The White Lotus Season 3 Part 2

Part 1

i would not put it past Tanya to come back as a ghost or a lorazepam hallucination, tbh.

Twin sister Tonya

We can only hope and pray, r2.

I agree with the person in the former thread who wrote that for someone so cookie cutter handsome, Patrick Schwarzenegger is one note - the note being Mommy’s Favorite Dickhead - and has none of his father’s presence.

Re: a convo taking place in the last thread -- I don't think it's been "bad writing" for the first two episodes, nor do I think it's "bad writing" for the show to consistently take time to set up the characters and their individual issues, nor is it lazy and inefficient to soak us in the vibe of the location for awhile. That's exactly what people love about the show!

I’m presuming Victoria took a deep dive into someone else’s medicine bag during that girls trip attended by Kate and is hoping she doesn’t remember.

Cousin VANYA!

[Quote] Patrick Schwarzenegger is one note

I came here JUST to say this.

Tanya is very much the Laura Palmer of this series, isn't she.

Parker Posey is like a younger Patricia from Southern Charm right down to the caftans and hubby is Thomas Ravenal.

yeah if you go through the threads for season two you have the exact same bitches complaining in imperious tones how terribly written and uninteresting the second season is based on the first two episodes.

Whats even funnier is that a lot of those posters have come back to bitch about this season being so much worse than season 2

R2 I hope Tanya was reincarnated as one of those monkeys they keep showing us and she gets a gun and shoots Greg. MonkeyTanya is the shooter.

Before she shoots him she says something Tanyaesque and freaks Greg the fuck out!

I like the German manager. He was in The White Ribbon, Babylon Berlin and The Zone Of Interest.

Sam Nivola is absolutely adorable. He’s got to be gay in real life, right? I looked him up and he has a “girlfriend”, but come on…

601 in the prior thread is wrong. UNC, as an old flagship, has its own”aristocracy” of multiple generations of wealthy families…just like UVA and elsewhere, even Berkeley.

[quote] Was it not a little weird and unrealistic that the violent robbery in the jewelry shop didn't seem to affect the evening's festivities just a bit? The hostess and guests all seemed to take it as an everyday occurrence.

It’s a third-world country. Tourists who go to these places know or should know that they are putting their life at risk.

I thought the security guard would get fired for not stopping or reporting a suspicious vehicle coming in.

The hunky trainer on the moto talking under the raised security gate makes me think he is in on the robbery in some way, nothing happens by chance. Could the owner's 2 bodyguards be in on it too?

I did to R17. He's going to figure in big at some point.

Did anyone else notice how Buckteeth was very focused on that snake choker while it was being stolen? I'm sure it will feature in some way.

It cracked me up how Victoria is obsessed with telling anyone who will listen that her gay son will be a tar heel.

No one cares where you went to college, lady!

I am waiting for a Planet of the Apes type situation when the monkeys revolt

The monkeys are just as relevant to the plot as the head sculptures were in season 2. They’re there to act as silent witnesses to the misbehavior of the guests and to function as symbols of the characters primal petty motivations. I am quite confident t that There will be no monkeys shooting people on this show.

I do think Victoria, Laurie or Kate could snap tho.

Monkeys doing the shooting has become the latest equivalent of Megan Draper jumping off her balcony. It's a stupid and unbelievably unlikely DL fan theory some freak will not let go of.

Lachlan is going to decide to take a gap year to ‘find himself’. He won’t be attending either Duke or UNC

I think the shooter will be a surprise to all of us.

You’re right, the snake Walton Goggins is holding in the preview will be the shooter. His powerful jaws and fangs will pull the trigger

I found the scene where Walter Goggins goes to talk to the therapist the most interesting one in the episode - in typical Mike White fashion you go into that scene expecting one thing, namely that his character will get slapped down for being a cranky dick. But instead White makes the point that some shit gets heaped on people that really is too much, too much for their simple religious platitudes; that being emptied out by the world and broken by it are some people's truth. That sadness and nihilism are genuine and earned sometimes.

White wrestled with the role of "spirituality" a lot in Enlightened obviously and in his other projects -- Beatriz at Dinner always felt like the most natural stepping stone to The White Lotus, with its anxiety-riddled meeting between monied pricks and spirituality and how flawed both sides can be (although the monied pricks are always way way worse) -- so this scene was very much in that wheelhouse. It's a conversation I always find really rich in White's hands.

r28 again -- I meant to add that Goggins' character reminds me a lot of Luke Wilson's character on Enlightened. The steeped-in depression, well-thought-through and a level of comfort with it. That some of us are just sad. It's a fascinating thing to examine for me anyway, it really resonates. I feel it.

AND I thought it was really interesting that last week we were meant to feel excluded alongside Carrie Coon's character, but then when we see what her friends are talking about this week it's not their fabulous lives but they're talking about HER, how much they love and care about her, and how they're concerned for her.

Only then when Coon and Bibb's characters talk later it's Coon who instigates a bitch-fest about Monaghan, and Bibb hesitates for a minute, clearly taken aback that this is where Coon wants to go, before then diving in enthusiastically. (Sorry I haven't learned the character names yet). I love the way White knows our expectations and needles at them at every turn in this little ways.

I also think Goggins might be a hired assassin who's looking to kill the resort's owner.

All those bitches are champing at the bit to gossip about each other. It’s what women do.

Carrie Coons = Laurie (the corporate divorced one who drinks too much)

Michelle Monaghan = Jaclyn (the television star)

Leslie Bibb = Kate (the blonde one obsessed with her social position in Austin)

R18. Felt like the trainer was flirting with the security guard who flirted back.

I also thought the trainer was flirting with the security guard - it came right after the three women were joking about how Laurie should sleep with him and it felt like a very Mike White thing to further humiliate that character. The hot guy she could have a vacation fling with turns out to be gay. But I think the other people are right that he was distracting the guard so the thieves could get past the barrier. Not that gays can't be evil too! This is a Mike White show after all!

yeah i think we're all really conditioned by narrative tropes around set ups like the Jaclyn, Kate, Laurie friendship where the prettier girls are the mean ones and the plain friend has more integrity.

It seems like Laurie might actually just be the most jealous resentful bitch of the group.

I feel like Lochlan in the sensory deprivation tank had some significance, but I can’t figure out what it was

I thought it was nice that Valentin was talking to Gaitok and inviting him out, but you guys are probably right that he was just distracting him for the thieves. I wanted Gaitok to make a friend, he seems sweet!

I’m not sure if Mook is a part of it, though

I feel sorry for Gaitok. He got friend zoned

I didn't know monkeys scratched their necks with their hind paws like dogs. I've only ever seen them use their front paws for that, like humans. Must be nice, having a choice like that and just going with whatever feels right in the moment.

I like the actress playing Chelsea from way back, but her thighs looked minging. Just one ingrown hair after another, I felt bad for the masseuse. Good for her for letting Goggins suck on her nipples with those huge veneers, very brave. It's funny that her new Canadian friend mentioned her teeth last episode because her own awful teeth were on full display this week.

I now love Posey's accent after taking a dump on it last week, it's perfect for her cartoonish character. And what delicious irony, this person who is benzoed out of her mind – to the point where she's likely losing her memories – going on about being hypervigilant because most people in the world are scammers. And there's another level of irony because her husband is an actual scammer.

Sritala's song was wonderful, even if she was lipsyncing to a recording from forty years ago. And she does look like the Thai Judi Dench, no wonder they call her that.

The bad green screen at the breakfast scene with Goggins took me out a bit, I expect better from this show.

Apparently, we're getting the proper theme back next week or the week after, thank god HBO had a contingency plan in case of backlash.

We'll see that gold snake bracelet again for sure, and it will freak Chelsea the f*ck out. No reason to hold her focus and the camera shot on it like they did. And Valentin being the cause of Gaitok's distraction is not unintentional either.

This show is clearly meant to be comedic/satirical, but every scene carries an ominous vibe. This season is also darker in tone than the previous ones.

Patrick S. looks exactly like his dad whenever he smiles with his mouth open.

Yeah, the Russian trainer seems like he was in on the robbery. His sudden interest in Gaitok makes that kind of obvious. Mook being in on it feels like a bridge too far. But what about Chloe (Greg/Gary's girlfriend)? She could have been in on it, too, since she was in the dressing room when it happened and was quick to dismiss Chelsea's claim she could have died.

Rick may be interested in the hotel owner's husband because he thinks the husband is either his real father or the husband killed his father and he wants revenge.

Theory: The robbers toss the gun into the bushes, Tim finds it after spending the week unraveling from the drama back home and he uses it to kill his family and himself.

I really hope the season doesn't end with the monkeys finding the gun and shooting everyone. That would be disappointing and likely a jump the shark moment for the series.

Was Valentin making a gay pass at Gaitok?

r39 He's very cute, but he was a bit pushy. Oh, and "let's get together because it's convenient (even though you're so much hotter than me)" is not something any woman wants to hear from her male friend.

r43 No, he was distracting him so the robbers could get through unmolested.

[quote]I feel like Lochlan in the sensory deprivation tank had some significance, but I can’t figure out what it was.

Obviously, he is going to turn into a monkey.

I was surprised to see Gaitok has got a slamming bod - I hope we get to see more of it

Lochlan in the sensory deprivation tank led to him having that conversation with his sister about him trying to pray in there and hearing nothing, and then him accusing her of making it up when she rebutted him and says she feels a presence when she prays. Obviously tensions there between her spirituality and her family, who don't seem in the least bit spiritual. They only went to this resort for her et cetera.

I could see, maybe, the monkeys finding the gun and accidentally getting off one shot. Huge stretch, and kind of dumb, but maybe. Monkeys are curious things.

But in the first episode wasn’t there multiple shots? And all spaced out? A monkey isn’t going to keep firing off rounds. After the first loud bang he’d freak and drop the gun.

I can’t see Mike White having a monkey walking down the paths firing at people. That’d be ridiculous!

R42 you could be right that Chloe was in on it. Maybe Chelsea goes to visit Chloe’s house on the top of the hill and sees the snake bracelet there. Then she’s all ‘oh I saw this in the shop and it got stolen during the robbery’ but Chloe says, ‘no this is a different one, I got it earlier’ or something like that. But the seeds of doubt and mistrust have been planted and Chelsea no longer trusts her.

And Chloe is really sleeping with Valentin. Or one of those two bodyguards. She did say she’s at the White Lotus all the time, so perhaps they’re all in on it together.

And one of those four are the shooters. I predict Greg gets shot.

Victoria’s speech about needing to be hypervigilant because people are scammers and the kids are “gorgeous and from money” reminds me of Southerners who are always going on about “integrity.”

Every time I’ve ever heard a Southerner blathering on about “integrity,” they’ve turned out to be a huge scumbag.

If you have integrity, there’s no reason to talk about it. It’s a complete red flag.

Victoria’s speech is likely good old fashioned projection, though.

Love this series and loved this episode — I don’t get the impatient viewers who whine that nothing happened in this hour — we got a tremendous amount of character development as well as amplification of the relationships between the characters. Also, we get to immerse ourselves a bit in the resort itself, a little mini-vacation by proxy. Seems like these viewers would prefer a “White Lotus” movie, all plot with short cuts to the climaxes. Especially with this series, it’s about the journey more than it is about where that journey ends up.

Some observations: I’ve not seen Goggins in much, so just by looks I disliked his sleazebag aura. However, I think he sensed a glimmer of a truth in something Amrita told him in his wellness session, and it looks like he may be redeemable. Seeing his sexy body half-naked helped me like him better too.

