During the first scene of each season of “The White Lotus,” we learn two things: someone is dead and someone in the cast is the killer. In typical murder mystery fashion, we don’t know what happens until the very end. In the latest season, we hear gunshots and see a body floating in the water. It is an insane way to start a show, but hooks everyone in.
According to Deadline, 2.4 million viewers watched the season premiere Feb. 17. This is a 57% increase from Season 2’s premiere of 1.5 million and a 155% increase from Season 1’s premiere which had 944,000. It seems as though with each episode drop; more viewers flock every Sunday to watch it live. By this season’s second episode, viewership had reached 3.4 million.
The show flashes back a week to guests arriving via boat. Viewers see the luxurious resort and are introduced to the tremendously privileged guests who will soon inhabit it. Season three takes place in Thailand, and is filled with beautiful blue skies, chattering monkeys and bungalows that viewers dream of sleeping in. Yet, the scenes are eerie. As viewers, we cannot feel completely at ease. The music is jarring, and every line feels like a hint at the ending.
Show creator, writer and director Mike White knows how to keep the audience on their toes. Parker Posey’s Lorazepam popping, North Carolina mom character makes comments about sleeping like a corpse. Her aggressively macho finance bro son, Saxon, played by the perfectly cast Patrick Schwarzenegger, discovers a pong-pong tree growing and asks if the fruit could kill someone. In the latest episode, the ultra-mysterious Rick, played by Walter Goggins, releases venomous snakes while high, leading one to bite his Euro-trash girlfriend Chelsea played by Aimee Lou Wood. Don’t worry, she’s okay, but it is definitely not a great omen.
The first time I watched Mike White’s “The White Lotus” was in my freshman year dorm. It was Welcome Week and while I watched the pilot, it seemed like half the men on the floor were trying to build my roommate’s new fan. Though no one was interested in watching with me, I found comfort in the show. I breathed in the idyllic Hawaiian atmosphere with the characters, hanging onto every word.
By the time the second season came around, I was a sophomore living in my sorority house and found a quiet spot on a couch upstairs to watch. I was alone, working for the show’s streaming service Max as a campus representative at the time and taking pictures of Jennifer Coolidge on the show like I was at a concert. I dreamed of going to Italy with the cast. By the time the season finale came around, many of my sorority sisters and I gathered in our formal chapter room and projected it together. We couldn’t help but let out gasps at the final moments, an experience unlike any other.
Now, I am a senior living with two of my best friends, and I have finally put them onto the show. Every Sunday, we gather on our little couch and invite people to watch with us. My favorite part of this entire experience is the unknown. We wait every week for a new episode, making sure social media does not spoil anything. While many people enjoy binge watching, this has always been my preferred viewing method.
There is comfort to be found in routine, knowing that you always have something to look forward to even in the hardest of weeks. Before the season premiere, I had been having one of the worst weeks of my life yet found happiness in the escapism that is “The White Lotus.” I was able to put away my own troubles and focus on the very insane happenings of the cast of characters. Watching Jason Isaacs play a father being chased by the FBI for insider trading crimes distracted me in the best way possible.
The show is aspirational for actors, with some of Hollywood’s top stars campaigning to be part of it. After season 2, Elizabeth Banks quite literally begged Mike White to kill her off on the show saying, “I want to be murdered so badly. Kill me, please kill me.” If I was an actor, I would be campaigning as well. I would love to fly to a beautiful location like Greece and play a crazy rich student with a dangerous secret! Mike White, make it happen!
“The White Lotus” is always going to be formulaic, but the beauty behind it is the cultural commentary in each season. Season 1 was about money. Season 2 was sex. Season 3 is about spirituality and death. Although something tragic happens in each installment, we never quite learn what it is until the very end of the season. As long as Mike White has more stories in his brain, “The White Lotus” should never end.
It is a television phenomenon, a rare feat in the age of streaming. Through masterful storytelling, audiences will keep coming back for more. I hope to always have watch parties in the future and I’m manifesting that they cast HBO darlings Laura Dern or Matthew MacFadyen for season 4!
