golden-orange haze reminiscent of an Australian bushfire season. I myself am on edge.
It feels like a lifetime since we last checked into the cursed hotel, and unfortunately due to 2023’s writer’s strike, we won’t be checking back in until 2025, but I am absolutely gagging for another look into Mike’s twisted mind.
Here’s what we know, and what I’m hoping for.
The White Lotus cast:
As I’ve come to expect from this critically acclaimed series, the cast is in fact stacked.
Guests of the hotel include Best In Show’s Parker Posey, Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood, Nip/Tuck’s Leslie Bibb, MaXXXine’s Michelle Monaghan, nepo baby Patrick Schwarzenegger and Natasha Rothwell, reprising her role as spa manager Belinda from the first season.
In a genius move, Mike has also cast Lalisa Manobal, aka Lisa from mega-band Blackpink. With 57.5m followers on Instagram, the band has phenomenal reach and will perhaps introduce a new audience to the show, given the majority of comments on the teaser were Lisa stans.
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The White Lotus location:
Back in 2022 after the second season’s epic finale, Mike revealed that season 3 would likely take place in Asia, focusing on “death and Eastern religion and spirituality” during HBO Max’s Unpacking S2 E7 special.
“The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex,” he revealed. “I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.”
Variety reported in 2023 that the location would be Thailand, and I’m wondering whether any footage of young Aussies humiliating themselves at a Full Moon party will make the cut.
The White Lotus plot:
Well, this is all a little vague. Deadline reported that characters include “a patriarch, a corporate executive, an actress, a couple of mothers, a misfit and a yogi among the bunch,” which thrills me.
“It’s going to be longer, bigger, crazier. I don’t know what people will think, but I am super excited, so at least for my own barometer, that’s a good thing,” Mike told Deadline, which makes me hopeful he’ll chuck us a couple more episodes to sink our teeth into.
My personal White Lotus wishlist:
If we’re not getting our gal Jennifer Coolidge this season, I’m gonna need someone equally batshit crazy to fill her shoes. My money is on Parker Posey, who has made a career out of playing perfectly-unhinged women. Based on the teaser alone, I’m gonna need her to be involved in the boxing storyline in some capacity.
I have high expectations for Natasha Rothwell’s return as Belinda. She was the heart and soul of season one, and was left jaded after the now deceased Tanya (may she rest peacefully with the gays) completely backtracked on funding Belinda’s business plan. I’m hoping that she’s either been promoted and is killing it at the hotel, or has returned with some sort of eat-the-rich revenge plot. I will accept no middle-ground.
Circling back, I would also genuinely love to peep some cursed tourist behaviour (i.e. backpackers drinking out of buckets on the beach during their silly little parties). We fell in love with (and then swiftly out of love with) last season’s party boy Jack (played brilliantly by Leo Woodall), and the juxtaposition of these larrikins with the elite White Lotus guests is a perfect reminder that it doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor, anyone can be a culturally insensitive dickhead.
Whatever is served to us in season three, I am almost 100% certain that it’ll slap. The chokehold this series has on viewers and pop culture is unparalleled, and in the age of the TikTok attention span, drip-feeding weekly episodes and still managing to capture everyone’s attention is a particularly impressive feat.
While 2025 feels unfathomably far away for fans, my gut tells me all of season three’s “what the FUCK?” moments will be worth the wait.
Written by Lil Friedmann, who has definitely never skulled out of a bucket. Promise. You can follow her at @lilfriedmann on socials.
Image credit: HBO Max + Punkee