I noticed in the credits that when Sam Nivola’s name comes up in the credits, it’s accompanied by a shot of a man apparently drowning. This may be a nod to his deprivation tank scene, but I hope it doesn’t mean his is the body we saw dead in the water in ep 1. I wonder if he will come out enough to hook up woth a guy while at the resort? Speaking of Sammy, I couldn’t help but notice how big his feet are for a not-big guy. They are as big or bigger than Schwarzenegger’s, who is way taller. I’ll just sit with that for a moment.

People (especially here on DL) are always complaining about men with generic white boy looks, but Patrick Schwarzenegger is really THE poster boy for a man who is technically handsome and well built but whose innate blankness makes him instantly forgettable and completely sexless. And I don’t think this because he is convincingly playing a douchebag. I actually think his appearance in this series will set his career back — he’s a vacuum onscreen.

I couldn’t help but notice the yellow, gnarly teeth of the French Canadian ‘prostitute.’ Will it be a plot point or is it just a weird detail that Mike White or the actress herself came up with?

Did Victoria snub Kate because she was too stoned to be polite, too embarrassed to admit she was stoned when they spent a weekend together and therefore remembers nothing that happened before morning breakfast, or is she just a selfish bitch who has completely isolated herself in a drug haze? Frankly, she gets my vote as the one most likely to pick up a gun if the narcotized dream world she’s living in suddenly collapses from under her.

As far as the three girlfriends go, I don’t think Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie are very different than any other frenemies who were close in high school, but only long distance acquaintances thereafter. Clearly they are all covering up insecurities and failures, which I’m sure will be emerging soon. Anyway, I’m more interested in them and in their dynamic than I am in the Texas family.

Yeah what was with those gnarly teeth on the LeBon chick??

I went to law school with so many “Kates.” Women who got a law degree, but married a rich man and then became housewives.

They can be quite smug in an “I don’t have to work” way. But, really they are glorified domestic help. Not a glamorous or stimulating life. Even with all the “charity work.”

I could see Kate being quite desperate, underneath it all.

There ain’t no Texan family.

Interesting that some posters feel a lot of new stuff was revealed in E2 and some posters feel nothing new was revealed.

I lean toward the latter feeling. Lots of wheel spinning in this new episode. But I did enjoy that view of Goggins' tanned and toned upper body in his bed.

I'm still curious about how the two brothers' subplot fits into the general story line... it's an odd thing to hint at brotherly (and brother-sister ... the rude speculation about the sister's virginity and "hotness") attraction... I mean is it just HBO salacious dressing or will it generate actions that activate the denouement?

White is so warped.

I thought maybe Chloe just had red wine teeth at dinner at first but then they carried through to the shopping scene didn't they?

I would love Greg getting scammed and murdered for his money by his French CANADIAN girlefriend lol - it'd be perfect

I get ominous “Nice Guy” vibes from Gaitok.

Even though Gaitok is full of shit and an underachiever, he seems to think Mook should jump at the chance to date him.

That’s classic incel, “nice guy” toxicity.

Maybe. I think he was just saying they have a lot in common and it would make sense to date. He took a shot, nothing wrong with that.

And he reacted fine when she told him to keep eating and basically rejected him. I think he's going to try to toughen up and be more like the bodyguards to get her to like him. So far he hasn't done anything incel-ish, but there's definitely a possibility he could turn out to be one.

I hope he remains simply a nice guy who has a crush on a hot girl. And they don't make him into a jerk.

The deprivation tank was meant to indicate Lachlan being deprived of his brother’s penis. His prayer was to pray away his lust for his brother, but Lachlan ended up feeling like he was just trying to talk himself out of his feelings.

Interesting take, R61.

Sick. But interesting.

I meant Lochlan, but IOS keeps changing it to Lachlan.

I don’t think we know why Victoria smacked down Kate, but it was glorious to see.

Kate is consumed with how she looks. She seems to be very impressed with herself, but is really just a big fish in a very small (Austin) pond.

Victoria DNGAF, eats with abandon, wears glasses and frumpy clothes.

I look forward to finding out the real story behind their weird encounter.

Another Murdoch thread!

I think I read somewhere the actress who plays Mook is big pop star in Thailand or something?

r66 she's a member of Blackpink, an absolutely massive K-pop band - it's a huge score for the show to have her, it'll probably do very well in Asia with her casting

[quote] Yeah what was with those gnarly teeth on the LeBon chick??

The one with the gnarly teeth is Chelsea, Ricks' (Walton Goggins's) girlfriend, played by Aimee Lee Wood.

Charlotte Le Bon plays Chloé, the French-Canadian girlfriend of Gary/Greg. hHr teeth are fine.

Nope r68 they both have fucked up teeth. Watch again.

There's a long profile today of Parker Posey in the NYTimes (I'm linking it, but it's paywalled, so you're going to have to just deal) that suggests that incest will be a literal part of the show as it goes ahead, although it does not say with which members of the Ratliff family. But Victoria's constant talk about how superior her family is and her giggling at Saxon's offesnive jokes, the piece suggests, is furthering the idea the family is much too inwardly focused.

Saxon's been fucking Mommy. Now it's little brother's turn.

I think they’re going to pull a Challengers. Threesome with the two brothers and a girl, and then it just devolves into Saxon fucking Lochlan while she watches.

R70, that makes her comments about how they're so special and that you can't trust outsiders more resonant. Even the weird contempt with which she treated Kate may fit in with that.

I can’t tell if Lochlan’s storyline is supposed to be about coming out, sexual abuse, or incest. Or all three.

I don't think you're supposed to know yet, r74. There's suspense in this show.

Isn’t Southern incest a little cliched?

My current theory is Lochie is the killer. Hearing and feeling nothing in the deprivation tank shows he is dead inside. He doesn’t relate at all to any situation he’s in, he just looks vague like nothing lands for him. His reactions to his brothers sex addiction and inability to respect his sister’s boundaries are not that of a normal person.

He’ll be triggered by his dad being a scammer plus other family shit (seeing his brother and sister fuck?) and he’ll lash out.

R76, well the family is from North Carolina. Don't they have the Appalachians up there?

I'm quite enjoying it. Yes it's not moving really quickly, but there are more episodes this season and I like the location and holiday vibe.

They're definitely playing up Lochlan's attraction to Saxon - but it could be a misdirection in that he doesn't want to have sex with him, but more that he's gay and he'll take any opportunity to look at a naked guy. But, as this is a HBO show, I wouldn't be surprised if they go there.

Valentin is almost certainly in on the robbery and I wouldn't be surprised if Mook is, too. She wanted to see Gaitok was OK, perhaps because of a guilty conscience? Wouldn't be surprised if she's having a fling with Valentin and the robbery is part of their way of getting out of there.

I can see the mom being the shooter. She at first wants to get her husband because he's going to prison and their reputations will be ruined! But then she sees one of her kids and decides to go after them all and anyone in her way. Leslie Bibb will be one of the ones in her way.

People are coalescing around the theory that a monkey fires the gun.

R80 It almost seems too obvious that it's Victoria or her husband being the shooter. Not sure they'd reveal he's in trouble with the law so early in the season if he or his wife were the shooter.

Can you not just watch and enjoy?!

I am watching and enjoying and speculating. It's fun to read other people's theories and see who got it right and when.

Is the satanic sex plot the incest? Or something else?

Imagine going to a luxury hotel and then having to endure the part-owner 'singing' with her band of press-ganged employees.

Judging by the size of the tent they gave him during the massage scene, the production team don't think much of Patrick S.

[quote] Judging by the size of the tent they gave him during the massage scene, the production team don't think much of Patrick S.

You know, The White Lotus is not a porn video, right?

DEADLINE:

"HBO might just have its most popular season of The White Lotus yet.

3.4M U.S. cross-platform viewers tuned in for the second episode on Sunday night, which marks a 40% increase over the premiere episode’s 2.4M.

Speaking of the premiere, it has now amassed 10.2M viewers in the U.S., up 92% from the Season 2 premiere episode’s audience in the first week of availability."

MAX viewers confirmed as Four Seasons Hotel wannabe whores!

“ Isn’t Southern incest a little cliched?”

Yankees spend more time house bound because of the cold, right?

Opportunity ….

R88: Oh, good, that means there’ll be a season 4.

Wonder what the location will be? Venice? The Dalmatian coast? The Greek islands?

Maybe already mentioned but I missed it.....it seems to me that the old Thailand ex-star and her husband on Goggins' characters parents.......somehow....someway.....

Goggins' dad left his first family for a Thai ladyboy (maybe that's her 'secret')?

Here's my question: If there's a murder at a White Lotus resort every year, WHY do people continue to return? Hmmm?

I believed the next season is confirmed as Norway

They should do Latin America next.

Will there be a Viking Cruise Line murder in the first five minutes of S4?

Tropical destinations provide more likelihood of fine, bare male flesh.

White Lotus: Tasmania. And this time the killer will be a Tasmanian Devil

Like with Survivor I think it's important to The White Lotus' appeal that the location be somewhere that its characters can be sexy and half-naked a lot so I fear taking it to a colder climate like Norway might be a boner killer. But there are lots of hot springs up there right? And saunas I suppose. So MW can get the sexiness in there - it just might not be as constant. But perhaps a big change of scenery will do it good since so many people are saying it feels like it's in a rut. (Even if I don't agree.)

I can picture a Norway season being reminiscent of Force Majuere, that movie where the father ran away from an avalanche abandoning his family, leading to much awkwardness when it turns out to be a false alarm.

There will be plenty sauna drama in Norway, trust

Am loving the show although she was amusing, am not missing Tanya.

Loved the second episode as well. Great scenery, including a repeat of Patrick’s ass

The three women group is getting more complicated and not as obvious. There is simply no alliance but they will gang up on the one not present, always declaring love and concern while putting her down .

As with r28, my favourite scene was the therapy session with Goggins, very unexpected and even moving. It is also the first time ever i find him attractive. Conversely, Jason Issac looks old. Maybe he should appear shirtless as well Outside boring Belinda, to me the weak link is Parker Posey. She has some lines that she could use effectively and even diva like, but she decided to continue be koo Parker Posey persona, even if it doesn’t make sense to the character. She was terrible and doing the same thing in Mr and Mrs Smith, but here it comes to the point where the show needs a better performance.

Re Patrick being one note, well, he is playing a douche, not much room for maneuver so far. Am finding Nivola hot, surprisingly.

I predict that Parker Posey's character will begin shooting people Betty Draper-style after going cold turkey on her benzos and discovering her husband and son were having a torrid incestuous affair, about to be exposed, risking all their $$$$$.

R52 r56 he looked hot as hell in bed. I especially loved the shots from behind. It made his back and shoulders look veeery nice.

Season 4 was already ordered before Season 3 even premiered r91. HBO will keep this show on for as long as Mike White wants to. In an interview I saw Mike said he thinks he will go for 6 seasons.

While there were a lot of talks between Norway and HBO apparently negotiations recently broke down and Norwegian press is saying season 4 won't be in Norway.

Victoria is far too spaced out on Lorazepam and other drugs to have been one of the masked robbers. She can't be faking it--she seems zonked out even when she's alone.

However, one of the robbers might have been Mook or another woman.

I don't think Mook is involved. I 100% do think our quebecois hooker was involved in Valentine's robbery. They live next door and she seems like quite a scammer. Definitely can see her and Valentine starting to fuck and hatching some schemes together.

Maybe to avoid the repetitiveness, he could make the next season very different--perhaps have all the couples be staying at the same hotel for the same event, like a destination wedding, or an anniversary celebration.

r106 They should do it in the UK then - the staff's contempt for the guests wouldn't need to be veiled then

R95 no Four Seasons in Norge

The French-Canadian heaux has FAR worse teeth than the buck toothed Brit, stained and her smile looks like cream tile with black grout.

