Series Review – The White Lotus Season 3

Creator: Mike White
Starring: Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Aimee Lou Wood
Year: 2025

Season one was Hawaii and death and class warfare and Jennifer Coolidge being iconic. Season two was Sicily and sex and infidelity and Jennifer Coolidge being even more iconic. Season three is Thailand and. Well. That’s where it gets complicated.

Mike White’s formula is pretty clear by now. Rich people go to expensive resort. Rich people are terrible. Someone dies. Along the way we examine the grotesqueness of wealth and the ways privilege blinds people to their own monstrousness. It works. It’s worked twice. But three times?

Here’s where I’m at. The White Lotus Season 3 is good. It’s entertaining. The performances are excellent across the board. But it also feels like diminishing returns. The shock of the first season — oh my god they’re actually going there — has worn off. We know what to expect now. And Mike White knows that we know. So he pushes harder. Weirder. Darker.

The Thailand setting is gorgeous. Every frame looks like it could be a travel ad which is kind of the point. These resorts sell a fantasy of escape that doesn’t exist. The locals are set dressing for wealthy tourists’ spiritual journeys. White understands this and puts it onscreen in ways that are uncomfortable if you’re paying attention.

The cast. Okay. Walton Goggins is doing something unhinged here and I’m into it. Carrie Coon brings that same cold intensity she has in everything. Jason Isaacs is playing against type and it works. Leslie Bibb gets probably the best material of anyone this season and she runs with it. Aimee Lou Wood — who you might know from Sex Education — is a revelation.

But. There’s a but.

The plotting this season feels looser. More meandering. Season one had that tight mystery structure. Season two built to specific confrontations. Season three kind of. Wanders. There are storylines that feel underdeveloped. Characters who disappear for episodes at a time. A mystery element that doesn’t click into place until too late.

And look — maybe that’s intentional. Maybe White is saying something about how luxury resorts promote a kind of aimless wandering, a purposelessness that mirrors the empty lives of his characters. But intentional or not it makes for a less satisfying viewing experience.

The ending is. Hmm. Without spoiling it, the ending is either brilliant or a cop-out depending on your perspective. I’ve gone back and forth. Initially I thought it was a letdown. Now I think it might be the point. The pointlessness being the point. Which is either deep or pretentious and I genuinely can’t decide.

If you loved the first two seasons you’ll find enough to enjoy here. The social commentary is sharp. The performances are great. It’s still one of the best-looking shows on television. But it’s also the weakest of the three seasons and I wonder if Mike White has said everything he has to say about rich people being awful.

Maybe it’s time to check out of The White Lotus.

Or maybe I’m just tired.

Both things can be true.

My rating: ★★★★☆

The White Lotus on IMDb | The White Lotus on Rotten Tomatoes