The White Lotus Season 3 - Postmortem

While I liked the season I don’t want to see anybody back. Maybe the sweet Thai masseur that Belinda dumped or Valentin. But that’s about it.

Walton Goggins is getting a lot of good will right now but now there are rumors of him having an affair during filming, hope that's not true as his wife and child would visit him there.

Who cares? Let him live.

What if he did, R2, what do you care? Shit happens on locations.

I want to see Aleksei back for a series of nude scenes.

I hope next season is 100% new characters. We don’t need anymore returning characters unless it’s Victoria with her new husband after leaving Tim because he went broke.

Isn’t this supposed to be Part 10?

[quote] Not sure why Belinda would push Greg off a yacht. I think she kind of joined Team Greg by taking that payoff and showed they're really kind of on the same page, really deep down. Money changes everything.

I think that ultimately, what it comes down to is that Belinda was feeling some kind of loyalty to Tanya, but then realized that Tanya fucked her over in the end.

So Tanya didn't deserve loyalty from her, and why not take the money?

Someone posted this on the Part 9 Thread:

[quote] Mike White is letting us know THE TRUTH about why the composer is quitting

I'm Team Mike White on this one.

The composer sounds like an asshole. I think that he thinks the show's success is all because of him.

People do like the music, but ultimately, it's about the show and the characters. Not the music.

And going to crew members to tell them you're quitting, but not to the boss of the show. It does show contempt.

I hope that people in Hollywood see what an asshole the composer is, and he gets cancelled.

[quote] Walton Goggins is getting a lot of good will right now but now there are rumors of him having an affair during filming, hope that's not true as his wife and child would visit him there.

I happened upon an article that had a bunch of WL Thailand cast photos, and the minute I saw the photos of Walt and Aimee Lou, I thought "there's something going on between them."

The photos of them together looked more like a couple, rather than just friends.

They’re both assholes.

I'm pretty sure they were hooking up.

Their sex scene together must have triggered it.

[quote] Isn’t this supposed to be Part 10?

Yes.

[quote] Popular ‘White Lotus’ Star Feared She Was Too ‘Ugly’ for HBO

Before landing her role as Chelsea on The White Lotus, Aimee Lou Wood wasn't too confident that she had the right look for HBO.

"Someone told me how much [creator Mike White] had fought for me. They said ‘it had to be you, no matter what HBO said,'" Wood told GQ. "It was honestly from the nicest place, but my little head goes: ‘HBO didn’t want me. And I know why HBO didn’t want me, it’s because I'm ugly. Mike had to say ‘Please let me have the ugly girl!' That was the thing that was in my head."

Elsewhere in the interview, Wood is asked about her teeth — which protrude and feature a gap.

“It makes me really happy that it’s symbolizing rebellion and freedom, but there’s a limit,” she told the outlet.

"The whole conversation is just about my teeth, and it makes me a bit sad because I'm not getting to talk about my work. They think it’s nice because they’re not criticizing. And, I have to go there. … I don’t know if it was a man would we be talking about it this much? It’s still going on about a woman’s appearance," she added.

Reflecting the views of the “tiny minority.”

[quote] Mike White Just Teased the Location for ‘The White Lotus’ Season 4 (& It's Not What You Think)

The White Lotus has mastered the art of escapism, thanks to its visually stunning and exotic locations. Season one took viewers to a luxury resort in Hawaii, then headed to the gorgeous Four Seasons San Domenico Palace in Taormina, Sicily, for season two. Now, fans have wrapped things up in Thailand after weeks of theorizing about the latest mystery in season three. And since season four has already been confirmed, many are eager to see where the show's creator and writer, Mike White, will take them next.

While fans have grown quite used to the sunny, beach-side destinations, White recently told Deadline that he plans to switch to a new setting. He said, “For the fourth season, I want to get a little bit out of the crashing waves of rocks vernacular, but there’s always more room for more murders at the White Lotus hotels.”

White didn’t elaborate further, but he did tease just enough to suggest that season four's guests won't be vacationing at a similar luxury hotel, which already feels like an interesting twist.

Regarding the new setting, HBO drama chief Francesca Orsi also told Deadline in February, “We’re going on some locations scouting in the next couple of weeks, so we’ll know soon. I can’t really say where we’re going to land, but chances are somewhere in Europe.” She also noted that there were “some countries on the map that we talked about, but nothing to report on until they actually go locations scouting.”

FYI, all three seasons of The White Lotus have taken place in warmer settings, and White's producing partner, David Bernad, once told The Guardian that he “doesn’t like the cold,” so we can at least rule out a ski resort. Still, something tells me that this new destination won't disappoint.

Per Rolling Stone, while attending Sydney’s Vivid Festival, White mentioned that he'd be open to filming in Australia. He said, “My dream would be to hit every continent, so yeah, this is like its own continent basically. We kind of have to come to Australia if we keep going. It would be so fun. Obviously, there’s a huge wealth of talent here and the beauty is inarguable, so it feels like it checks all the boxes.”

Someone pointed out that one of the results Belinda turned up in her on-line search for news of Tonya, is that there was already a property in development about her life and mysterious death. Fodder for a storyline in an upcoming season. The renewed attention not good news for Greg, but a possible consulting opportunity for Portia.

Mike White's inevitable downfall is going to be fun to watch. I don't actually have any malice towards him, but watching him gleefully burn bridges, throw people under buses, etc, you just know it's coming.

Re Lochlan and the poisoned drink, a friend of mine just opined: "There's no way that bottom used a dirty blender." And I'm still getting a laugh out of that remark as I nod in agreement.

[quote]but a possible consulting opportunity for Portia.

And that'd be the season I skip.

Mike White unpacks Episode 8.

I remember the rumor that White uses a ghost writer

R23 is Aviva Drescher with the "Word on the Street."

[quote] Mike White's inevitable downfall is going to be fun to watch. I don't actually have any malice towards him, but watching him gleefully burn bridges, throw people under buses, etc, you just know it's coming.

Who is he burning bridges with? He said he wasn't even fighting with the composer but giving him notes. The composer did some great memorable stuff but he sounds kind of annoying is his NYTimes interview. This repsonse particularly: "It’s kind of weird right now because I announced to the team a few months ago that I was not coming back, that I was leaving. I didn’t tell Mike for various reasons; I wanted to tell him just at the end for the shock and whatever. Except I told the whole editorial team and music editor and producer and all that, but I didn’t think that they were going to tell him. At some point he heard about that". Mature and professional!

R18 so does that mean we get a white lotus series about a limited run streaming series “the tragedy of Tanya McQuaid”being filmed at a white lotus resort? With actors playing actors playing Greg, Tonya and Portia, etc?

I really hope we're done with Greg/Gary for a while. I lost interest in him. I think Jon Gries is a fine actor, but I think the character is purposefully underwritten 9so as to keep him mysterious) and I found that a bore this season.

Yeah, my wife is a composer and she’s team White.

Max or "HBO" shows typically don't go on for long periods of time. It will be interesting to see how many seasons it ends up going. Given the ratings this season, I'm sure season four and all future seasons will contain eight episodes.