I think the Daughter in the Southern clan is planning to stay in thailand as a Buddhist nun OR theory 2. she will have a wild lesbian fling at the resort and realize she is gay.

I figured Mook was letting Gaitok down because she's involved in all the mess with the robberies that Valentin is also involved in and she doesn't want to hurt him.

A shock would be Belinda being the shooter, to protect herself from Greg or "Gary" who sees her and knows that she can identify him. He's been hiding since Tanya's death and she could blow his cover.

I loved the Toothy Brit on "Sex Education."

[quote]I found the scene where Walter Goggins goes to talk to the therapist the most interesting one in the episode - in typical Mike White fashion you go into that scene expecting one thing, namely that his character will get slapped down for being a cranky dick.

My guess is that the character's father didn't die and that the reason he's looking for the hotel owner's husband is because he is his father and he wants to confront him. I don't think (as some people were guessing elsewhere) that he's a hitman and he wants to take him out. He became my favorite character last night and it's obvious his girlfriend actually does love him. Their looks at each other do indicate that while he is grumpy they are on the same page and very much a couple unlike Tanya's ex and his new girlfriend.

Also I think Lochlan will turn out to be the worst of all three of them because that's unexpected.

Mook’s relentless perkiness, and the fact that they cast such a famous performer in the role, suggests that she’s not quite what she seems.

Where might I know Walton Goggins from?

This show provides proof that Manchester and Quebec are desperately short of qualified dentists.

Walton Goggins is an empty vessel of an actor so I guess he’s good casting for someone who feels empty inside. The girl playing Piper has extremely low energy. And the shot of Belinda ‘recognizing” Greg was very badly directed. Sorry, Mike.

Episode 2 dragged terribly. And the post show thing with the old Thai lady and the German manager was all surface and platitudes.

Goggins is a very poor Bruce Dern wannabe.

I know people keep saying it, but I don’t think Lochie’s going to be the killer. He’s way too passive and dependent on his siblings to make a move like that.

R115. A bad guy in 12 Years a Slave, among many bad guy roles.

Is Goggins' bald spot real?

Goggins’s first big role was on FX’s The Shield. He was also in Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight.

Unless it was worldwide news, Belinda wouldn't know Tanya died a year earlier. And even if she did, Greg wasn't even there when she died . Not sure why he'd be worried about some masseuse from a Hawaiian resort from two years ago might recognize him.

Well, so far, Belind isn't eyeing Greg warily. Just simply as someone she's known before.

But seeing Greg would make Belinda think of Tanya. She tries to reach out to her and realizes she died under mysterious circumstances.

If you are Greg and you murdered your wife and took her money and then ran to Thailand to hide out, you certainly aren't going to want to run into anyone who would know the two of you.

But why would Belinda reach out to Tanya? Especially on a workcation in Thailand? And how would Tanya procure any info on Tanya's death from a spa where using your phone is discouraged?

I guess these questions may be answered in the next several episodes.

R115. He’s been in a lot in the last decade or so:

the Ghoul in Fallout

Baby Billy in The Righteous Gemstones

Lee in Vice Principals

Venus in Sons of Anarchy

Shane in The Shield

Boyd in Justified

Was the lead in the CBS show The Unicorn a few years ago

He was in these movies- Predators, Ant Man, Maze Runner 2, Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight. As well as minor roles in many more.

Belinda doesn’t know Tanya’s dead, and I don’t think she’ll reach out to her (Tanya stiffed her!). But just seeing Belinda there will put Greg on edge. He wasn’t expecting anyone to know him, but someone does. He won’t like that.

If Greg is afraid of running into anyone associated with The White Lotus, why in hell would he be staying at another one?

[quote] And how would Tanya procure any info on Tanya's death from a spa where using your phone is discouraged?

She wouldn't, because she's dead.

Well, at least I answered one of your questions.

R128 He's not staying there.

I think there was something going on with the comments about the the waitresses being ladyboys and Saxton’s flip remark

Greg and Canadian Teeth aren't guests there r128, they live in a house nearby r128. But yes it is a plot device, guess he just couldn't give up having that taste of luxury close.

his girlfriend wanted him to go to dinner with her new friend who was staying there.

R131 is Bill Simmons

About the incest issue. I thought that there was a strong whiff of incest when Parker Posey was talking about her brother and how he forced her down. I am not sure if it has been mentioned before. So, I am sure that it runs in the family. And I also found Goggins' scene with the therapist moving.

Ah, I forgot about that. Then she said they weren’t close anymore? Or something like that. I did think there was something not right with that.

R105, nice. Definitely long enough to include a tropical Latin America hotel and an African safari one.

IIRC, she used to hate him but now she lobes him R136.

Victoria's accent was very Sutton Stracke in this episode.

Patrick's nude reclining body appears to be a body double. I went back and forth between the front and backside scenes and the horizon line of the hips seem to be different. Try it, it's fun.

He's a nepo-baby for sure. More like material for a beach blanket teen movie than a star. Who knows, maybe he'll improve. He's in a crappy role, let's see if his character learns anything from what's so to come.

It occurred to me that depressed older lover guy could have been lying to the therapist about his childhood. An asshole would do that. Then in later scenes he acted caring to his girlfriend after the robbery. I think her buck teeth are kind of cute. She's an interesting character.

Is the first season any good? Is it really a show worth investing your time?

Wouldn't it be Duke v Wake Forest?? Not UNC.

R139, I thought that Rick was lying when talking to the therapist. It was a well acted scene. He was telling the truth when he described his personal emptiness—and then he immediately pivoted and spun a gothic story about his childhood to stop the therapist from finding out anything else.

No, UNC is fetishized by the nouveau rich "Southern elites" for its southern connections. A cousin talked her daughter out of Columbia (too many Chinese go there) for Chapel Hill (which is how they refer to it) so she could shine with her church and country club set who also send their kids there.

If you aren't familiar with Walter Goggins check out 'Vice Principals' it's a lot of fun.

No, Duke and UNC is a real world rivalry, one of the most famous rivalries in American sports. For a North Carolina family like the Ratcliffs they would naturally be steeped in it.

2019-2021 Goggins starred in the CBS family comedy The Unicorn. You may recognize him from that.

[quote]Ratcliffs

So, that's how most spell it in Appalachia but on TV it's Ratliff.

The friends remind me of an SNL bit.

R144 he was so unhinged on that show. A creep, but a funny one.

[quote]If Greg is afraid of running into anyone associated with The White Lotus, why in hell would he be staying at another one?

As R132 said they're not staying there. I'd add that it's very common that in locations like that, that while the locals may not live at the hotel, they still often will come and eat there.

[quote]But why would Belinda reach out to Tanya? Especially on a workcation in Thailand?

Granted, I agree that she wouldn't. I could see her going to a therapy session, then feeling empowered and sticking up for herself, walking up to Greg, and telling him how much Tanya hurt her which would leave his girlfriend asking, "What wife? Who is Tanya? And who is Greg? Isn't your name Gary?"

Also a rich heiress getting kidnapped, then dying after murdering her attackers because she drowned while trying to escape, (while her loving husband is missing) would have likely been international news. That's true crime stuff they make shows about. However, it would have happened a year ago so that doesn't mean anyone would be bringing it up now in any way other than in passing or that Belinda ever saw it.

If Greg isn't staying at the Thai White Lotus, he's certainly spending a lot of time there. Clearly, he's not in hiding.

The actor who plays Lachlan is such a beautiful boy. I hope he gets more parts after this

To be fair though, they are in Thailand. What are the odds of him running into anyone he met in a different hotel in Hawaii or Sicily except that this is a TV show.

r52 he just got cast today as the lead in the next Farrelly Brothers teen comedy

He's just adorable, radiates a certain sweetness.

Ok, here’s what I’m thinking:

Remember how benzo mom told that whole story about how her brother once pinned her down and spit in her face? I think that there will be a repetition of that, with Saxon pinning his younger brother and spitting on him, leading to the “satanic” gay plot (incest) MW discussed.

Mom walks in, has a mental break after seeing her own trauma repeated onto her son, and shoots Saxon. All the gunshots were pretty spread out - I don’t think they’re all necessarily related. Maybe the robber guys hear the gunshot, think it’s one of their own, and start their own spree.

A nepo baby the DL actually likes.

Zero mention of Blake Lively in the NYT feature on Parker Posey and her little bumps at r70. She must have an amazing PR handler.

Season 1 was [White] Privilege, Season 2 Sexual Politics, Season 3 Spirituality.

If Season 4 is indeed set in Norway, I picture ice bathing, tech bros and podcasters. And the theme being [Toxic] Masculinity.

Perhaps Mike White will lure Sonja Henie out of her long retirement to play the wacked-out comic relief. On ice skates.

[quote]601 in the prior thread is wrong. UNC, as an old flagship, has its own”aristocracy” of multiple generations of wealthy families…just like UVA and elsewhere, even Berkeley.

I agree with this. That was a really stupid post. I hate when people try to sound authoritative about stuff like this and get it all wrong. So cringey.

And no, Wake Forest would not rank higher than UNC amongst this set, are you kidding? College of Charleston would come before Wake Forest on the eyes of these people.

Sam Nivola is not some unknown r152, he is a nepo baby just like Patrick being Emily Mortimer's son. His parents own their own production company.

But I have found him compelling in this.

R161 Actually I think the Duke v UNC thing absolutely parallels the Stanford v Cal. Duke and Stanford private, world class, huge endowments. UNC and Cal public, but highly rated academically (Cal used to be the #1 uni in the world for a long time). And, yes, wealth and privilege and tradition are/were part of Cal... and to a little less UNC.

Sam Nivola's parents are Emily Mortimer (Shutter Island, The Pink Panther, Lovely and Amazing) and Alessandro Nivola (Face/Off, American Hustle, The Brutalist). He is dating Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann's daughter, Iris Apatow.

Coincidentally, his mother costarred with Parker Posey in Scream 3 as the movie Sidney Prescott to Parker's Gale Weathers.

I think White Lotus Season 2 had it better with Theo James, Will Sharpe and Leo Woodall. I'm ehhhh on everyone this season.

You’re almost on the mark, except that Stanford is a lot better than Duke and Cal is a lot better than UNC. The ACC’s academic prestige is much improved since 2023, don’tcha know.😎

R157 He’s very cute, seems sweet, and is a decent actor, so I give him a pass. I’d pick him over Patrick any day

Those glasses do not suit him R164. He looks like Where’s Waldo.

As the themes of Season 2 were about sex I think Mike White purposely cast a lot of classically sexy people r165. Mike White is purposeful with casting and with the specific types of people he wants. It's not a coincidence that this cast is not statuesque people like our main four were last season.

R164*

Keep me out of that discussion, please.

Sam Nivola should go become one of Ryan Murphy’s little twinks. Seems like a treasure trove of roles tailor-made for him.

Taylor-made rolls?

Greg and Tanya weren't married in Hawaii, they has only just met there.

I'm a bit surprised people do not think the men this season are sexy: besides Schwarzenegger and Nivola, there's also Jason Isaacs (who has a great body), Valentin, and Zion. Plus the two Thai male actors are very fit and have good bodies. And we saw despite his rubbery face Walton Goggins has a tight and nicely muscled body too.

The only male character who does not have a good body so far is Fabian, the German hotel manager.

[quote] The actor who plays Lachlan is such a beautiful boy. I hope he gets more parts after this

I'm on it!

Brian, Emily will cut off you your left nut. And then your right nut.

Nepo’s papa, in his prime.

