The White Lotus - season 3 review

To my delight and surprise, season three of The White Lotus (expanded again, this time to eight episodes, but thankfully with little or no padding) was even better than the first two seasons. And that's saying something, because I think this is absolutely first-rate commercial television fare. Writer-director Mike White has achieved something special.

This time the setting is the White Lotus resort in Thailand, a country I've never visited but which looks fascinating. White makes excellent use of the background, and explores (amongst various other things) the way different people approach spirituality. Again there's plenty of satire, especially when the lives of the haves are contrasted with those of the have-nots. But one of White's strengths is that he doesn't depend on the obvious. Far from it. Characters we thought really had a moral compass turn out to be flawed. Even unpleasant individuals can have a pleasant side. 'Justice', as most people would see it, certainly does not always prevail.

Two characters whom we've encountered previously make return appearances that are unexpected by me - and by them. Their renewed acquaintance becomes an important strand in a complex storyline, which opens with another variation on the 'whowasdunin' theme, with an unknown person shooting manically before we flash back to the arrival of a fresh group of guests at the resort.

Jason Isaacs, an actor I've always liked (and once imagined as Harry Devlin - yes, he's a Scouser, even though here he plays an American businessman), and his wife and three children, are amongst the guests who play a pivotal part in the story. We also, once again, become invested in the lives of select members of the hotel staff, including the likeable security guard Gaitok and the pretty colleague whom he fancies. There's a mysterious and rather menacing chap called Rick and his Mancunian girlfriend Chelsea (a great performance by Aimee Lou Wood): see the photo above.

There's a lot of discussion online about the class and privilege issues which crop up in The White Lotus. But there's something else that strikes me about the scripts. A central recurring theme is the sheer randomness of fate. Whichever character you become attached to, you can't be sure they will survive.