Yeah, sounds like the composer was the one burning bridges, and pretty much just for stupid cuntish reasons. Fuck him. Get another composer. I'm sure they're lining up.

I wish the whole family drank those piña coladas in full

It actually wound up being a good thing the composer so drastically changed the music they used for the third season from the first two, because it will seem like less of a shock for the music for the fourth season (if they can get a good composer for it).

I’m with R19. The composer was absolutely unprofessional and dramatic but I can see Mike White flaming out in spectacular fashion. You could already see the cracks in his storytelling this season. Yesterday he yelled at his critics that he was edging them and they should get out of his bed if they don’t like it. Today he’s sinking to the level of his former composer and basically calling him a bitch. The pressure is getting to him for sure.

I think Chelsea is a hobosexual, just spriting around, reading tarot cards and fucking dudes for a roof over her head. There are a ton of them in the jam band scene

You weren’t watching the series very carefully^

Not going to lie, the second I saw Goggins put his mouth on Aimee Lou's breastlet, I had this intuitive jolt through my body: "They are banging in real life -- or will be." It was a hot scene. Goggins is hot as hell and Aimee Lou is young and adorable. It would have required the will power of a demigod to not go there. And in hot, steamy Thailand, no less.

Mike White said in his New Yorker interview that he envisioned WHITE LOTUS running for six seasons.

I was really hoping there would be a three way between Sax, Loch and Belinda... something like they went to her room for a massage and she was waiting around for them batting around her big ol mommy milkers and invite them to latch on since they are both mama's boys and then when they were all fulled up on her chocolate milk she'd be all .. take a dip in my inky well and Sax would go first while Loch watched and then Sax would help guide Loch into her dark folds while they high fived. Woulda be so hot

Do not give up your day job, bigot.

I still can’t believe that it took six months to film this. Did they get five usable minutes a day?

The fact that the majority of the cast reported being on location for the full 6-7 months, and in most cases, the subgroups of characters were never in scenes together, just seems like bad planning.

It was my favorite season so far.

It was the weakest season so far. Mike White can write a great half an hour. But he doesn't know how to fill up an hour. That last episode was beyond slow. It almost made time stop still.

Same, R42.

S3 got under my skin in a way the other two didn't. I enjoyed the first two seasons, but this season vibrates at my frequency. I really can't understand the people who are so down on this season. It feels so pedantic and senseless to rage against someone else's creative vision. And yet if someone found it boring, who am I to tell them their opinion is wrong?

Maybe it's because I have been drawn to Buddhism my whole life as an American, but I just *got* this season on a profound level. Even the pacing, which people have been criticizing, felt so perfect to me. So intentional. It all felt super tuned-in, gentle, intuitive and intentional. Even the seeming "plot holes" are, to me, intentional. It's like it takes your mind out of analytical mode and shifts it into feeling.

These are people having experiences on vacation. The three friends in particular. it was so relatable to me. It didn't have to culminate in a massive climax. Vacations rarely do. The drinking, the hook-ups, the hangovers, the crankiness, the dynamics all felt EXTREMELY relatable to me.

This season, in general, was the most actually realistic season of the three to me (until the shootout).

As befits the theme of spirituality, this season was a bit more of a meditation on the human condition, and all the permutations of humanness. Our hypocrises, ego wounds, insecurities, confusion, sexual impusles, addiction, connection, attachment, detachment, anger, resentment, self-consciousness, hope, mistrust, forgiveness, gullibility...the entire spectrum of human emotional range.

Rather than something crisply, narratively linear, culminating in sharp plot points and big arcs, this season was almost like watching qi gong.

[quote]That last episode was beyond slow. It almost made time stop still.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. Either you get it or you don't. It felt perfectly paced to me.

[quote] It feels so pedantic and senseless to rage against someone else's creative vision

What nonsense.

It's interesting, R45, because I think your response to my comment is nonsense. I mean it, it's interesting. It's almost like we all have our own opinions, and are entitled to them.

Not Chelsea and Rick unfollowing each other on Instagram.

"Piper, noy!"

I would have been great in Victoria's role.

r41 I don't understand that either. Why do actors who never shared a scene have to be in Thailand at the same time, for the entire duration of the filming?

You are contradicting yourself, r45. It is you who is arguing that criticizing the show is “pedantic and senseless.” That is, in fact, nonsense, as your own argument that we are all entitled to our own opinions demonstrates.

r49 It does suggest White was writing during production and needed to have everyone around and available.

I don;t see why it's a concern for anyone if it took six months to film it.

Were you somehow inconvenienced by that?

r52 is here to tell us what can and cannot be discussed.

My thoughts from the end of the other thread:

I think it would’ve been good if Saxon had come to Lochlan’s rescue with some mouth to mouth and as Lochlan comes to they start tonguing each other and when Lochie says, “I think I just saw God,” he starts grasping for Saxon’s dick.

That would’ve been good.

Also, everyone going on about how the blender wasn’t clean - read the Vitamix thread! How did ANYONE sleep through the sound of that blender?!! That’s what was so preposterous to me. Tim should’ve shot right out of bed to see what that was about.

Ultimately, Mike White pulls too many of his punches and that just cheapens the proceedings.

Chelsea might as well have walked around with a target on her back for how little effort she made to take cover. It wasn’t all that dramatic, it’s not like she threw herself in front of Rick or rushed over to him when he was shot or something. It was kind of cheap.

Also, for me, the Gaitok and Belinda reversals were just so cynical. Once Chelsea was shot, I don’t know why Rick didn’t just take his own life. (As soon as they said they’d be together forever, forever started to seem like a very short time.)

There’s a way that the character reversals just do not account for all of the behaviour that came before it. Like, even in using Tanya’s speech, it would’ve been interesting (and something to play) if Belinda had some self-awareness of it, whether that resulted in self-criticism or even just being like, “I get you now, Tanya.” Instead, White just opts for the “see how clever I am? Didn’t see that coming, didja?” moment of “I’m so deep and/or cynical” self-flattery.

I wanted to see Tim Ratliff arrested at the airport. At the very least, Victoria’s credit card should’ve been declined in the clothing boutique.

Carrie Coon makes a satisfying meal out of everything and I was glad to see her character get her moment but is saying to someone, “You have a beautiful face” really much of a compliment? And then what about the other woman sitting there? She doesn’t have a beautiful face? It sounded really shady to me.

Victoria Ratliff could return. Tim could either have killed himself or be in prison and she could’ve remarried. We’d see her with a new husband. The most interesting thing about Saxon was his bare thighs so probably not much of a return in store for him.

The supersized finale promised much but didn’t really deliver, at least not with that run time. It would’ve been funny if when Belinda and Zion were waving at the distant shore if the operator of the boat turned around and silenced shot them both, execution style. Give Greg the last laugh!

Yeah, really, R40. Especially since most of the scenes are just sitting around tables, sitting on boats, lounging around poolside or in villas. Why would it take 6 or 7 months to do 8 hours of this shit?