I liked him in Jurassic Park 3. He was adorable. I was hoping he’d come back for one of the sequels. Whichever one that had Alan Grant. Billy had such an obvious crush on him.

There were dozens of us who liked Billy!

No way is pretty little Sammy totally straight. I know a whiny bottom when I see one.

[quote] I think the Daughter in the Southern clan is planning to stay in thailand as a Buddhist nun OR theory 2. she will have a wild lesbian fling at the resort and realize she is gay.

Please, no. We have enough problems with straight male directors preferring lesbian and bi female characters to gay male ones. We don't need one of our own to go that route too. Keep it male homo-heavy

[quote]I agree with this. That was a really stupid post. I hate when people try to sound authoritative about stuff like this and get it all wrong. So cringey. And no, Wake Forest would not rank higher than UNC amongst this set, are you kidding? College of Charleston would come before Wake Forest on the eyes of these people.

You have no idea what you are talking about. I graduated UVA in 1993, so exact same demographic as the fictional Victoria.

If she didn’t go to UVA, Victoria would have gone to Hollins or Washington and Lee. In the 80s, UNC was still for millworkers’ kids made good. A lot has changed in 45 years, admittedly.

I’m pretty sure the Quebecois hooker was in on the robbery.

I assume Walton Goggins is a hitman, bounty hunter or drug smuggler. Perhaps he knows Greg. And perhaps Scott Glenn is his daddy.

Sam isn’t as beautiful as his father Alessandro Nivola. He has Emily Mortimer’s sucked a lemon face.

The UVA grad is by his very nature an absolutely infallible expert in everything having to do with Southern universities and who would ever attend them!

He’s definitely less masculine than his dad, but he’s still very appealing and sweet looking

He’s got kind of a fat nose, but it gives him personality!

For as much as people are criticizing this season as being deficient to Seasons 1 and 2, this thread is moving a helluva lot faster than either one of those previous seasons.

This season's become very Chico's Monkey Farm.

[quote] You have no idea what you are talking about. I graduated UVA in 1993

Fuck you, I also graduated from UVA … in 1997. And I still say you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Where did you live first year though?

And UVA doesn’t have a southern student demographic like that, so you just have yourself away as a liar.

UVA student demographic = 65% in state with most of those kids being from northern Virginia and Hampton roads. The 35% who are out of state are mostly from New Jersey, Maryland and Connecticut. It is definitely a school that’s caught up in southern pretension, but it’s not a particularly southern school character or politics

I would find it pretty difficult to believe that a murder at one location of a high-end resort chain would not be known about at other locations within that chain. I would think there would either be gossip among employees and likely some type of official company notification, If only to provide instruction on how to handle questions from guests.

You’d think Gary wouldn’t even show his face at any location, even to .just to eat dinner or hang out at the bar. Employees would likely transfer between locations, no? Feels like there would be the risk of being recognized.

But do brothers typically have more incestuous relationships at UVA, Duke, or UNC?

[quote] If she didn’t go to UVA, Victoria would have gone to Hollins or Washington and Lee. In the 80s, UNC was still for millworkers’ kids made good. A lot has changed in 45 years, admittedly.

This is stupid as hell. Hollins was not a popular school amongst southern elite. What the fuck are you even talking about?

Maybe Washington & Lee. Washington Lee is another Wake Forest.

I was curious which resort hotel was used as a stand-in for the White Lotus Thailand. It turns out this season they employed 4 different resorts, two of which are on an island Mike White was initially averse to, based on his experience being sequestered there during Survivor shoots.

The "White Lotus" Sicily saw a 300% bump from season 2 viewers.

[quote]Employees would likely transfer between locations, no? Feels like there would be the risk of being recognized.

Transfer between locations? This isn't the other hotel down the street, this moving your life halfway around the globe into a brand new county. I don't know how the Four Seasons operates but I can't imagine that is a thing that happens often.

I get it from a storyline perspective, but when each suite has its own pool, strange to see them all scurry for a place at the one in the common area.

R194, I'm absolutely convinced that certain aspects of the White Lotus Thailand hotel resemble the former real-life Sofitel Magic Lagoon Hotel in Khao Lak -- which was hammered by the tsunami. Especially the common pool.

This thread has about six topics going on at once. The most tediously boring is the one about southern college sports rivalries.

{r125} she could simply ask Greg how Tanya is etc...

Chelsea said to Chloe while they were sunbathing that Saxon is a douche from a rich stuck-up family and Chloe said something like cute or hot. And it the trailer for this season Chelsea and Cloe are making out while there's someone watching them. So I am assuming they will hook up and have threesome. Or even moresome

Would Greg really call his girlfriend French cause she's from Quebec? That didn't seem realistic.

R29 True. I liked that scene a lot. It gave him depth. He isn't just mean and cranky for no reason. He has been through some shit, and that shits sticks with you. I relate to it.

R43 and R45 Yes, but he still could have flirted with him. I got a gay vibe from that scene, even though it was obvious that he distracted him so the robbers could get in.

That hotel manager is really weird but also really funny. Why is the hotel manager each season gay?

Timothy will probably snap and kill everyone if Pam warns him again about not using the phone in the common area

R40 What green screen?

R96 Brazil is very popular right now. Or maybe Costa Rica?

R95 Very unlikely. Norway isn't a resort destination. We don't have posh hotels or beautiful beaches.

I don't think all kids will be murdered. That would be a little too dark, even for this show. Especially if Piper gets murdered. She's the only decent person in that family.

I hope Greg makes it out alive and we see him again in the next season. Just because everyone hates him. Yet, he survives by scamming his way thru life. You got to admire him a little for that alone.

R100 No, we don't have hot springs, that's Iceland. And although we do have saunas, that's more a Finnish thing (as in Finland). You're right. Norway is too cold. I imagine next season will either be Europe again, as in south, like Spain (Barcelona, Balearic islands as in Ibiza or Mallorca), France (like Marseilles or Cannes), Monaco, Greece (specifically Greek islands like Santorini, Crete etc), Monaco or even Croatia. Another possibility could be South America; Brazil, Costa Rica or the Dominican Republic, or maybe the caribbean with one of those islands.

R91 Doubt it. They did Mediterranean/Italy previous season. It could be something like Caribbean, Mexico or Brazil. I would personally like Mexico.

R106 Fucking hell, doesn't HBO have enough money? 88 million wasn't enough for them? I'm glad the negotiations broke down. Way too greedy.

R180 Preach. TV is flowing over with lesbian and bi female characters. It's so annoying. Male gay characters are a lot less common. Wonder why.

It could be a major misdirection anyway - ie the floating body wasn't shot. The gunshots were clearly some distance away because the lady doing the meditation session didn't hear them to begin with.

It's funny how on paper Patrick S is attractive, but Saxon really isn't. It's partly his douchiness, but it's not just that.

Also I liked how the gossipy women turn on each other when one of them steps away. At first I felt sorry for Carrie Coon's character when the other two were bitching about her, but was quite surprised when she started bitching about Michelle Monaghan's character herself!

I did get a bit of a gay vibe between Valentin and Gaitok, even though it was obvious Valentin was distracting him. It felt almost flirty but it was probably just Valentin being over friendly because he wanted to keep Gaitok distracted long enough for the robbers to get through.

R179 Sam Nivola pings like crazy. He has gay voice for days. There's no way in hell he's straight.

R100 They wanted to do this season in Japan at first. And Japan isn't really tropical hot place. I would also prefer if they continued with warm climate locations

Is it possible Timothy’s phone call was being tapped, that his partner was cooperating with federal agents and that the great irony of this situation is that none of this would have happened if he had given Pam his phone?

Oh—I do think that call was being recorded.

Why did Benzo Mom pretend not to know Clingy Pal?

Maybe this season is happening at the same time as season 2. Tanya isn’t dead yet.

I’m fairly certain that employees of a White Lotus would know about a major murder/death of a guest at another location. I can imagine employees are given a corporate response if and when asked about it by a guest. So I can easily imagine that Belinda knows that Tanya is dead.

I can’t imagine, though, that she cares.

Ohhh. Crafty thought, except that our therapist from Maui speaks of a material passage of time, which for internal consistency cuts against your notion.

Well Time still has passed. Maybe when Greg abruptly left Tanya in Sicily, it was to meet Chloe in Thailand. He can feel comfortable going to any white lotus at this point because Tanya is still alive. And since he hasn’t secured her inheritance yet he’s organizing petty heists and grifts with Chloe to keep his double life funded.

I'm confused about Belinda. Is she still a White Lotus employee? Or is she on her own now hoping to open her own spa and at the Thai White Lotus merely as research?

Annnnnd if Tanya is still alive that means we might get a surprise cameo from her in a phone call.

r225 It's a work exchange thing – to compare and see what works back in Hawaii and what doesn't, given that this place seemingly makes more money.

Someone on Reddit who went to USC with Patrick said he's not having to act very hard to be his character, lol.

R225. There’s only about 10 minutes of dialogue in the first two episodes making g that quit clear.

R228 that describes thousands of USC dickwads.

No one with the money this family is supposed to have would send their kid to UNC instead of Duke if the kid got into both.

Tell that to the mother, a UNC grad. The plot point is that he, himself, is not sure where he wants to go.

Gaou Taurheeeelllzzzzzz

* or even what he wants, generally. The character development of the second son so far: he iis not sure where he fits in. He looks up to his brother, but sees he is a jerk. He respects his sister, but he doesn’t feel or get her religiosity. He pushes back against his mother, and doesn’t interact too much with his father. The college choice discussion is in furtherance of showing the character’s general feelings. It’s not a meta-analysis of the USNWR top 50 colleges.

Yeah it's a little early to say but I have liked Sam Nivola in everything I've seen him in -- he was good in smallish roles in the movies Eileen and White Noise as well. His parents seem like super sane down to earth people so maybe he's a good egg. There are the rare nepo-babies that prove their worth - Laura Dern for one!

[quote]Why is the hotel manager each season gay?

You don't travel much, do you Sweetie?

[quote]No one with the money this family is supposed to have would send their kid to UNC instead of Duke if the kid got into both.

That's just not true. I've worked in higher ed for my whole career. You'd be surprised how even wealthy kids turn down fancy schools to go to state schools for any number of reasons.

Y’all should read the comments to recaps on the Vulture site. Putting all of us here to shame.

I may have to watch s2 again. Who was the woman Greg is talking to on the phone in S2? Chloe?

R239, I always assumed it was the dead gay guy who got buttfucked by the British “nephew”

Quentin

[quote]I may have to watch s2 again. Who was the woman Greg is talking to on the phone in S2? Chloe?

If I recall, he kept talking about "coming home" and speaking to that person like a spouse/partner, not a business associate

Here’s a video of Sam Nivola and Piper meeting Moo Deng. Sam is as cute as can be and there’s no way he’s straight.

He’s adorable! So is Moo

"Moo..." while going down with the limp wrists...?

Similar to the paintings and ceramic heads that Mike White liked to still frame on accompanied by eerie music last season, this time it's Thai statuary and monkeys. But the statues look awfully fake, like they're made of spray-painted styrofoam. Even if they are authentic, I'm not getting that oooh-so-mysterious feel. And the monkeys are just kind of irritating.

He does have very gay mannerisms but he apparently has a girlfriend… maybe bi? Either way, he’s adorable.

R122 She didn't even met Greg in the first season. Yet, now she somehow recognizes him?

R120 He had the same haircut and the same bald spot for the last 20 years. He was probably born going bald and will die that way without actually going completely bald

Goggins has a bizarre hairline.

Because she ran the spa while he was visiting and wining/dining the woman who basically highjacked the spa.

Jeezus—does everything have to be literal or obviously shown?

