[This review contains spoilers.]
The third season of “The White Lotus,” set in Thailand, takes the show’s usual focus on privilege and dysfunction and turns it toward questions of morality and self-deception. While still filled with dramatic twists and rich visuals, the season ultimately feels uneven. It remains powerful in its themes but sometimes heavy-handed or disjointed in its execution.
This season highlights how easily people abandon their values when money or power is at stake. Belinda, who once represented quiet integrity in the first season, ends up helping her son blackmail Greg, the recurring antagonist, for millions, leaving behind her romantic and professional dreams of opening a spa with Pornchai. Gaitok, a Buddhist who refuses to report a crime because it could result in death, ends up killing Rick, and betrays his principles in exchange for a promotion.
These arcs make sense, but their development feels abrupt, as Belinda was so strongly opposed to taking Greg’s money until a sudden switch. As Adam White of The Independent noted, the moment when Belinda tells her son, “Can’t I just be rich for five […] minutes?” lands as a brutal mirror of her own season one dismissal by Tanya, suggesting how quickly she abandons her ideals once money is on the table.
The most emotional storyline between Rick and Chelsea ends with both dead after Rick shoots his estranged father and is then killed by Gaitok. Chelsea’s pleas for peace are ignored, and her death serves more as a lesson for Rick’s failures. It’s tragic, yes, but also predictable, as I do not believe that the show gave enough time for their relationship to grow naturally.
“No one in their right mind wants to see the wonderful Aimee Lou Wood […] bleeding to death with a bullet hole in her chest,” White said, expressing what so many viewers were thinking.
Tim Ratliff’s attempted family suicide is one of the season’s most shocking moments. While he has a quiet moment of reflection at the end, his family’s arc feels underdeveloped, as he goes back and forth over contemplating suicide before everyone is back on their phones and unchanged. Adam White argued that the Ratliff plot “strained believability,” pointing to how “everything remotely interesting” about them, including the financial fraud and incest subplot, was handled mostly offscreen or left unresolved. This leaves their storyline feeling more like a missed opportunity than a coherent arc.
Season three of “The White Lotus” raises important questions about how people justify terrible choices, but it struggles with balance. Some storylines, like the spiritual commentary from the monk, Luang Por Teera, are thoughtful. Others, like the reunion of the women’s friend group, feel rushed and disconnected from the season’s themes. However, Nicole Russell of USA Today did praise Carrie Coon’s monologue — “time gives [life] meaning,” Coon said. Russell noted that the women’s plot, unlike others, ended with a believable and emotionally grounded conclusion.
In a similar vein, Daniel Fienberg and Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter questioned whether the show mistook “darkness for depth.” Even though every character had some sort of resolution, Fienberg and Han expressed disapproval regarding how the resolutions were presented.
“[The] lessons were ALL wrong!” Fienberg and Han wrote. “And the resolutions were all hollow. And that’s the lesson and that’s the resolution.”
Colgate University first-year Anna Diemer enjoyed “The White Lotus,” but felt as if the season did not have a strong finale.
“I found the finale to be disappointing, and like the storyline had no true resolution,” Diemer said. “I felt as if the multiple plot lines did not connect or end as succinctly as prior seasons.”
First-year Stella Roumanis expressed similar dissatisfaction with the season.
“I appreciate how it uses comedy to make a social commentary on the exploitation of Thai culture by rich white people,” Roumanis said. “They combine an interesting message with funny lines which I think allows it to reach more audiences.”
While “The White Lotus” has touched on many important themes, many of them are presented without enough depth and focus. Viewers still can’t seem to get enough of the show, but they have been left a bit disappointed by the sudden inability of the show to address major topics.