The composer deserves a TON of credit. TWL is mostly second unit shots of nature and people sitting around saying nothing - without the composer, it wouldn’t seem dramatic at all. It definitely sounded like he knew what he was doing.

South Americans are different, they’ve been through a lot, deal with corrupt governments and lawlessness all the time. They have different ideas towards “authority” or what even constitutes authority. They tend to playfully subvert or undermine any perceived authority for their own amusement and sense of liberation and agency.

He sounds like the perfect foil to Mike White. I’m sure the music in S4 will just be a rip-off of what he’s already done and he’s made a major contribution to the success of the show. I’ll bet despite Mike White, he’ll still win another Emmy this year.

I would like to remind R44 of all those long, boring scenes with Gaitok and Mook, where you knew the locals were just being condescended to by Mike White, being portrayed as simpletons. If that material were isolated no one would ever watch it. It was filler.

Or Jason Isaacs’ one-note stupor for 7 episodes which none of his family really noticed or cared much about. His big moment in the series was a prosthetic penis that he didn’t even get to use. Which looked like a ridiculous prosthetic penis. The actor generated a lot of good will for his character through his endures promotional work but there really wasn’t much that appeared on screen, just some tired fantasy bits that nobody really believed.

The blonde blob thing never really took off. There was so much White could’ve done with those actresses. They went clubbing once. Slept with the staff. The volume and intensity of that trio was turned down so low, it barely registered. The actresses always seemed to be hinting at something that the writing never really addressed. It was very civil. A total waste of Michelle Monaghan’s time and talent. (Nearly similar to the waste of Aubrey Plaza in S2. Mike White can’t really write for women.)

There was a lot of potential. For some viewers, the implication of that is enough, they’re happy to do all the work and impose mysticism and project a lot of intentions onto these slightly drawn characters. But I thought a lot of the potential was wasted and the material was underdeveloped. Opening with a mass shooting gives an air of significance to the proceedings that is really an unearned cheat. Without that, this series would fall even further below its rather qualified estimations.

R55 Nivola, who says that he hates boats (?), was stressed because it took "months and months" to shoot the scenes on boats.

*through his endless promotional work

It’s funny because Katey Rich interviewed Jason Isaacs on her Prestige Junkie podcast right after the finale aired and they were talking about the experience of being in this highly promoted, big hit and Isaac was saying how he counsels the kids about the experience and how to handle it, saying an acting career isn’t about all these free clothes they’ve been getting the last two weeks, etc.

And damn if all those Hollywood Reporter shoots didn’t look like they were all wearing ill-fitting clothes they’d just grabbed off a big rack!

He said his best advice to them was to take any work they were being offered now and not make the mistake as actors of waiting for something “important” to come along.

I'm irritated that series that I like are too short. HBO isn't poor.

We need a season where everyone is gay.

[quote]He said his best advice to them was to take any work they were being offered now

Ha, such a British thing to say. They joked about this in Staged with Judi Dench saying to never turn down a role

We need a season set in the 80s.

HBO, you killed off the most endearing character, Chelsea. Brazen, I like it!

Rick was stuck in the past and he made a mistake by not letting Chellsea be enough. Fool! That was crushing.

[quote] South Americans are different, they’ve been through a lot, deal with corrupt governments and lawlessness all the time. They have different ideas towards “authority” or what even constitutes authority. They tend to playfully subvert or undermine any perceived authority for their own amusement and sense of liberation and agency.

[quote] He sounds like the perfect foil to Mike White.

Mike White used the word CONTEMPT.

He also said that the composer would shoot him dirty looks, and was very condescending to him.

That doesn't sound playful at all. The composer just sounds like an insecure asshole.

[quote] Nivola, who says that he hates boats (?), was stressed because it took "months and months" to shoot the scenes on boats

Silly little Twink.

Now that the dust has settled from HBO’s The White Lotus third season finale, creator Mike White is getting candid about the show’s Emmy-winning composer announcing he’s quitting the show.

Talking to Howard Stern on Tuesday, White was asked about composer Cristóbal Tapia de Veer saying he’s not returning for the HBO drama’s fourth season after feuding with White over show’s score. The composer told The New York Times last week that he is exiting the show, saying, “We already had our last fight forever.”

“I honestly don’t know what happened, except now I’m reading his interviews because he decides to do some PR campaign about him leaving the show,” White said. “I don’t think he respected me. He wants people to know that he’s edgy and dark and I’m, I don’t know, like I watch reality TV. We never really even fought. He says we feuded. I don’t think I ever had a fight with him — except for maybe some emails. It was basically me giving him notes. I don’t think he liked to go through the process of getting notes from me, or wanting revisions, because he didn’t respect me. I knew he wasn’t a team player and that he wanted to do it his way. I was thrown that he would go to The New York Times to shit on me and the show three days before the finale. It was kind of a bitch move.”

White added that he struggled with de Veer during the first two seasons. “By the time the third season came around, he’d won Emmys and he had his song go viral, he didn’t want to go through the process with me, he didn’t want to go to sessions. He would always look at me with this contemptuous smirk on his face like he thought I was a chimp or something … he’s definitely making a big deal out of a creative difference.”

Stern marveled: “You’re the genius behind this thing. Why quit a hit show because you got some notes and some differences? Just work it out.”

White replied, “He is very talented. But I’ve never kissed somebody’s ass so hard to just get him to — to lead that horse to water. Have fun with whatever you’re doing next.”

In the Times story, de Veer said, “Maybe I was being unprofessional, and, for sure, Mike feels that I was always unprofessional to him because I didn’t give him what he wanted. But what I gave him did this, you know — [won] those Emmys, people going crazy [for the show] … That is the main thing that I’m most happy about — it was worth all the tension and almost forcing the music into the show, in a way, because I didn’t have that many allies in there … This was a good struggle.”

With season three having broken ratings records for the series, White also revealed he’s currently renegotiating his HBO deal ahead of the show’s fourth season, while Stern pressed him on how much money he’s going to make.

“We are renegotiating right now, I’m definitely curious to find out what that amount is,” White said. “I feel like I have financial security for sure … at a certain point with money, you wonder: ‘Is this going to make me worse?’ Is having more money just going to make me more dysfunctional?”

White also said he’s been reading all the finale coverage and has been angsting a bit over the (relatively modest) criticisms out there.

“They’re criticizing the show in certain ways and they’re meaner in certain ways now that the show is popular,” White said. “I’m used to being this underdog indie writer that people are championing. Certain things will hurt my feelings or I’ll feel misunderstood. The mean ones have gotten meaner. It’s like they don’t like me. I guess I need to either avoid that stuff or get tougher, because it does bum me out.”

In fact, White says he’s about to hit the road again to get out of Los Angeles and clear his head.

“I’m going to Colombia today just to get the hell out of here,” he said. “I’ve never been there. I don’t think season four is going to South America, but I’ve never been there. Maybe one day. I just got to get out of L.A. I’m scrolling on my phone and reading shit about the show and this is not the finish line that I want.”

I only watched a few episodes ... a total waste of time.

"Lochy" was adorable. I'd totally do him.