Just because she didn’t see him on the show doesn’t mean she didn’t see him while he was there. The show does not show every minute of the characters lives

We need a flashback showing they were introduced by Tanya, otherwise I'm not buying anything from this season. Simple as that. .

R191 But is Greg even a suspect in Tanya's death? Why would he be hiding?

Pay attention, people. Do your homework.

R253 paranoia? Portia is still out there somewhere. I don’t think she’d investigate Tanya’s death, but Greg doesn’t know that.

He is guilty of orchestrating his rich wife’s death, that’s gotta make anyone nervous. At least for a few years. When the heat dies down, if there ever was any, he can relax some. Until then, he’s probably a bit skittish around anyone who knew him and Tanya.

R245 How are monkeys irritating? Who the hell hates monkeys?

R236 So you are telling me every single hotel manager on Earth is gay/lesbian? Unless he is trying to make it a continuing theme. Every season will have a gay hotel manager

R243 major gay voice there

I also think that Piper will want to stay in Thailand and become a Buddhist nun or whatever they are called. She already dresses like a nun. I read somewhere apparently in the episode four she discusses shaving her head with her mom or something shaved head related. So either that is she is coming out as a lesbian.

[quote]We need a flashback showing they were introduced by Tanya, otherwise I'm not buying anything from this season. Simple as that. .

R252 has quite clearly stated her boundaries. It's a dipshit boundary, but a boundary nonetheless.

I look forward to some mother daughter scenes -- they've barely interacted, have they? I feel like mom's way more fixated on the boys

What tipped you off?!

The daughter is not a very compelling character.

Not yet. There’s the rub. She could become compelling, be a basic cypher, or be an accelerant for another character.

*cipher

I thought the gays killed Tanya.

Tanya shot all of the gays and then slipped and hit her head while trying to jump from the yacht to a lifeboat. She drowned.

The mom seems completely fixated on Saxon and Saxon alone. Has she even said a word Lochlan?

She's been emphatic about which school Lochlan should go to but I think that's about it

Taurheeeelz

Oh, right, the gays were trying to kill her.

Amazing how DLers can remember every single detail from every episode of every series. I can barely remember what happened on an SVU I saw two weeks ago.

I've seen the first two seasons of White :Lotus and after 2-3 years I can only remember certain bits.

r256 Well if they eat your cigarettes...

[quote]there's also Jason Isaacs (who has a great body),

We'll apparently see it this season. All the male leads are nude at some point.

[quote]Tanya shot all of the gays and then slipped and hit her head while trying to jump from the yacht to a lifeboat. She drowned.

There was technically someone still alive on the boat (The Captain?) which is why she jumped in the water by accident instead of the boat in the first place.

R267 But at the main gay guy villa there are bunch of photos of him and Greg posing together. I'm sure cops would discover those photos. And Tanya and Greg were legally married, no?

R273 That actually sounds pretty cool. Would like them even more after that

[quote] How are monkeys irritating? Who the hell hates monkeys?

Guess you've never been to Gibraltar.

Monkeys are notoriously troublesome. I am surprised someone has never heard that before.

You take an animal that clever and nimble they know how to cause all kinds of trouble. Been well documented how they will steal people's phones to force them to give them things.

R268 Mom finds it charmingly funny that her eldest son expects a happy ending from a masseuse at a high-end resort. As she said, just a normal family.

Boys will be boys!!!

[quote] But at the main gay guy villa there are bunch of photos of him and Greg posing together. I'm sure cops would discover those photos. And Tanya and Greg were legally married, no?

Yes, they were legally married. I don't think there was any hard evidence that Greg hired the men to kill Tanya so the police couldn't do anything.

The boat captain would confirm that Tanya was the shooter, and that her death was evidently an accident. Greg was out of the country when it happened. He's the grieving widower, not a suspect.

And worth pointing out that none of this happened on the White Lotus property, it happened on a private boat in the water rather than the resort itself.

Um the bodies washed up on the hotel beach.

One reason that Thailand was selected.

Right r284. Right but from a corporate perspective they would not consider themselves liable for anything that happened off site.

That’s not the point. How it fits into the plot is the point. Jesus H Christ—

We have no idea what will be relevant, considering this is a show about murders happening at a resort chain I thought it was worth reminding people.

What if… the timeline in Thailand is concurrent with the Sicily season and Tanya isn’t dead, Greg just left her to be with his Quebecois side piece…

We went through that already 😵‍💫

Read.

It’s very likely that Saxon is toast.

He couldn’t get a happy ending.

Spending more time with the Ratliff family I'm thinking Saxon looks like the adopted child. He resembles neither father nor mother.

I am not at all invested in the gunshots. I was disappointed by the first season because I was expecting a murder mystery the whole time. These are stories about people—and most are shades of gray, The acting and locations are what make the show. Walton Goggins has turned out to be one of the finest actors around. I am increasingly impressed with him. I thought he was just ok in Hateful 8.

I vote for St. Barts for season 4 for obvious reasons.

Valentin in Vogue.

Season 4 should be set in Australia and use the mysterious koalas.

An African Big Game safari in Botswana, R296.

Maybe some sort of eco resort in Chilean Patagonia

Carnival in Rio for S4!

Just imagine the staff of hot Brazilian men.

R296 not koalas, but murderous Drop Bears!

The White Lotus: Omaha

[quote] Um the bodies washed up on the hotel beach.

Um, just Tanya's did--that's just one body. Quentin, Didier, and Nikko were all shot and killed inside the yacht's cabin.

Whoever above aid they've heard that Patrick Schwarzenegger is like his Saxon character on this: I just recently heard something exactly similar from a friend who teaches at Patrick's h..s. (Brentwood). I was disappointed because he played pretty nice characters in both "The Staircase" and "Gen V."

Unsurprisingly (given who his father is), he's an aggressive entrepreneur, and ran his own Blaze Pizza franchises at USC and at The Grove for a while.

[quote] So, that's how most spell it in Appalachia but on TV it's Ratliff.

There are many people who have "Ratliff" (with that spelling) for a last name, and some are from Appalachian states.

It's a fairly common English last name--also spelled not only Ratcliff but also Radcliff and Radcliffe--which means "red cliff." So it's not surprising that there are many from the mid-South with that name, since many of them have familial origins in the UK.

I remember seeing an interview Patrick did years ago where he was talking about how he and his high school friends all got a letter A tattoo on their fingers because they were the ‘A Team’ or ‘A Squad’ in high school.

That struck me as kind of douchey. It’s h.s., man, who gives a shit? He definitely seemed like he thought he was the man.

But, he was a teenager, so maybe he’s matured a bit.

I’m fairly confident, from his mannerisms in interviews and also certain ticks in his various roles, that Sam Nivola is on the spectrum. He’s still adorable and seems very sweet, just something I’ve noticed.

R306 So like Patrick he's a nepo baby. I'd say his father Alessandro is considerably hotter, but he's still got some growing to do. Two of his earliest roles he was cast along with his real sister, as siblings. Wonder why she didn't make the cut for White Lotus.

I've only seen him previously, also playing a son looking to get laid, in The Perfect Couple. His character was lame, but then so was the entire series.

R277 You guessed correctly. I never been to Gibraltar. What are the chances of that, right?

R278 But all those things make them even cooler.

R281 How do you know they were legally married? I must have missed that. Is Greg gay for pay?

R294 What would those obvious reasons be?

[quote] Is Greg gay for pay?

He's more like rich dowager for pay. Although it was implied that he and Quentin had a fling back in his cowboy days. Tanya was something like his 4th marriage, but it seems she paid off big.

What diseases can monkeys give you?

– Viral hemorrhagic fevers, such as Ebola virus disease.

– B virus (herpes B, monkey B virus, herpesvirus simiae, and herpesvirus B).

– Mpox.

– Gastrointestinal diseases (salmonellosis, shigellosis, campylobacteriosis).

– Yellow Fever.

– Simian immunodeficiency virus.

– Tuberculosis.

– Other diseases not yet known or identified.

[Quote] Spending more time with the Ratliff family I'm thinking Saxon looks like the adopted child. He resembles neither father nor mother.

Because tv families made up of unrelated actors always look like they’re related.

Patrick and his mother, Skeletor, are now hawking their own brand of protein bars with "brain-supporting ingredients " called MOSH.

R311 bronzer seins nus.

I wonder if Sam will ever get his father's body hair? That's a big part of Alessandro's sexiness. Do we think Sam shaves?

r317, His pit hair seems wispy, but I find that kind of erotic.

R300 - and if we get bored we can always go down to Lincoln.

Dammit.....I meant R301......dammit.

A lot of thinking that Greg is involved with the robbery but why would he do that if he got Tanya's money?

Can you really consider Sam Nivola a nepo baby in the same way that Patrick Schwarrzenegger is? His parents are working actors not wildly successful household names. Emily has an estimated net worth of 6M. That’s not one percent money. My mom was a nurse and if I had chosen to follow her path I’m sure I would have had some advantages getting started by accessing her network of friends and connections, I don’t think that would make me a nepo baby. Just in the family business.

R211 Marseille? Barcelona? You may as well suggest Naples or Belfast.

My cousin rented Emily Mortimer’s home on One Fine Stay for a week about a decade ago. It was 2 Brooklyn brownstones.

There were photos of her and Alessandro with celebrities all over the walls.

Let’s all just admit it: we consider Patrick a nepo baby because he’s obnoxious and looks a little like Sid the Sloth, and we consider Sam a product of his own hard work because he’s cute and we want to fuck him.

You are kidding yourself r322. Sam is the child of successful, prominent and well connected people in the entertainment industry. He is the absolute definition of what a nepo baby is.

Is it true that we are getting the original theme song back in the next episode?

Ooh I want to rent the Nivola / Mortimer brownstone -- there were stories about Alessandro being a nudist who was always spotted naked through the windows running around dick out back in the day. I want to lick the walls

Emily Mortimer comes from money. Her father wrote Rumpole Of The Bailey.

Of course Sam is a nepo baby. A double nepo baby, just like Patrick.

I wonder what Sam’s answer will be when he is inevitably asked about it. I hope it’s a good one like Jack Quaid had. He’s a nepo I don’t mind.

Yes, Emily's father John Mortimer was one of the biggest best-selling authors of the UK in the 1960s-1980s. Besides the highly successful Rumpole series, he wrote the beautiful novel Paradise Postponed and the brilliant memoirs Clinking to the Wreckage and A Voyage Round My Father (all filmed).

And if the name Alessandro Nivola doesn't come from centuries old Italian nobility, I'll buy you a Neapolitan pizza.

Sam hardly looks like Alessandro at all to me. I can definitely see Emily, but that’s all.

And Alessandro's grandfather was a famous Sardinian sculptor! They've got quite the lineage

R331 Sardinian peasants, but good try.

From the NEW YORKER’s review:

“…the Ratliff paterfamilias who cracks first. On the verge of being exposed for his role in some substantial financial crimes, Timothy hands over all of his devices and begins to down his wife’s pills. No one is in more urgent need of the Buddha’s teachings—“Don’t get attached, don’t have desires, don’t even try”—than a man whose wants have doomed his family. But it doesn’t occur to him that the solution to his distress may be staring him in the face. What we get instead is rather Christian: a Boschian vision of nudity and woe.”

And note that our depressed Walton is in fact looking for some crazed vengeance.

Apparently Sam said he considers himself to be more like Saxon than Lochlan (sexually) on the hbo podcast 🤢

[quote] But it doesn’t occur to him that the solution to his distress may be staring him in the face.

What, self-harm?

