Season 3, Episode 1: “Same Spirit, New Form”
Please take a little time. Focus on your breathing. Please calm your mind. Let's try to dissipate the sounds of the outside world. Did you hear the gunshot? Ignore them. I'll accept the present. Find something timeless in your mind. Don't pay attention to the corpses floating beside you.
If you've seen any of the previous two seasons of the HBO hit “The White Lotus,” you wouldn't have been surprised to see Season 3 kicked off with a corpse. The show is effectively anthology drama, with each new edition following employees in the rich tourists and well-meaning service industry at high-end international resorts. Screenwriter Mike White has developed the series' sturdy blueprint, combining beautiful places, talented actors, dark social satire, gentle humanism and a bit of mystery. Think of it as “Fantasy Island.” But add a TV twist.
White takes time to establish his character and tell the story, so he hooks the audience at the opening minutes of each season and bullies where the plot is heading. Someone – still unknown – will die. Stay tuned.
At least in the season 3 premiere, the formula holds a lot of pop. We begin in the sun-plagued Thai jungle. Here, one of the wellness centre of the White Lotus Chain's beach escapes is surrounded by thick trees filled with monkeys and wild birds. There, the stress management session is interrupted by several big pops and corpses. And we leave and rewind to the beginning of the story a week ago.
Again, White has put together a cast of stars. Easily sort into 4 different groups.
The biggest one is North Carolina Blue Blood, the North Carolina Blue Blood, led by Timothy (Jason Isaacs), a business that doesn't care about any of the resort's spiritual healing exercises. Parker Posey plays Tim's wife, Victoria. Patrick Schwarzenegger plays Saxon, the eldest son of meat finance, who works for Tim and constantly hunts for his sexual partner. Sarah Katherine Hook is her daughter Piper, a University of North Carolina student working on a paper project on Eastern religions (and why other Ratliffs are semi-revived in Thailand). And Sam Nibola is Rochlan, the youngest son of a high school senior who has just entered Duke, but he is not sure he wants to follow in the heavy footsteps of his father and siblings.
The second largest group is a trio of “long-age friends” (don't call them “old”) who reconnect after a long distance away for a “winning tour” (“Midlife Crisis Trip” (Please don't call it.) Carrie Coon plays the busy New York pro Laurie. Leslie Bibb is believed to be Kate, a housewife in Texas. and Michelle Monaghan of Jaclyn, a well-known TV actress who has been recognized by the resort's staff and guests.
Next up is a couple who appear to be completely incompatible. Walton Goggins plays Rick Hatchet, an irritated man who looks suspiciously visible (though there's no reason for this yet). Amy Lou Wood is his pretty young girlfriend, Chelsea, a bright and free spirit eager to indulge in what the resort has to offer.
Each set of guests is provided with a “health mentor” so that you can book spa treatments and activities. Lady-Pals has Valentine (Arnas Fedaravicius). Ratliffs has PAM (Morgana O'Reilly), but they largely ignore it. Especially when they told the resort that it had a “no mobile phones in public areas” policy. Rick and Chelsea have Mook (known as Lalisa Manoval, Lisa of Blackpink), who is in a frivolous relationship with security guard Gatek (Taim Tapsiton).
These employees barely register as our featured guests. With the exception of Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell), a white lotus masseuse previously seen in the first season of the show. Belinda plans to spend three months in Thailand to relax, recharge and learn new techniques. Along with other White Lotus employees, she will fit into the fourth group of characters this season.
Belinda doesn't have many scenes in the premiere, but she is one of the episode's most memorable images, a woman who appears to be content and enjoying a lovely dinner with the man. One recurring idea for “White Lotus” is that I feel permanently stationed in Paradise, but as a servant. Spending days pampering others can develop a deep sense of longing for being something fed and massaged.
Rick and Chelsea storylines don't play much either in this episode. Chelsea talks most of the time, telling her boyfriend that he is “barely working” and gushes at Rick that they should always lead this extravagant life. Rick appears to be unhappy – about the location and food, and the fact that the resort's co-owner has recovered from a disease in Bangkok and is not around.
Why is he looking for an owner? That's unknown. However, given that there are several regions in the world, like Australia, where Rick clearly appears unwelcome, we can assume he is not good. (As for Chelsea, she laughs at Rick's unacceptable pull, calling him “a victim of your own decision.”)
As I said earlier, White doesn't seem to be in a hurry to run through all the major storylines of the season. Instead, we get a lot of scene sets as his actor scrambles to make an instant impression. They all hit marks, but Kuhn, Bib and Monaghan stand out.
It doesn't happen very often with characters in the premiere. Mostly, Kate and Jaclyn are established to live a life of good and fulfilling on the surface anyway, but Laurie struggles in ways that have not yet been identified. For now, we're looking at each other energetically at these three pings, grinning violently and exchanging compliments.
Ratliff gets the majority of the screen. Tim has the most potentially dramatic storyline as he handles unexpected calls from the Wall Street Journal about some suspicious transactions involving one of his business peers in Brunei. But Saxon is the most adversarial and charming character, most “Mike White” in the combination of ignorant egoism and sympathetic. Saxon drops off-putt's mention of awakening into casual conversation, focusing on the sibling's sex life ominously. He also appears to have adopted the qualifications of Alpha male as a spirit, telling his brother: That's happy, companions. ”
Many of White's previous works in film and television are about the many ways in which people convince themselves that their needs are more important than others. What's different from many other satirists is that he doesn't just laugh at them, but instead tries to understand the character's self-centered delusions. He gets a way for everyone to succumb to their desires, especially when visiting places designed to cater to their appetites.
To show his audience this to his audience this season, White has emphasized that his exotic environment is more difficult than usual, with the intoxicating hypnosis of the wind and the animals moving through the swaying trees. Masu. He wants us to settle.
However, he also pays attention to Belinda, who is trying to reach the spirit of being a White Lotus guest, despite knowing too much about what it takes to keep Shangri-La running. I hope that. Throughout this episode, she fluctuates between Beatiffic and Skittish, smiling at all the pretty people around her, or flipping the lizard across the road. At one point, she tweets to herself that she is trying to keep an eye on snakes that could fall from above. Given the nature of this show, she certainly should.
Concierge service
Belinda points out that her college son will visit. I think this is Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) that can be seen in the opening flash forward of the episode, and from a stress management session to dodge a bullet. Both Zion and Belinda talk about how they have dealt with “other things,” except for work and school. Something you should probably be careful about.
What's important later: Saxons gulp vaguely about spending a fruit-eating week, holding the toxic products of what Pam calls the “powerful pom-pom tree.” Will the fruit's poisonous seeds appear this season?
While Rick smokes and stews alone, Chelsea makes new friends at the bar: a jet setting named Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), who has a house near the resort with her husband The original model of. That guy? Greg Hunt (John Griss) begged Jennifer Coolidge character Tanya in Season 1 and then turned to the heel in Season 2.
Mike White Touch, Part 1: Chloe points out Chelsea how many bald guys are in a Thai bar, saying that locals are calling “lbhs… go home to losers.” Masu.
Mike White Touch, Part 2: Pam asks Tim how Ratriff's flight went, and he tries to do fun things at the same time, trying to make sure everyone knows his suffering. Masu.