I've loved practically everything Mike White has done in the past, but if he doesn't understand why there is criticism for this season, that's a huge blindspot. I enjoyed this season to a degree, but it's one of his weakest outputs to date.

I didn't understand this season, though I watched and liked it. Parker Posey, in my opinion, was just okay in her role. The plaudits being awarded the cast seemed out of line with the finished product. But I enjoy Mike White and his writing. I found the characters in Season Two far more interesting. MIke, though, has come a long way since Chuck and Buck twenty-five years ago.

I'm glad it's over. I'm sick of hearing about it.

This battle between White and the composer is already exhausting. It feels like Lively vs Baldoni 2.0

R28 based on your posting history your “wife” is everything.

It seems to me having everyone together for months on end is a creative choice by Mike White. He could surely organize things to require less time from the cast, but he thinks keeping them together is a positive for the end product.

R75 the actors who sign on to the show no this beforehand. It’s not something that’s just thrust upon them. If they agree to it, why are you discussing this?

I want to see Shawn Hatosy in a future White Lotus.

He does "dark" and "scary" very well.

His "Pope" character from Animal Kingdom still haunts me.

It seems like White liked how the pandemic-dictated "bubble" production went for Season 1 and has carried that approach forward. I saw an interview with Carrie Coon in which she talked about not being able to tan because of "The Gilded Age" and assumed she was bouncing back and forth between filming the two, but maybe that's not correct.

Also, sorry if I missed mention of this elsewhere, but the fact that all the principals are paid the same (roughly $340,000 for the six months hanging in a deluxe resort) and that the workload in isn't particularly heavy can make the gig appealing and allows White to justify the approach.

FF R38

[quote] If they agree to it, why are you discussing this?

That’s what we do here. We discuss things without your permission or approval.

R78 incorrect. She couldn’t tan because she would be filming The Guilded Age immediately after this. Which is what she did. She filmed the two shows back to back.

R80 how about discussing things worth discussing and not bullshit that makes no sense? Then maybe you wouldn’t have to keep replying to yourself

I don’t reply to myself.

SURE…

The more I think about the finale, the less satisfied I feel. The endings to the individual story arcs felt lazy and trite.

R82, please provide a list of approved discussion topics so we don't stray again.

1. Plot

2. Lack of Plot

3. Nepotism

4. Etiquette for TV music supervisors and composers

So glad White decided to cut the Piper and Zion sex scene from the finale, that would have been so forced and out of place. He says he ran out of time, all those endless shots of Tim looking suicidal add up, after all.

The rumored budget numbers don’t add up.

[quote] So glad White decided to cut the Piper and Zion sex scene from the finale, that would have been so forced and out of place.

Agreed. But if they have that scene still lying around somewhere, I'd still like to see it. Especially if nudity was involved. Wouldn't want to have that go to waste.

[quote] I'm glad it's over. I'm sick of hearing about it.

Yet you deign to post open - & post - in a thread wholly dedicated to the show. Go figure.

From the NYT:

[quote] Will Tim ever stay at a White Lotus resort again?

[quote] I doubt he’s going have the resources. I think he’s going to be completely wiped out, which at that moment feels OK to him. He’s looking forward to being a member of the human race and not feeling like he needs to be better than anyone else. When he looks at the water, right at the end, the water flying in the air and joining the ocean again, there’s some part of him that feels less alone than he’s ever felt.

Parker Posey's performance put the idea in my head that she was channeling Moira Rose from Schitts Creek minus the comedy aspect. The entire family gave me the vibe of 'this is what the Roses would have been if Schitts Creek had been a drama, not a comedy'. Posey even applied a similar weird accent.

[quote]Why do actors who never shared a scene have to be in Thailand at the same time, for the entire duration of the filming?

1. They were not all there the entire time. Natasha Rothwell only shot for 5 months. Michelle Monaghan shot for 6 months. Aimee Lou Wood shot for 7 months.

2. It's not like they could work on anything else, and their partners were allowed to visit and stay for part of the production.

3. Thailand is 15-17 hours away from the US. Some of them did go home and come back but not often and not for long. It was just simpler to be there.

For R74 only - She has had an insane number of jobs/careers over the years. Technically she’s also a producer/director, but you can’t compare one IMDB credit to dozens and she primarily identities as a violinist/composer.

R87 you don’t understand the series. We already established that. You’re not even educated. Know your place.

R70 Just the fact that he said the show is getting more criticism because it’s popular tells you everything you need to know about him. He’s out of touch and delusional. It’s reminiscent of MPK blaming the audience for their disdain of AJLT/Che Diaz.

R94 and they could leave as well.

Carrie Coon said she went back and forth between the states and Thailand throughout filming. Aimee said that Michelle and her took a few days away and flew into Japan to escape the bubble they were in.

They didn’t all stay the entire time and weren’t all there for the same exact times.

This person (and his comment section) is speaking about people like r87

If you don’t get it just admit it. Stop bitching

I actually think Armie Hammer would be good on this show

R89 I can understand the budget numbers, just not the seven months.

R99 does not get sarcasm

R9 Schitts didn’t have an accent, she had an affectation.

For R93

Let’s bring Valentine and Zion back next season as a gay couple. Now that, I’d watch.

R105 I was scrolling Twitter yesterday when I saw a tweet about Zion fucking Piper and it being cut, and someone replied that Mike White should have had Zion and Valentin fuck. And you can throw Lachlan in the mix too.

Jason is always spilling how there was tension behind the scenes.

At this point we need a “Behind The White Lotus” documentary series about the making of season 3.

R107. Jason seems like a lot and I can see him getting on everyone else's nerves. But he still gave a great performance. The rest of the cast has been posting pics from their WL experience on Instagram and it looks like they had a blast.

Mike White is talking too much and sounding too defensive

What i d really like to know is about the fights among the cast while in location. Jason Izzacs talked about Lord of the Flies…

He's an actor, it probably means someone didn't congratulate him after one take and so they became mortal enemies.

For R62, "White Lotus: Palm Springs" or "White Lotus: Mykonos." Hustlers, party twinks, rich old queens, high powered A-gays, pool boys, hotel staff, husband-twins, etc. of all nationalities and motivations.

Just binged S3 in 2 days. Diverting as hell, but the least of the 3 so far.

r111 Imagine how many scores White would settle with that kind of season? Every week would bring a revelation that yet another character was based on an ex-friend of his

So did the pictures used for the cast members in the opening credits predict their fates? For any of them! What was Rick’s?

^ sorry, didn’t mean to use the “!” up there. That seems aggressive.

I loved it and will miss looking forward to Sunday nights and the after show discussion.

Never thought I would say this but it gave me a soft spot for the Kennedy kid, he seems really earnest about his acting gig on the show.

Entertainment Weekly rates the characters.

R108 Jason is definitely a lot. In interviews, he's the opposite of his character. As Tim, he's constantly dealing with depression and fear, so zonked on xanax that he can only gurgle out a few words at a time. Offscreen he's a talker, all over the place, seems a bit confrontational and quite fond of himself.

Love it, R111, but now I'm getting melancholy that this isn't likely to happen.