[quote] Apparently Sam said he considers himself to be more like Saxon than Lochlan (sexually) on the hbo podcast 🤢

The first time I heard of this Sam Nivola kid is when he gave we interview after being cast by Noah Baumbach when he was attending college. He hated drama school/film school and being forced to watch Citizen Kane with his uneducated peers. Honestly he seemed like a male Gwyneth Paltrow. Alessandro seemed mildly distressed by his son being publicly snobby.

Damn, I thought he was one of the good ones.

There are no good ones. Chinatown.

R338 oh yeah, I remember that interview! I didn’t remember it was this kid. Damn, he did sound like such a snobby brat in that interview.

Hopefully it was just a pretentious teen talking and he’s matured a bit.

Patrick has a handsome expressionless face. When he smiles he gets this small strained rectangular mouth, and his eyes turn beady. Very odd.

Yes, something weird happens with his upper lip. Reminds me of Fire Marshall Bill

R339 ah, how quickly the tides of public opinion turn

Last episode was the perfect antidote to insomnia.

took me 3 times to get through it.

R342 expressionless is the perfect way to describe his face. Handsome technically but just has no emotion

Here is the interview with Sam Nivola (and his sister May) talked about above - it's not quite as obnoxious as stated; he's basically just saying he feels like he's wasting his time on the Film 101 courses because he already knows that stuff, which is also how I felt when I took those introductory courses as a freshman.

He also talks the "nepo baby" thing and kind of answers it like we'd been clamoring for somebody to above:

"People Sam’s age tend to call children of the famous “nepo babies,” but he didn’t flinch at the term. “I totally take advantage of my parents’ being actors, because I just try to learn as much as I can from them,” he said."

The Nivola fangirl desperately trying to rally people back to her cause...

[quote]“I normally have really bad B.O., so I try to mask it.”

...and failing

Party Girl showed up in 2 of my streaming recommended queues. Are we on the verge of a Posieaissance?

Which ones R350? I've never seen it.

Sam is a kind, gentle and sensitive soul.

Believe it was Hulu and Amz Prime. I'll check. As a 30 year old film it's probably available on a number of free services at this point. You can try looking it up on JustWatch.

R351 It’s on Tubi as well.

JustWatch also lists it as free with ads on FreeVee, Pluto, Plex, Fandango OnDemand, Kanopy, Hoopla, and the Roku Channel.

Party Girl got a really nice restoration for one of its anniversaries recently, so it's made its way out of the obscurity it had fallen into - I think that it's become really popular with Gen Z actually

[quote] it's not quite as obnoxious as stated; he's basically just saying he feels like he's wasting his time on the Film 101 courses because he already knows that stuff, which is also how I felt when I took those introductory courses as a freshman.

It is obnoxious, because the obnoxious bit is telling the fucking New Yorker how basic they are. He has a serious case of the Goops.

[quote]Party Girl showed up in 2 of my streaming recommended queues. Are we on the verge of a Posieaissance?

Parker Posey was excellent in the reboot of "Lost in Space," on Netflix as the sometimes evil, self-centered, psychopathic Dr. Smith.

Parker was at her nadir in Best In Show. Brilliant work.

Oh, DEAR R359

Has Parker ever been subtle in any role? She hasn’t in anything I have seen her in.

Subtlety is not her wheelhouse and that’s completely fine

r359 also came up with the product name "Fat-Free Half & Half"!

While not "subtle" per se I thought she was human-sized and perfect in The Staircase, especially having seen the original doc -- PP actually made that woman less of a cartoon than she was in real life. Such a great turn you're sad there's not more of her in it.

I liked the subtler side that she showed in the character she played on Louis C.K.'s show, almost as if she was just being herself.

I could watch that scene with Victoria and Kate on an endless loop!

She’ll always have a place at the Dairy Queen.

Just watched the first episode and it’s delightful

Parker was good in Thelma. I would say that was a subtle, un-Parker like performance. I didn’t even realize at first it was her. That video of her in that interview with Blake has tainted her for me, though.

I don’t think Parker is an especially good actor. She’s cool and individual but that’s indicative of her persona and not her work.

Parker looked kind of messy at the premiere party

Parker always looks kind of messy, it's her thing. I think she's a brilliant comedian but not super convincing when the slightest bit of drama is asked of her. It's why she's so indicative of Gen X - she's all irony.

I met her last summer in Provincetown. Clocked her on the streeet and launched into a monologue from Party Girl that I’ve had memorized since college “you’ve given us a great idea we’ll just put the books back ANYWHeRE!”

Her reaction couldn’t have been less Victoria like. She was absolutely lovely and we ended up Strolling down commercial street for a bit chatting about this and that. She’s a very nice lady.

…launched into a monologue from Party Girl that I’ve had memorized since college…

Tedium defined.

Yes the moment of connection with one of my favorite actresses was bittersweet, knowing I had bored r374 on Datalounge.

Just like that “moment of connection” Leslie Bibb’s character had with Victoria?! 🤔

Tits on parade

[quote]Parker was at her nadir in Best In Show. Brilliant work.

You mean "zenith." "Nadir" means "lowest point."

I’m practicing Victoria’s closed-eyed, mouth full of fruit, “you go right ahead and do that” smirk in the mirror.

r359 nadir means lowest point

Why, I hear an echo at r380!

Thanks. Now can someone please look up pedantic?

Show seems a bit slight at first glance, but then you watch it again and start to wonder if there isn't more going on under the surface.

We've had two meditation scenes so far, both times the two Westerners resist and turn away from the Easterner's directions – once for worldly distractions and once for identity reasons. The teacher says "Zion" is beautiful, seemingly unaware of the present-day geopolitical implications of the name. Is this the only reason she can be so peaceful at all times, because she's tuned out all the suffering in the world? I think we'll get more of these meditation scenes and Mike White will try to have the two sides meet somewhere closer to the middle.

And the three siblings. Oldest brother is pure id (he reaches for the poisoned fruit almost instantly), the sister pure intellect. Lachlan is most like the Buddha and his Middle Way (for now), he observes the two sides pretty dispassionately. I have a feeling these dynamics will flip soon.

Anyway, I realised today I'm looking forward to this show each week more than any other show in recent memory.

I can’t get enough

R383 Lachlan trolling his sister about her sex life is Buddha-like? Nah.

Parker Posey always acts the same. Victoria could be her character in You’ve Got Mail humping Tom Hank’s leg and making dog noises.

R359 It’s not pedantic to point out when uses the most utterly wrong word possible

R383 stop with the hashish. TIA

r383 is making intelligent points, r388.

What do [italic]you[/italic] have to offer us except cheap tedious attacks?

The Russian muscle stud will give the snake bracelet to someone in the cast, long shot is Parker Posey, but most likely one of the three blond friends.

That would be profoundly stupid of him. It could be recognized not just by Chelsea but by anyone familiar with the theft- store staff, white lotus management, other guest who had shopped there etc.

It’s more likely Chelsea sees it in someone’s room or house or out and about

The close-up of the snake necklace (I think it was a necklace, not a bracelet) was a real Chekhov's gun moment.

We have snakes and poisoned fruit, so the Edenic parallels are pretty clear.

I will always love Parker Posey for playing the queen bee bitch senior in Dazed and Confused.

"AIR RAID, ALL OF, YOU, You little sluts and bitches.".

That she turned out to be a sad drunk by the end of that movie ("Lick Me! All of You!) hammered it home.

r387, Sweetie, I was mocking that two people felt the need to explain that long after people nmore clever had made their points in true DL style when it happened. Do keep up.

Stop being so nasty and condescending when you're clearly the idiot in the room, r394.

If you had just graciously accepted your idiotic mistake at r359, you would have been ignored. But now we know you to be both stupid AND a cunt.

^ this bish again...

Would such a big resort with a jewelry store inside only have one guard? That operates a ramp by lifting it by hand?

It’s the jungle. And it’s fiction.

Victoria referring to herself as the “beautiful wife” was a stretch. Parker has never been a beauty.

Noticed that Sam Nivola looks rather bulge-less in his little swim shorts. I take it he’s not so big in that department

He’s English, so naturally. . . .

So far the only thing I dislike is the music this season

[quote] [R383] Lachlan trolling his sister about her sex life is Buddha-like? Nah.

He wasn;t trolling her. He asked because he was genuinely curious.

This show sure succeeds in making you speculate about what happens next. I'm eager for Episode 3!

[Quote] We have snakes and poisoned fruit, so the Edenic parallels are pretty clear. R392

We also have the daughter who was called out as a virgin by her brother. Original sin is definitely on the menu.

The original sin was [italic]not[/italic] sex.

The original sin was disobeying God's edict not to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The Adam and Eve story almost perfectly exemplifies the human condition. Humans by definition cannnot know all knowledge and we can only speculate as to why we are here and how we behave as we do. The Tree of Knowledge is can never be ours to harvest because we, simply, will never have proof.

I wonder which characters will reach that realisation? Maybe the sister who will become a Buddhist nun.

I keep re-watching Rick’s therapy session.

He’s very self-aware. That’s rare for a man with his background (I’m assuming lower-class, chaotic upbringing.)

I wonder how he got that way.

Also, he seems to have some sort of physical, visceral reaction when first introduced to the French Canadian gal. He actually flinches and sort of leans away from her, shielding his body.

What’s that about?

I didn’t like it when he called Chelsea an idiot. I don’t think I can root for him after that.

R408, Rick is a disturbing character; he looks for conflict. Chelsea told him that creates situations so that he can feel unhappy. Of course Rick called her an idiot: he has a chance to be happy with her, so his instinct is to push her away.

Why would anyone “root for Rick” at this point?

There is a faint possibility he may kill Greg. And if that’s the case, print me up a TEAM RICK T-shirt.

R410, I like your question. It made me think.

We’re sort of conditioned to root for tragic characters, which Rick appears to be.

Also, on some level we think he can’t be call bad because Chelsea loves him.

Though, honestly, I find myself deeply saddened by the fact she’s with him. Young woman with a lot going for her, yet she’s with this asshole / sad sack. I hope he at least had money.

And, hey! Maybe he’ll kill Duke Dad AND Greg/Gary!

R410 Cause he's the most interesting character this season?

R412 He's "retired" and all they do is travel the world, from one exotic destination to another. How would they be able to afford that if he wasn't rich?

Also, Rick's reaction when greeting Chelsea after the robbery shows that deep down he's a good guy and cares about her.

And his abs are awesome!

R414, Chelsea comments in ep 1 “We should always live this way!” implying they might not be wealthy.

I wonder if Rick could be a PI on assignment to find and / or kill Greg/Gary, and decided to dig into his Pops situation while he’s in the neighborhood.

In other words, his daddy issues are a red herring. Surely Tanya’s family would dig into her murder?

Would explain him acting twitchy around Greg/Gary and French Canadian.

Plus, there has to be a reason those two characters (Greg and Rick) are being brought together. Why would we care about seeing those characters interact if it’s just a random dinner?

Plus, the “this and that can be a good line of work” conversation seemed pretty portentous.

Greg practically twirled a villainous mustache during that conversation.

Mike White wastes no dialogue, as most of us have learned.

I accidentally watched a preview of upcoming episodes. I try not to, as they have too many spoilers.

I’m scared to watch

I think Parker Posey is the best thing in the cast. Her character seems drugged most of the time. And I love how her character had to take a pill before her massage and then she bounced onto the massage table! I liked her interaction with Leslie Bibb, too. Your character is trying to play a peacemaker with her family, but clearly doesn’t know how to go about doing it.

I want to watch a show all about Victoria Ratliff! She may be the last of the rich, Southern eccentrics. Or, she might be just another pill head. But I’m holding out hope for true eccentricity.

I think once GenX dies off there won’t be any more old school, kooky Southerners.

