I'm surprised to see there are no threads about this show. I think it's fucking great. Some of the best television I've seen in a while.
For anybody who doesn't know, it's a series about different groups of super rich people who go to a resort for vacation and the whole season is a like a slow boil into some crazy shit going down. It's more a character study on the super rich (usually white) Americans and touches on themes of power dynamics between the haves and have nots, race, sexuality, marriage, spirituality, etc. I like the themes it explores and the use of symbolism and establishing shots to create tension. The use of waves and mountains and also the aesthetics of the locations to tell you that some shit is going down. It's like watching a train wreck that's about to happen but you can't turn away.
Each season has a different cast and location of a branch of the fictional white lotus resort with only a couple characters and story lines reoccur from previous seasons. I only started to watch it because I heard the Goggins is in it only to find out he's in season 3. I started with season 1 and got hooked. Most of the actors deliver great performances with my favorite being Sam Rockwell's in Season 3.
As with anything, it's not perfect and imo each season has it's own strengths and weaknesses. This is being an HBO production, there are pretty actresses who show their tits, but also plenty of shots of actors showing their dicks.
Season 1 - I liked the Hawaiian setting, the dynamic between the resort manager (Murray Bartlett) and one of the guests (Jake Lacey), and imo the young son played by Fred Hechinger had the best character arc of any character in the entire show so far. Barlett's character made the season though because he stole the show every time he was on screen. Also has Daddario and Sweeney, who are nice to look at.
The weakness of this season is that it's grasp on themes is too broad. It touches on too many things without fully fleshing them out, which is understandable because it was the first and shortest season so maybe the creators were trying to do everything at once. It's also the season that does the worst job of connecting the setting of the show with the themes. The Hawaiian setting and locals feel more like a backdrop than active participants in the story.
Season 2 - has the tightest writing. I think the characters are the best developed and there's much stronger connection between the theme of the show and the setting (Sicily) as well local characters playing a larger role. There's a clear theme this season is trying to explore which is about sexuality, infidelity, and gender dynamics, which I guess would also be the most relatable to most people. it was nice to see Christopher from the Sopranos getting some work as well. Halely Lu Richardson is also nice to see although her character was frustrating to watch because she reminded me of so many young women I've met. The Italian woman who plays one of the resort staff is gorgeous.
I'm nitpicking but it felt weird to see the resort manager play a much smaller role this season. Season 1 set the tone of the show and the resort manager had such a presence and the resort itself felt like a character itself, which wasn't felt in season 2 because the manager has a smaller role and the characters leave the resort so much. And I couldn't get over Theo James playing an American. British actors usually do a good job with American accents but his felt forced.
Season 3 - both my favorite and the worst season. I loved the Thai setting and it's theme on buddhism, spirituality, and finding peace with what you have. Personally, the ascetics of Thailand and the use of Buddhist symbolism was by far my favorite since I spent some time in Thailand in a Buddhist monastery there. The Thai style art work in the opening credits is beautiful as well. It has a huge cast of name actors like Goggins, Rockwell, Isaacs, etc. As always there are pretty actresses but Sarah Catherine Hook stood out to me. Her character was also the most relatable. Having been to Thailand many times, it was fun to see things that are familiar to me.
But there are a lot of gripes about this season. The writing was the weakest and the cast was too bloated. Some of the character arcs didn't feel fully fleshed out despite being the longest season. The pacing in the beginning feels too slow and time is wasted. In some ways it's understandable because spirituality is not an easy theme to tackle but still they spent too much time going over the same beats repeatedly. The resort manager this season is basically a background character and there's too much time is spent on minor Thai characters whose stories don't really amount to much. I was excited to see Goggins but he felt wasted here. Rockwell stole the show when he showed up.
One small gripe I have is the Muay Thai fight scene where the fighters are wearing everlast gloves instead of a thai brand like fairtex lol. Someone didn't do their research.
What are your thoughts about this show?
For anybody who doesn't know, it's a series about different groups of super rich people who go to a resort for vacation and the whole season is a like a slow boil into some crazy shit going down. It's more a character study on the super rich (usually white) Americans and touches on themes of power dynamics between the haves and have nots, race, sexuality, marriage, spirituality, etc. I like the themes it explores and the use of symbolism and establishing shots to create tension. The use of waves and mountains and also the aesthetics of the locations to tell you that some shit is going down. It's like watching a train wreck that's about to happen but you can't turn away.
Each season has a different cast and location of a branch of the fictional white lotus resort with only a couple characters and story lines reoccur from previous seasons. I only started to watch it because I heard the Goggins is in it only to find out he's in season 3. I started with season 1 and got hooked. Most of the actors deliver great performances with my favorite being Sam Rockwell's in Season 3.
As with anything, it's not perfect and imo each season has it's own strengths and weaknesses. This is being an HBO production, there are pretty actresses who show their tits, but also plenty of shots of actors showing their dicks.
Season 1 - I liked the Hawaiian setting, the dynamic between the resort manager (Murray Bartlett) and one of the guests (Jake Lacey), and imo the young son played by Fred Hechinger had the best character arc of any character in the entire show so far. Barlett's character made the season though because he stole the show every time he was on screen. Also has Daddario and Sweeney, who are nice to look at.
The weakness of this season is that it's grasp on themes is too broad. It touches on too many things without fully fleshing them out, which is understandable because it was the first and shortest season so maybe the creators were trying to do everything at once. It's also the season that does the worst job of connecting the setting of the show with the themes. The Hawaiian setting and locals feel more like a backdrop than active participants in the story.
Season 2 - has the tightest writing. I think the characters are the best developed and there's much stronger connection between the theme of the show and the setting (Sicily) as well local characters playing a larger role. There's a clear theme this season is trying to explore which is about sexuality, infidelity, and gender dynamics, which I guess would also be the most relatable to most people. it was nice to see Christopher from the Sopranos getting some work as well. Halely Lu Richardson is also nice to see although her character was frustrating to watch because she reminded me of so many young women I've met. The Italian woman who plays one of the resort staff is gorgeous.
I'm nitpicking but it felt weird to see the resort manager play a much smaller role this season. Season 1 set the tone of the show and the resort manager had such a presence and the resort itself felt like a character itself, which wasn't felt in season 2 because the manager has a smaller role and the characters leave the resort so much. And I couldn't get over Theo James playing an American. British actors usually do a good job with American accents but his felt forced.
Season 3 - both my favorite and the worst season. I loved the Thai setting and it's theme on buddhism, spirituality, and finding peace with what you have. Personally, the ascetics of Thailand and the use of Buddhist symbolism was by far my favorite since I spent some time in Thailand in a Buddhist monastery there. The Thai style art work in the opening credits is beautiful as well. It has a huge cast of name actors like Goggins, Rockwell, Isaacs, etc. As always there are pretty actresses but Sarah Catherine Hook stood out to me. Her character was also the most relatable. Having been to Thailand many times, it was fun to see things that are familiar to me.
But there are a lot of gripes about this season. The writing was the weakest and the cast was too bloated. Some of the character arcs didn't feel fully fleshed out despite being the longest season. The pacing in the beginning feels too slow and time is wasted. In some ways it's understandable because spirituality is not an easy theme to tackle but still they spent too much time going over the same beats repeatedly. The resort manager this season is basically a background character and there's too much time is spent on minor Thai characters whose stories don't really amount to much. I was excited to see Goggins but he felt wasted here. Rockwell stole the show when he showed up.
One small gripe I have is the Muay Thai fight scene where the fighters are wearing everlast gloves instead of a thai brand like fairtex lol. Someone didn't do their research.
What are your thoughts about this show?