[quote] rich old queens, high powered A-gays,

Nooooo. I can't take it anymore with The Gays!

The Trump voter storyline seemed like it could lead to some of the cultural commentary we saw in season 1 but I think White balked and was too afraid to go there. The same with the incest storyline, which seemed to be building to something but then fizzled out and the season became a bit "Eat, Pray, Love" where the troubled privileged white people go to Asia and have these revelations that make them better people, and magically get over their Lorazepam addiction.

[quote] Let’s bring Valentine and Zion back next season as a gay couple. Now that, I’d watch.

Like this?

[quote] "White Lotus: Palm Springs" or "White Lotus: Mykonos." Hustlers, party twinks, rich old queens, high powered A-gays, pool boys, hotel staff, husband-twins, etc. of all nationalities and motivations.

Jon Gries is working on it!

R117, I remember seeing an interview with either one of the directors or the producers of the Harry Potter movies years ago, and they commented that Jason Isaacs and Alan Rickman were the two actors whose performances had to be constantly reined in and that it felt like the two were in a contest with each other to chew the most scenery. That feels pretty true to Jason's real life personality.

Appreciate the effort to backlash it? Not 100% this season totally paid off myself. Yet we're also into the 10th 600 reply thread on the series and it's at a ratings high. The "feud" with his composer was one NYTimes interview and one Howard Stern interview in response... hardly the Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni saga. Ridiculous to say Mike White is cracking up. He can literally go away for a year and reimagine what he's doing. At minimum it'll have new music, no Four Seasons connection and it's also possibly not on a island!

[quote]So did the pictures used for the cast members in the opening credits predict their fates? For any of them! What was Rick’s?

Sort of. They all depicted events that happened to the characters. You could say Chelsea/Aimee's card was the only one depicting something getting killed.

Scott Glenn/Rick's Father: Some kind of creature/lizard looking at a group of fawns?

Aimee/Chelsea's: A similar creature tore a wolf in half, and there are two other wolves threatening it. (Things come in threes/she dies)

Walton/Rick's: A man in a tower, hunched down, smoking a cigarette looking at another palace like structure outside the fort they are in. (Man is definitely him, and maybe he's looking off to his father's home he's going to infiltrate in secret.)

Sam Nivola/Lochlyn: Man laying in a pool looking up. He may be drowning. (Which we saw happen to the character in his near-death experience.)

Natasha Rothwell/Belinda: Starts as a crocodile looking over at bird looking at a reflection of itself. There's another crocodile poking its head out of the water the bird can't see. (Maybe the danger of Greg as a crocodile watching her from a distance while she reflects on herself.)

R105, the actors admittedly had a huge bromance on set, working out together.

[quote] incorrect. She couldn’t tan because she would be filming The Guilded Age immediately after this.

Jason Issacs also complained about not being able to tan for reasons of continuity in shooting WL scenes. This was discussed in an earlier segment of the thread.

Coon probably had the added constraint of her upcoming role.

I frequently hit mute when I'm watching a scene where I sense either the actors or the characters, or both, would be embarrassed by the way the storyline or dialogue is going. Sometimes, I have captions on.

And so I have not yet listened to the pina colada scene, pretty much the entire shoot-out, and the Ratliff's final scene on the boat. But I can think of a couple other scenes I wished I had muted.

Overall, I liked the show.

R38, you are one fucked up dude.

My final theory for this season: Saxon is a virgin.

Didn't he smash with Chloe before Lochy took his turn?

We weren't shown that. And why would he be jerking off if he just had sex?

Was he actually jerking himself off, or was that just from the viewer's vantagepoint until it was clear that Lochy was doing the yanking?

In every view of Saxon jerking/being jerked, he displays a level of confusion on his face.

If I recall he was jerking himself watching the other two and then Lochlan reached over to help him out.

[quote] I was really hoping there would be a three way between Sax, Loch and Belinda... something like they went to her room for a massage and she was waiting around for them batting around her big ol mommy milkers and invite them to latch on since they are both mama's boys and then when they were all fulled up on her chocolate milk she'd be all .. take a dip in my inky well and Sax would go first while Loch watched and then Sax would help guide Loch into her dark folds while they high fived. Woulda be so hot

Don't forget to add Sritala and Fabian into the mix!

White Lotus Capetown.

I still want to see a White Lotus Iceland.

A fire and ice theme would be so sexy.

Volcanoes, Hot Springs, Glaciers, Reykjavik Nightclubs... the whole thing would be amazing.

I wish that Mike White didn't have such an aversion to filming in cold locations. I think it could be pretty amazing.

Who said you can't wear swimsuits in cold weather?

The Aurora Borealis would make some gorgeous video shots.

Yes, Iceland would be spectacular. He could cast Bjork as Manic Pixie Dream Earth Mother.

Limited by the fact that there is no 4 Seasons, and White has sworn off water features for the next one.

[quote] The rest of the cast has been posting pics from their WL experience on Instagram and it looks like they had a blast.

I think those images are on IG based on the contracts. The PR on IG is part of the agreements with the actors.

[quote]We weren't shown that. And why would he be jerking off if he just had sex?

He said at a poolside scene with Chloe and Chelsea that he did sleep with Chloe. We see them start out together. Chloe and Chelsea didn't contradict that.

She just also added that his brother jerked him off. It's likely he fucked Chloe, didn't cum, and let his brother tag in, which is when his brother jerked him off.

Mike White is probably having a good chuckle about the splash he makes with this show. At some point in his career he figured out that he couldn't bring character arcs to a satisfying end and was surprised that from that point on people called his writing of characters complex.

R144 = Ryan Murphy

The white Lotus S03Ep08 Funniest Behind The Scenes Moments. Cast Being children for 8 minutes

I gave such shit to Isaacs and Posey for their accents after the premiere, but the more I hear from people from that area saying they both nailed it, the more I see their dialect coach did a great job.

I think I just wasn't used to hearing that kind of accent on TV and it came as a bit of a shock.

Sounds like they had an on-set fling.

Fling into spring

[quote] To me, ours was a love story. It was only ever a love story, hindered by unresolved, childhood trauma. We all have them… but can we move past them.

Rick never knew his father. That’s sad, but it is not trauma.

R128 I could understand doing this for a reality show, or some kind of talk show that deals with relationships, but not a fictional show with actors. No one is actually being embarrassed or made to feel uncomfortable.

I do understand the impulse for real things. I was a fan of Howard Stern. He went on The Late Show when it was hosted by Arsenio Hall. He was being belligerent, and went so far as to say "Fox is responsible for Edgar Rosenberg's death." On Fox! As much of a fan as I was, I was MORTIFIED. I had to change the channel for a minute.

This made me laugh... Carrie Coon on her last episode sprint:

(“Look, I’m an American and I’m a New Yorker, and if you think I don’t know where the exits are in any building I’m in, then you’re not paying attention to the news,” Coon told Variety.)

Actually, it's kind of sad, too.

Jason does a spot on vocal impersonation of Thomas Ravenal from Southern Charm.

r152 I thought her sprinting off and leaving Jaclyn and Kate in the dust was a hilarious reversal of her earlier monologue about friendship.