Pity..

The Ratliff kids are giving me a whiff of “The Secret History.”

Or maybe I just have Donna Tartt on the brain because she and Parker Posey remind me of each other.

Rick gave off PI vibes to me from the start. Asking about the owner’s husband, staring at the owner, refusing to say what his line of work is, etc.

Greg and Rick interacted almost as if they already know each other.

There’s some weird undercurrent I can’t quite define.

Maybe they saw each other on scruff?

R425 I think that the owner's husband is either Rick's dad or he murdered or had something to do with the murder of his dad. I'm leaning towards the second. Unless Rick made that whole story about his mother dying and his dad being killed. I think he is going to try to take him down.

R428 we know from the reviews that he is on a revenge mission.

I cold it before but I think that Chloe and Chelsea will have sex with Saxon. The way Chloe said "cute" while Chelsea was describing him as a douche from a rich arrogant family. This will maybe lead to Saxon having sex with one of his siblings, or at least trying to. A big orgy. But stil don't know where the satanic part comes in, cause that's what Mike described it as, right?

R429 I see. I don't watch previews or trailers, they ruin the experience for me.

Who said anything about previews or trailers. Read the New Yorker!

So many dumb people here…

So are DLers going to be watching the Oscars or this tonight. There is a lot of overlap between viewers of White Lotus and people who care about the Oscars.

R432 How would the reviews know what will happen? Unlike the people writing those reviews have seen all the episodes, which again would be the same as watching previews and trailers, so why the fuck would I do that?

So many dumb people here…

^^Unless, not unlike

r435, as has been written on numerous posts, the first 6 of 8 eps were released to the media. JFC.

R438 Yeah, but I don't want to know that stuff. As I said, I don't even watch the previews for the next episode. So if you are going to write about those reviews here,it them in spoilers. A lot of us don't want to to know, it ruins the experience of enjoying the show.

R439 it’s all over this very thread. How dense are you? It’s not a spoiler, ignatz..

[quote] So are DLers going to be watching the Oscars or this tonight. There is a lot of overlap between viewers of White Lotus and people who care about the Oscars.

People can watch The White Lotus tonight as soon as it’s available and then look at their phone to see who won what award during that time.

Can we? Gee whiz, thanks Pop!

R440 Do you know what a spoiler is, you absolute moron? A piece of information that still hasn't been revealed in the show. Something that spoils it, you fuckface. So that is exactly what a spoiler is.

Bless your heart. Inference is not your friend, is it? Readin’ books is hard too, eh.

Huh?

Here we go!

Holy shit! I didn't see that coming, well this changes everything.

ALL HANDS ON DECK!

So curious to know what you are talking about r447. Can't wait to key this up after the Oscars

Don’t go on the boat Chelsea!

Ooooh, the Tanya connection is being made.

Oh my...

“Just because people are rich doesn’t mean they’re not trashy”

I like Victoria more every episode

Spoilers, please!

r454, if we told you now, you'd shit yourself...didn't see this twist.

You show me yours and i’ll show you mine. ;)

[quote]I cold it before but I think that Chloe and Chelsea will have sex with Saxon.

Okay (SPOILER) .....

Now it looks like Saxon may set up Lochy with Chloe, Lochy can't perform, so Saxon turns it into a threesome.

As for Satanism, a straight man with another man and a woman is known as a "devil's triangle."

R455 what was the twist? I watched it but don’t know what you’re talking about

The "development" between the three women friends was delicious in ratcheting up the tension.

What was the deal with the posture class? Left foot on right knee means you’re feminine??

The opening theme song is growing on me.

Lochy’s gay is what he was getting at

I do feel bad for Lochlan. He’s obviously already super insecure and then his family just nitpicks his body/lack of muscle/posture all day. And THEN his posture therapist tells him he’s defensive and sits like a girl. And he’s not even allowed to watch his tsunami videos to feel better 😆

Oh boy, Dad is unraveling.

R463 who fucking cares. He’s weird and needs to grow a pair already. He acts all meek and needs to toughen up.

That’s a bizarrely harsh take r465. it’s a comfort to know you won’t have kids because you sound like an abusive father.

Yup, Timothy is losing it. I think he’s gonna get wild at the yacht party!

I wonder if the three women will be invited?

Greg’s gf and Saxon are gonna hookup and he’ll invite lochlan to join in. This is where the Saxon/lochlan stuff is going to happen.

In Victoria’s dream Lochlan was surrounded by the ladyboys On the beach.

This will irritate those here who resent being lumped together with trans

But this clearly means that , Subconsciously, She knows that he’s gay

A real energy healing massage

The White Lotus doesn't really seem to be all that great for a luxury hotel. It takes ages to get coffee at breakfast, it takes a full day to get a blender, the therapists are oddly pushy and judgemental, the owner demands attention, the lack of security...

Is Mike White super-sober or something? Having Rick have that reaction to a single joint seemed ridiculous.

Plus, R470, what luxury hotel has the owner doing karaoke during dinner? Does that happen at Raffles?

All I could think of was pee wees big adventure when he rescues the snakes from the burning pet store.

I am getting a kick out of Saxon, he is a shit stirrer

R460 In traditional Chinese medicine the left side of the body is associated with “yin” or feminine energy.

There's something about Patrick S that reminds of Trump Jr. The mouth maybe? I've never followed any of the threads about him so apologies if this has already been discussed.

R470 Rick said the joint was laced with something. Regular weed wouldn’t have made him react like that.

Rick was just saying to mask the fact the guy is having a mental breakdown. Between opening up about his feelings to the therapist, something he has probably never done to someone in his life, and finally confronting the person who he thinks killed his father the guy is not a good place.

r476 Yeah but that was a bullshit excuse.

[quote]what luxury hotel has the owner doing karaoke during dinner

That was a bit of inside baseball for you!

Lek Patravadi, who plays Sritala (the former actress as they’ve only reminded us a dozen times), was actually performing her own original song. She first performed it in her show back in 1987.

Here’s a clip of a much younger Patravadi performing it on Thai television, it starts about 2 minutes and 30 seconds in.

That cobra must’ve given Chelsea a dry bite because otherwise she’d most likely still be in the hospital. Or at least laid up in her room. Snake bites can take weeks to heal. Even a dry bite would do damage. They’re very painful.

That little square gauze patch wasn't really selling it as a dangerous bite.

This is just me nitpicking.

When do we get to see Sam Nivola’s ass?

Yeah I was also taken back how Chelsea was just back at dinner with a little bandage like it was bee sting r480. They should have had dialogue about to at least clarify the snake didn't actually insert any venom with the bite, which can happen. Not every venomous snake bite will always use venom.

Didn't know they were so liberal when it comes to weed in Thailand. Thought the laws were very strict when it comes to drugs, even marijuana.

R457 If that's satanic, they did way more satanic shit in previous seasons. Doubt Mike would call a threesome, satanic ritual.

R483, I think weed was recently legalized there for medicinal purposes.

R481: I recall Patrick saying that his racy scenes were around episodes five and six so maybe then.

Another boring episode. Nothing happened. Still waiting for the gay stuff.

Taylor Swift should have had a PR relationship with Patrick Schwarzenegger, she likes the Kennedys

R487 = shallow, boring, uninteresting. Has trouble building foundation, story lines, plots, character motivations. The type that cums in less than 3 seconds, then bolts out the door impatiently waiting for its next thrill. Shallow, boring, uninteresting. Sad.

What, no comments on the reveal that Leslie Bibb’s character is a Trumpanzee? I thought that was significant.

R490, it wasn’t much of a surprise. She’s all in on being a Texas socialite.

This was a slow one although a lot of plot pieces were set up. I did love Belinda’s recap of recent life events, and her encounter with Greg. I’m getting a little bit bored with the three friends and their shifting alliances. Carrie Coon’s character is the only one that I care about even a little, at least at this point.

The Blonde Blob (as podcasters call them) is not that interesting. Too close to the real life people I deal with.

The Ratliffs, Rick and Chelsea, and Belinda are the most interesting to me.

I actually find Jacklyn the least annoying, mostly because she’s the only one who seems happy about where they are in life. You’ll notice the other two seemed really upset to be talked about. She just kind of accepted the truth with a rueful smirk.

What did Belinda hear at the end of the episode? Did she think someone was in her room? I think she said ‘wtf is that’ or something, but I didn’t hear anything.

I sent my dad some books for his birthday. He didn’t even acknowledge that he got them, so eventually I asked him if he was still an avid reader, etc.

He burst out: “YES, BUT I DONT LIKE ANYTHING WEIRD! NOTHING SUPERNATURAL!”

Now, he never says two words about anything. And I’ve never sent him anything “supernatural.” So this outburst was quite puzzling.

I can only conclude this is some FOX news talking point.

So I died laughing when Kate tried to turn a massage into something “witchy.” These far right loons have really lost the plot.

Where did the cougars grow up? I know they were childhood friends.

Not getting the love for Victoria.

A snobby, tranquillised Southern matriarch who has a mild crush on her own son isn’t White’s most original writing.

Maybe I’m trying to find some depth because in her eager was to find other people trashy, she has the table manners of Tom Sandoval on the Traitors. Maybe her family wasn’t as posh as she makes out.

This show could be called "Vibes," because that's most of what it is. Not much happens, but it's nice to look at.

Instead of Tim killing his family, I think he will get too hooked on the pills, fall into the river and accidentally drown. The body Zion sees at the beginning will be his.

Agree about Saxon hooking up with Chloe and inviting Lochlan to join, which leads to Loch coming out. Not sure where that leaves Piper and the weird incest vibes from the first episode.

The slow destruction of the girlfriend group is being handled extremely well.

Belinda will figure out what happened to Tanya and Greg/Gary. But I think she will survive. It would be a fitting end for Greg if he dies on his yacht like Tanya did.

I’m worried for sweet, ineffectual Gaitok. I think he will be forced to take up arms in a sea of troubles and will wind up dead.

I watched last night’s ep with friends after the Oscars, and they were all bitching about how boring it was. I wasn’t bored, I’m into the deeper characterizations, minor plot advances and all the atmosphere, setting the table as it were.

But though this series could be a more concentrated six pisodes, Max wants eight for their most awarded, prestigious and highly rated show. So that means some episodes will be as languorous as an afternoon in a beach hammock. This isn’t’ a two hour movie, it’s an eight hour series, so get into and enjoy the rhythm of it.

That said, I would prefer to binge this series rather than watch week by week.

I'm into "deeper characterizations" too R500, but I don't feel that we're getting that. Seriously, has any character significantly "deepened" since the premiere? Other than Walton Goggins' Rick, I can't think of one. You can describe everyone else in just one or two words. And that's why I find this season somewhat boring. So far, there are no personality quirks or foibles apparent, no obviously interesting storylines, and no one I particularly care about.

I'm not giving up. The show may still get there, but right now, I find it lacking.

The old broad playing Sritala is giving an amateurish performance. Her facial reactions and hand gestures are downright bad.

Victoria seemed much less druggy this episode. Maybe there’s more substance there? I found that development interesting.

I think Gaitok will be fine. I’m way more worried for Fabian’s survival. I think he’ll get offed at a sound tech rehearsal for his singing debut.

Gaitok still seems like a controlling little weasel to me.

I wonder what song Fabian will choose for his singing debut! I hope nothing happens to ruin his big night. He’s been practicing!

Gaitok seems fine. He’s going to go Jet Li on the bad guys at some point.

Those other two guards are probably in on the robbery with Valentin and the two bodyguards. They seemed very shifty when they said that he had to go see the boss.

The actor playing Fabian can sing. He is the first hotel manager in the series to only be listed in the recurring cast, not in the credits.