Are you suggesting running as fast as you can from a man shooting a gun is somehow rude?

Bring back the sons from all three seasons in S4 and use Fire Island or PTown as the locale.

r155 Sort of. It’s like running from an avalanche without grabbing your family first.

Those women are not her children or even her spouse. They are not disabled. Her slowing down is not going to make them run any faster. I don’t see the issue.

Mike White called into Stern on Wednesday. He was crazy nervous in the beginning but eventually relaxed.

I had no idea Coon was Proxima Midnight in the Avengers Infinity War. Seems kind of like a waste of her talent.

[quote] Seems kind of like a waste of her talent

I'm guessing paycheck over script. She's not really a household name.

Can we shade Parker Posey now? I mean, the drawl is good, she gets off some good lines. But still not sure it was out of the park. The accent disappeared a little when her character is speaking faster. I was suspicious enough to go online to determine she does have a Southern background. IDK, she's better in the Christopher Guest stuff. Some of the enthusiasm for this part could be younger people playing catch up.

What am I trying to say. It's a fun, campy performance. Jennifer Coolidge is a tiny bit more wall to wall in the series.

R159 many good actors have shown up for that Marvel paycheck. Most working people would find it hard to turn down being set for life over their prestige “Art”.

R160 She and her husband have been public about her being asked back, but without a sweetener they thought justified by that movie's success. She declined.

Am I the only one who kept hearing Jason Isaacs' British accent seep through? It seemed very sloppy to me. Like why wasn't it corrected in looping?

The bigger mystery is why none of the Ratliff kids had southern accents.

[quote]The bigger mystery is why none of the Ratliff kids had southern accents.

I have family raised in the South who don't speak with accents. I always wondered why some do and others don't.

R166 This was at the specific direction of Mike White, according to Patrick.

The idea is that regional accents are being softened in younger generations due to the influence of the internet and social media.

[quote] Can we shade Parker Posey now? I mean, the drawl is good, she gets off some good lines. But still not sure it was out of the park. The accent disappeared a little when her character is speaking faster. I was suspicious enough to go online to determine she does have a Southern background.

I hope you discovered that she's from Laurel, MS, and so her Southern accent is natural.

Nothing in the story said she had always been lived in Raleigh-Durham--her character could also well originate from Laurel.

the accent is beyond good or bad

R169 Lots of inbound migration, mostly from the Northeast and California, over the past 2 decades has greatly diluted North Carolina's southern-ness.

I assume accents everywhere have been getting less pronounced since TV, maybe even since radio. For maybe 200 years, people were much more isolated and only really heard people in their own region, and figured that was how people talked. Once we started hearing each other from all over the country, I assume that began to change, though probably slowly at first.

[quote] so her Southern accent is natural.

She's also having fun with it and using it for effect. She is a really funny actress.

^^To agree with what r174 has said: Parker Posey has said (correctly) that often people growing up in the South are encouraged by their families in many households to be funny and entertaining at the dinner table, and that's what she's channeling in her portrayal of Victoria. I have known several women (in particular) in my life from different parts of the South who spoke affectedly and dramatically, and what I would often find is their parents had encouraged their affectations.

"Tomorrow you'll take your biometrics test."

"Ah don't wanna take a test. Is it complicated? We're jetlagged."

To each their own, but I freaking LOVED Parker Posey's Victoria. I hung on her every word and gesture. I"m originally from Missouri and Posey's performance was giving me intense childhood nostalgia for this one neighbor lady I used to visit with when I was little. Victoria is a real person to me.

[quote] [R18] so does that mean we get a white lotus series about a limited run streaming series “the tragedy of Tanya McQuaid”being filmed at a white lotus resort? With actors playing actors playing Greg, Tonya and Portia, etc?

I better sacrifice an extra goat to Beelzebub in the hope that this happens and they cast Chloe Fineman as the actress playing Tanya!

I hope the producers of Cabaret can somehow convince Aimee Lou Wood to play Sally Bowles before it closes. Wood was apparently a great Sally in London. I can definitely see it. I’d actually go see her in that although the production is by many accounts a vulgar monstrosity. Hey, while they’re at it maybe they can get the kraut who played Fabian in as the Emcee?

That's a cool concept, R178. I would see anything Aimee Lou Wood does going forward, she was a revelation. Fabian was a great character played extremely perfectly, in my opinion. We have all met a Fabian before.

[quote] Hey, while they’re at it maybe they can get the kraut who played Fabian in as the Emcee?

Sritala as Frau Schroeder.

Oh shit. I've got one.

Ralph Fiennes.

Eva Marie Saint

Dick van Dyke

'Tippi' Hedren

Mel Brooks

June Lockhart

Chevy. Chase.

r183, Oh yes, Chevy Chase. I can imagine lots of actors are going to sign up to be locked with that asshole in some remote location for several months.

Exactly, R184. You got my sarcasm. Can you imagine?

Fabian was not at all a “great character”. He barely registers. And no,I have never meet queen anything like him. I only see portrayals like that in film and tv.

[quote]And no,I have never meet queen anything like him.

Welcome to the world of English speakers! We can tell you are struggling hard with the demands of our sometimes confusing language.,

R197, if you want to see more of Aimee Lou Wood, try Sex Education. You get the bonus of a fantastic Gillian Anderson as well.

[quote]Gillian Anderson

She'd be very good for a future season

[quote] To each their own, but I freaking LOVED Parker Posey's Victoria. I hung on her every word and gesture.

You'll enjoy this compilation of her every line in WL 3.

Jason Issac gave up on that accent in episode 3.

Jaso Isaac likes to gossip

I see HULU is riding White Lotus coattails and reviving NINE PERFECT STRANGERS for a second series, starting 25 May. Starring such DL Faves as Murray Bartlett (of WL1 fame), Christine Baranski, and Henry Golding. Another Nicole Kidman Joint.

r192 That's the opposite of gossiping really, he doesn't have anything interesting to say

[quote]Isaacs also addressed his previous comments about there being drama between the cast and crew on set. He added that the people he was referencing were staffers who fans have "never met before" in different departments like hair, costume and accounts.

So there we go, he was full of shit

[quote]"First of all, it's none of your business," he said of the speculation. "I'm just saying it wasn't a holiday, and partly I started saying that because people think we were on a seven-month holiday, and believe me, it felt like work a lot of the time."

He's the one who mentioned it all in the first place! So he's complaining that people are talking about the stuff that he said himself? He sounds fucking exhausting.

The one I'd like to see in a new season is Charlotte Le Bon. She was great in every scene she was in. I missed her in the finale.

Did I miss a second Season 3 appearance - with actual dialogue - from Natalie Cole, a Survivor castmate of Mike White?

[quote] While Cole and Boudreaux's appearance in the season 3 premiere is quick, she reveals she'll return with speaking lines in a later episode. "Initially when [White] and I first talked, it was just going to be a cameo, and then when we talked again, he sent me some lines," Cole says. "And it was quite a few lines, and then when we got there, he increased the lines even more. I found that pretty interesting, that we went from the cameo to me having several lines, and I thought I was going to be in one episode, and then it went to two episodes."

No, you didn't r196. She was actually the third person in the Zion/Piper sex scene, telling them what to do since they were both virgins. Lost to the cutting room floor.

Whaaa, Natalie Cole was on Survivor??

oh, nevermind.

r77, Shawn Hatosy is in the very excellent, "The Pitt", although not that frequently.

r94, even though there is a schedule, days are seldom made, due to the length and number of takes, the lighting+ camera moves and set ups, rain, actors getting sick, technical problems, waiting for natural light to match (if you start the scene sunny/cloudy/rain, you have to match it for the duration of the scene). So an actor can be scheduled to work one day, but will be on hold indefinitely because the schedule changes so much. Sometimes you don't finish the scene, and will have to pick it up the next day. Sometimes smaller scenes will be pushed and pushed for completing the larger or more important scenes.

It's not uncommon for an actor to be wrapped for the day, on the way home or is at home, and will get called back to set ($$$).

Or there are directors who will add scenes (and since MW is writing it too), they'll horn it somewhere on the schedule, and the actors will have to be available for them.

To me, Mike White is coming across as an asshole. Am I missing something?

Mike White makes momma’s mussy moist! He’s so hot!

How is Mike White coming off as an asshole? He was mad the composer came out with this NYTimes article 3 days before the finale and said as much. He didn't attack his work or anything.

I don't think he came off as an asshole in that spat with the composer. Personally I feel like he is an ass because of his bleak perception of human beings he keeps displaying in the show. You just know he doesn't like the human race in general.

And he doesn't show normal loving gays- they're drug taking, revengeful, mendacious greedy men.

R205 Exactly. It's why I won't watch.

I think we’re way past the point of gay men needing to be depicted as saints. It’s boring and unrealistic. All characters in this show are fucked up, so it’s equal opportunity if anything. And for what it’s worth, the only gay this season, Lochlan, was probably the least fucked up of all.

Excuse me, R207?

Fabian, gurl, YOU ARE FUCKED UP!

Giving your bro a hand while you fuck a woman does not make you gay.

I'm stoked that Season Two of The Last of Us starts tomorrow night. It's been two years due to the writer's strike.

The White Lotus subreddit discussed the rumor about Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins' alleged affair a few days ago. Yeah, this "evidence" could all be coincidence. But it's not implausible the two hooked up during filming.

This intro to another thread is what I was referring to when I wondered if he was coming across as an asshole:

He's behaved so oddly in the last two weeks, saying publicly his "TWL" composer's complaining about him to the NYTimes and leaving the series was "a bitch move," and also turning on viewers who complained about his pacing for the third season of "TWL": "If you don't want to go to bed with me, then get out of my bed. I'm edging you! if you don't want to be edged, then get out of my bed. Do you know what I mean? Don't be a bossy bottom. Get the fuck out of my bed. Don;t come home with me. Don't get naked in my bed. Get the fuck out of my bed. obviously, something is going to happen."

He's winning. He's living the dream. Yet he's giving media like a Helen Lawson quote written for DL.

Maybe "living the dream" for him means behaving exactly like Helen Lawson? It would be for many gay men of his age.

"There's just one creative genius in a Mike White show... and that's me, baby: Mike White! Remember?"

“They drummed you out of Sicily, so you come crawling back to Thailand. But Thailand doesn't go for Lorazepam and pong-pong tree seeds! Now get out of my way, I've got a man waiting for me!”

I could try to make myself available for Season 4. Not promising anything, but maybe if I move some things around.

A friend of mine thought that quote was terrible. "Bossy bottoms is a phenomenon we don't want the straights to know about. Embarrassing."

Not as embarrassing as straight commentators pretending they have no idea what "edging' and "bossy bottom" mean.

Ichabod!

Now I'm going to have to wrap my head around the idea of Mike White as a top.

He's only a top with his father.

Mike White just seems asexual to me even though he writes and talks a good game.

Funny, R221, I do think his dad is a raging bottom. Maybe the whole incest fascination comes from his father being a screaming queen.

Are we discussing the White POTUS yet?

I just realized part of the reason I love Victoria Ratliffe is she's basically Little Edie with a fuller life and most of her marbles. Check out ~5:56.... "So you can imagine that's a whole thing" total memories of "So I think this is the best costume for today."

White POTUS was great. They totally nailed it.

A friend surprised me by telling me that in a Mike White interview (my friend couldn’t remember the source) White said that Lochy represented Buddha as a young man, and that like Buddha, his brush with death would completely change his life and send him down the path of enlightenment.

Wonder if director White gave that note to Sam Nivola.

That Buddha note or statement doesn't really have much impact considering that the brush with death was in the character's penultimate scene. That sounds pretty useless - unless Nivola is asked back for another season.

It’s that’s true, we’ll probably be seeing Lochy again.

All stars for the final season...bring them all back.

"The White Lotus S03Ep08 Funniest Behind the Scenes & Bloopers, facts,controversies & cast being kids"

Lots of good video footage here.

Woody Harrelson was the first choice to play Rick but he was busy.

R232 Reportedly he had family vacation plans. In conjunction with being unwilling to accept the flat rate everyone was being paid per episode.

The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood is not laughing at Saturday Night Live's send-up of the HBO hit that included a parody of her character, Chelsea, played by Sarah Sherman in a set of very pronounced fake teeth.

"I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny," Wood wrote in a series of Instagram Stories posts about the sketch, which aired during last night's episode.

"Such a shame cuz I had such a great time watching it a couple weeks ago," she wrote on another slide. "Yes, take the piss for sure — that's what the show is about — but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way?"

No don't bring Nivola back. Nepo can't act.

I couldn't decide of Lochlan was supposed to be an idiot or if Sam Nivola himself was coming off as an idiot - I'll need to see him in other things to decide

R236 He played a somewhat similar dopey rich kid, horny and looking to get laid, in that Netflix series, Perfect Couple(?) Not an impressive performance in an admittedly stupid show.

In interviews neither he or the chick who played Piper come off as the brightest bulbs in the pack.

Would Mike White have had the balls to kill off a Kennedy?

Wood is half right, that bit of the sketch was mean and very funny.

The Black Lotus was also very good.

The actor who played the dad was good, I hope he gets some praise.

I hope in the next season Mike White expands his stock repertoire of characters for the show considerably. true, I can never have enough middle-aged female dingalings (as played by Jennifer Coolidge and Parker Posey), but we certainly have seen more than enough in the last three seasons of arrogant douchebros (there's been one every season), alienated but well-meaning schoolboys struggling with what to say to their families, and former school-friends discovering they have grown to hate each other.

I would really like to see a wealthy gay or lesbian couple, which we've yet to see. I'd also like to see some old money types--so far most of his characters have been nouveau riche.

Going forward, I think I'll just rewatch Season 2 once a year.