I would gladly fill Lachlan‘s gap.

[quote] The old broad playing Sritala is giving an amateurish performance. Her facial reactions and hand gestures are downright bad.

There’s an issue with all the characters this season played by the Asian actors. They’re inscrutable and it’s not clear what they are actually thinking or feeling.

It’s Gaitok that snaps- I think he is a total weirdo and the girl is trying to let him down easy but he’s not seeing any of the signs she isn’t interested in him that way.

Gaitok is cute.

The season will end with Gaitok marching into the sea like Geraldine Page at the end of INTERIORS.

I agree, r511. Gaitok has very weird, George Zimmerman energy.

Gaitok is going to be a hero

The dynamic of all of the couples seems to be a guilty/messed-up guy (Rick, Greg, Jason) with a materialistic, airhead girlfriend/wife (Chelsea, Chloe, Victoria). If only these guys could actually communicate. I think Chelsea and Chloe have what it takes to sort out their guy's problems and maybe Victoria could get it together too.

I also have to agree I see Gaitok as a tragic character who is going to go down a dark path this season trying to impress Lisa.

Did you all notice that Lisa performed a song on The Oscars? She looked completely different and I thought she sounded a lot like Ariana.

I don’t think Chelsea is a materialistic airhead. She seems like a naturally cheerful but grounded person. If she was looking for a guy to spoil her she would not be with Rick.

R491 Isn't Austin supposed to be liberal/Democratic?

r520 it sort of is, but it's still Texas. And her husband is probably a native.

Funny how in the first season the hotel manager was the main character, in the second she was a secondary character, and now in the third the hotel manager is almost an extra.

I’m so sad to see this

Austin is a liberal bubble, but a lot of the surburbs around it are still conservative. Which I imagine this character loved in the burbs.

And the background is important, this is a church going family whose socializes with the other families that go to their church.

I don't like that Fabian wanted Gaitok to be fired. And I rooted for that weird little fucker up until now.

It's smart to switch it up that r522 IMO, keeps the formula fresh. And its nice to spend time with Thai characters who are lower on the economy hierarchy than a hotel manager would be.

So who is walking into a tsunami or is getting eaten by a big wave? Cause after tonight's episode we know it is happening to someone. Timothy?

Is Timothy really a grown man's name? I'm not an American but to me that sounds like a name you would call a child untill he grows up. And how do you get addicted to pills after taking only one single pill?

Timothy is the grown up name, vs. childish Timmy or bland Tim.

R525, I don't like Fabian at all. He seems far too brittle and neurotic to be running the world's best hotel.

Gaitok is a terrible security guard! He fucked up! He should be fired.

Yes, Fabian is a humorless cunt, but he’s right about this.

The Ringer podcast seems to think Tim gave up his phone so he could enjoy his last few days of freedom. But I see it as him realizing he won’t be able to follow his lawyer’s instructions (“don’t talk to anyone”) unless he gets rid of the phone.

Gaitok has better career prospects selling his arse to the bald LBH!!!

R530 $10 says he could play a killer Nazi

I think Tim is having a breakdown and just cannot deal. he wants to evade having to deal with lawyers and jpuranlists and the FBI, and wants to escape into Victoria's Lorazepam stash.

New conspiracy theory is that is that this season and last season are unfolding at the same time and that Belinda will have a phone conversation with Tonya.

r535: that theory was undone by the teaser for next week's episode, which shows Belinda reading a newspaper story about Tonya's death in Sicily.

R534 Really?! That’s what you got from this episode?

Yup, Belinda will know Tanya is dead. And she googles Greg and sees what he looks like, so she knows he’s lying about being Gary.

He told Chloe a bs story about how Tanya died, I’m sure Belinda will mention the truth.

It’s time for Gary to split, not throw a yacht party.

Victoria is going to count her remaining Lorazepam and realize she doesn't have enough to last through her trip, she goes ape shit.

Will Timothy become a Buddhist monk or walk into a tsunami? He can't return to the USA, right?

I want to see Lochlan bang a gong and get it on with a cute Buddhist monk. I want to see his lithe body draped in marigold.

No way Timothy is getting out of this alive.

From part 1:

[quote] I'm finding a lot of the casting kinda weak. I don't believe Parker and Jason as husband and wife and their 3 kids bear no resemblance to them or to each other.

Patrick is too old for his part. The younger siblings are convincing as 18 and 20, but he looks a decade older (which he is).

The ruse to get Belinda back is none too convincing. Nobody is going to send a masseuse off to Thailand for a week of pampering at a luxury resort as “training.”

What hot 24 year old should’ve played Saxon?

I wonder if Belinda was sensing Tanya’s ghost/spirit in her room like a poltergeist?

I was thinking the noise in Belinda's room might be her son Zion? We know he is arriving at some point.

I distinctly heard a ghostly voice intoning: “These gays are trying to murder me!”

How is Patrick too old when we haven't even been given an age for Saxon r543? We know Lachlan is a high school senior and we know Piper is a college senior. I don't think Saxon has been giving a specific age.

But I like Patrick here personally, I think he is perfectly cast I this wannabe alpha male who is still kinda a loser. A nepo baby perfectly playing a nepo baby character.

R544 I think she is there for a few months, not just a week. Still more believable than this place only having one guard securing the whole place.

I didn't know that the actress who plays the lady who manages the resort is a big celeb in Thailand.

Only last night did I realize I'd seen the actor who plays Fabian in "Babylon Berlin", also in a gay role.

[quote]I wonder if Belinda was sensing Tanya’s ghost/spirit in her room like a poltergeist?

While I doubt that's what's happening, that would be fun.

Even last season had its supernatural element with the psychic that was correct.

Maybe it could be ghost Tanya's way of apologizing for screwing her over by protecting her from Greg but in typical show style we'll never be sure that's exactly what's happening.

[quote] How is Patrick too old when we haven't even been given an age for Saxon [R543]? We know Lachlan is a high school senior and we know Piper is a college senior.

It’s plausible that Saxon is supposed to be 30, but unlikely.

It sounds like Saxon is just starting his career where daddy works, and so I’d put his character at maybe 24-26? Pat could stretch for that age.

Schwarzenegger is very good looking in a smarmy way, but he reads as every minute of 31. I guess it sort of adds to the creepiness of his weird over-interest in his siblings’ virginity?

I love Natasha Rothwell, but it’s Valentina that I keep wishing had gotten to come to Thailand on the staff cross-training scheme.

Valentina would've been great to see again. Maybe next season.

[quote] What, no comments on the reveal that Leslie Bibb’s character is a Trumpanzee? I thought that was significant.

I'm an INDEPENDENT.

R552: in Zone of Interest, he ran the gas chambers and gave his wife furs, all the while fucking the slave workers!

R556 ehich makes no sense at all. Capice?

Thank god I’m 35 and can still pass for 30, R556.

I think that probably in a lorazepam haze, Timothy is going to take Lochy's virginity.

Those of you who are claiming Patrick Schwarzenegger cannot pass for someone in his mid 20s are full of applesauce.

RKF Jr. wants to outlaw lorazepam so Parker Posey will be a Democrat in Season 4.

r550 It could be meant as a critique on companies cutting costs and shirking on the really important stuff. I made a Jurassic Park joke in the last thread but it applies - they "spared no expense" on the customer-facing stuff, but the important behind the scenes stuff gets ignored and that has consequences. Same with the fruit with the toxic seeds, which again mirrors JP.

Or it's just sloppy writing.

R562 … I don’t think lorazepam makes you do that.

I’m crying right now as i type this

Mike White has remained loyal to his Survivor castmates.

[quore] I don’t think Chelsea is a materialistic airhead. She seems like a naturally cheerful but grounded person. If she was looking for a guy to spoil her she would not be with Rick.

Just because she has nice manners, doesn’t make her any less someone who trade her sexuality for creature comforts like Chloe, Victoria or Kate.

She’s an ex-yoga teacher who has devoted her life to global tropical tourism living off the wares of a likely career criminal over twice her age. She was going to accept gold jewellery from Greg’s credit card.

Rick is spoiling her all right. He is a more tender person than Greg but he knows why she is with him.

[quote] Just because she has nice manners, doesn’t make her any less someone who trade her sexuality for creature comforts like Chloe, Victoria or Kate.

Or for that matter like Greg did the last two seasons. Or like Jack did last season.

This season needs another Valentina blurting out “Pepper Pig” moment.

This season needs to never have been.

[quote] This season needs another Valentina blurting out “Pepper Pig” moment.

The single most unrealistic moment of the entire show.

PS’s jawline is what keeps him from being truly handsome. It’s a bit doughy. The rest is good.

Wild theory: Timothy will walk into the big wave like the guy in the video they were watching and Rick will save him. Something has to happen between those two, considering they show them arguing twice in the first episode.

I like the theory that the sicilian and taxi white lotus seasons are playing out simultaneously

I didn’t know what r571 was talking about so I did my own research.

The Peppa Pig line made me laugh so fucking hard when I heard it. Especially because I was thinking Miss Piggy, myself.

Watching the first episode of the season again, I developed a new theory: Sritala is actually a man who is in his drag persona when running the resort and presents as a man when in Bangkok. Rick may be aware of that.

I had a thought that Sritala is a ladyboy. Ladyboys seem to be a theme.

Maybe Sritala IS Rick's father.

[quote] This season needs another Valentina blurting out “Pepper Pig” moment.

Oh, [italic]dear.[/italic]

Fuck you R475! Now I can't unsee that!

R562, I'd watch the hell out of that scene.

Locky's bussy is the 'white lotus' of this season apparently, just open for the pickin'!!

Ripe for the plucking…The better phraseology, I believe.

I’m not getting the significance of the blonde friends.

Why give screen time to three women being catty? What’s the point?

I loved the very quick shot of "Locky" correcting his posture at the dinner table with his crazy ass family. He's adorable.

I want Lachlan to walk in on Saxon and Belinda’s fit Thai masseur doing 69 and when Lachlan proves he has a bigger cock than Saxon the masseur wants him to fuck him.

Link to new thread since this one will max out soon.

There was an amusing brief shot of Saxon at breakfast staring down at his chest as he tries a tit bounce underneath his "Southern Tide" preppy polo shirt when he thinks no one is looking at him.

[quote] Why give screen time to three women being catty? What’s the point?

The point is of no return, and you've reached it!

R587 there’s clearly going to be a blow out fight at some point. They’re just setting it up. All seems fine and then, bam, trumpkin Kate puts the poison fruit that Saxon found in one of her friend’s fruit salad and sticks a cobra in the boot of the other.

Then a monkey gets a gun and blows Kate away.

Just you wait.

That would be a satisfying ending, R593.

What's the point r587? Mike White's favorite thing to do is explore human behavior. You can tell he has having a blast writing the scenes between the three women. Honestly in many respects I'd say that is his best writing so far this season.

I wonder if Sam Nivola’s ever gotten pegged by his gf Iris Apatow

I think poor put upon Fabian will be the gun man.

R576 - yes, I do too. What a mindfuck that would be, but I'm not sure White would go in that direction. I'd love to be wrong, though.

What was the significance of Victoria's tsunami dream?

[quote] What was the significance of Victoria's tsunami dream?

All will be revealed. It won’t necessarily make sense, but all will be revealed.

Agree R595. I love watching the warped power dynamics seesaw between various characters, especially those with carefully curated personalities like the 3 women friends. White Lotus specializes in that kind of slow burn character development, and I adore it.

[quote] Funny how in the first season the hotel manager was the main character, in the second she was a secondary character, and now in the third the hotel manager is almost an extra.

We have the owner as a major character.