The hapless security guard was my favorite. I hope he discovers he's too good for Mook & leaves her along the side of the road. Carrie Coon is a great actress, but I never bought the 3 of them as besties - and the Trumper - these bitches seriously didn't know that? I think it might have been better if they'd all had ulterior motives for going on the trip and had to be nice, but also work their angles. Victoria Ratliffe was clearly Tanya 2.0; she's a snob, but she knows who she is and her (few and far between) moments of clarity in which she zings her family are priceless. She knows shit is a bad & just tranquilizes herself against it. Patrick was pitch perfect as the douche bro, but you sense he's playing himself - and he was right - Piper was a dud, particularly for a pretty girl.

And finally, I found Belinda a bit tedious; aside from the Scooby Doo murder mystery, it might be nice for the staff to have a candid conversation about how exhausting it is to maintain this image of perfection with spoiled clients when you're exhausted, cranky & tired. It was fun escapism (and I paid extra close attention to the score, which didn't exactly blow me away), but I did think it lost a bit of biting edge of the previous seasons.

I wasn't paying super close attention to the score but I really liked some of the Thai songs they threw in. That was more than most teams could manage.

First Sunday without the White Lotus and already missing the whole communal experience the show came with. I only re-subbed to DL because of it, too.

R247 I’m beginning to think that the communal experience was way more deep and nuanced than the actual show. Mike White has been playing the hits (barely) and we’re picking up all the slack, giving both him and the show a weight that I don’t think is actually there.

I was so sad last night (no new episodes), I couldn’t eat dinner.

r249, same, and I had the shakes all night, which fucked up my knitting project.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

😂

WHEN DO THE TEARS OVER NO MORE WHITE LOTUS EPISODES STOP??

That thumbs up was as fantastic as Shiv barely resting her hand on Tom's at the end of Succession. Powerful visual storytelling. I think this decade will be to hands what 1939 was to classics in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Which thumbs up? What are you referring to?

Did the brothers ever discuss the handie?

R250 needs to calm his ass down.

Kinda, r255. Lochlan tried to bring it up and Saxon dismissed him and told him not to bring it up.

Seems that scene between Victoria and Kate really didn't play into the story in a meaningful way, other than to illustrate the extent to which Victoria was a snob and insular.

Aside from her "independent" politics & penchant for gossip, Kate turned out be a generally okay, levelheaded person.

Why Wasn’t Anyone Traumatized in the ‘White Lotus’ Finale?

[quote]Seems that scene between Victoria and Kate really didn't play into the story in a meaningful way, other than to illustrate the extent to which Victoria was a snob and insular.

I don't know; even for a Texas hausfrau, I thought Kate was incredibly fake and to approach Victoria as if there were best friends was kind of amusing. Yes, I bit mean perhaps, but sort of showed (that in some instances) Victoria has no use for bullshit

It's not it wasn't believable that Victoria would snub Kate, but rather that many thought that scene would have some sort of narrative pay-off later in the season and we'd learn more about what had happened. But there just seemed to be no point to the scene. That time could have been used in many better ways to clean up the many plot holes in the narrative.

it wasn't a deal-breaker for me, but it was one of those things where I would bet originally there was a later scene filmed that ecxplained what wa happening there, but they decided not to use the footage.

Not to create depth where maybe none existed, but perhaps the scene was meant to show how difficult it is to form friendships as an adult and why we stick with our childhood friendships even when they are challenging.

Superficially Kate and Victoria have more in common with each other (southern, Republican stay at home mothers) than Kate has with Laurie or Jacklyn, but when she attempts to leave them for someone of her current class she gets rebuffed.

The only other thing I could think of was that the scene was meant to show how Victoria was intolerant of anyone outside her family circle who dared to try to come into it, so as to reinforce the incestuousness (both literal and figurative) of the Ratliffs.

Victoria's first line of any substance was: "Please, what does she want from me?"

Victoria firmly believes everybody is out to get something that is hers. It's just part of the rich Republican expose they did with this character.

Setup for “Actresses are all basically prostitutes… If they’re lucky. Am I right?”

Well said R263; excellent point

Quibble question - Wasn’t Rick right outside the meditation center when he started firing? But the shots inside the studio sounded faint and far away at first.

He didn’t have a gun until he grabbed it from the hotel owner, ElderLez. At first, he was sitting on a bench near the meditation center r268, waiting for Zion's hour to be up.

But Rick then gets a glimpse of the hotel owners standing some distance away (not too far though) with the three blondes, and you see a shot of him fast-walking toward them, and when he gets up to them he grabs the gun out of Jim's inside pocket and shoots.

As well, meditation rooms may be sound-proofed at high-end resorts, idk.

Great question. I’m hiring you for continuity on our next project.

What I love about the DL is that there’s a non-zero chance that R269 could actually be Mike White.

And I might need a job soon so this could all work.

If R269 was just being puckish, please let us know.

The lasting incongruity for me (and I'm sure you've heard this already, Mike) is the departing guests' generally relaxed and untraumatized demeanor. I'm assuming Saxon is unaware that the woman he was trying to screw the night before had just been shot dead. But that blissful ignorance cannot reasonably apply to the Lady Gang or to Belinda and Zion. Just don't make sense.

Pornchai put a magic spell on them

The final episode ran 2 1/2 hours at one point, so editing the episode down to a manageable length left a lot of loose ends dangling.

Mike White and Max would do well to stream the initial longer version, which might quiet the endless criticisms, which I’m frankly sick of reading about.

It doesn’t matter how long the initial cut of the finale was, the pleasant and peaceful demeanor of the departing guests (minus the Lady Gang) still wouldn’t ring true. Unless they all got lobotomies.

[quote] The lasting incongruity for me (and I'm sure you've heard this already, Mike) is the departing guests' generally relaxed and untraumatized demeanor.

It's a valid point, considering how Season 1 began and ended.

The first episode started with Shane in a very dark and contemplative mood, knowing that he had just stabbed a man to death, by accident.

It bothered him so much, that he actually told the older couple to please shut the fuck up, as he walked over to stare at the coffin being loaded on to the plane.

Now THAT is how people would normally react.

And even in the final episode, Rachel and Shane ended up staying together, but there was still a lot of sadness behind both of their eyes, given all that had happened.

That season rang true, so much more so than season three.

Season one was much better television.

[quote]But that blissful ignorance cannot reasonably apply to the Lady Gang or to Belinda and Zion. Just don't make sense.

I don't think the Lady Gang was blissfully ignorant - in fact, I thought they all fell into old habits by crowding around Queen Bee Jacklyn and comforting her (who was probably making the whole thing be all about her) while Belinda is busy counting her $$, but I think we're now supposed to view her in a very different light

Okay, I may not have paid close enough attention to how the Ladies responded. I wish they'd all gotten together on a single boat out, and conferred with each other what little they knew, even if the facts about the victims were limited, leaving questions in their minds, to forever speculate. And Victoria could congratulate herself for being right about the dirth of "deesunt peepul".

Dearth

Thankth, Dearetht.

[quote]perhaps the scene was meant to show how difficult it is to form friendships as an adult and why we stick with our childhood friendships even when they are challenging.

This is a cool insight, R263.