As season three of “The White Lotus” kicks off, writer and director Mike White starts the premiere with chaos. A soothing meditation experience hoping to “calm our chattering monkey minds” abruptly turns cold with gunshots, madness, and a mysterious dead body.
Similarly to the previous two seasons’ openings, the new cast arrives to the resort on a boat, with some members already facing conflict with one another. Each visitor has come to Thailand with different stories and individual goals for their upcoming trip.
One guest, a returning cast member and season one fan favorite, Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell), returns in season three. At the White Lotus, she will be enjoying the resort’s luxuries and learning meditation methods to take back to her spa in Maui.
The first couple to be introduced is Rick (Walton Goggins) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), who have a seemingly strange dynamic. Rick seems to be uninterested in the White Lotus Resort’s offerings and is instead focused on mysteriously researching the hotel owner, Sritala (Lek Patravadi) and her husband.
Next up is the Ratliff family, who is visiting the resort to support the middle child, Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), and her thesis paper on Buddhism in Thailand. Her father, Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs) and mother Victoria (Parker Posey) are accompanying Piper along with her two brothers, Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan ‘Lochy’ Ratliff (Sam Nivola).
Following the Raliffs, we see a trio of white, blonde women showcasing the bright colors of their wardrobes. The friend group includes Michelle Monaghan as Jaclyn, Leslie Bibb as Kate, and Carrie Coon as Laurie. While they have been friends since they were young, there seems to be some tension with Laurie being the outsider of the group.
A huge surprise in this episode is seeing the return of Jon Gries as Greg Hunt. Greg was a character in the previous two “The White Lotus” seasons, where he was possibly involved in planning his wife’s death, Tayna McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge).
As each guest settles into their room, some find themselves entranced by the nature in Thailand and the beauty of the hotel, which was partially filmed at the Four Seasons Koh Samui.
Mysterious storylines fill the atmosphere of each scene as viewers learn more about the characters and their lives outside of their trip to the White Lotus Resort & Spa.
New episodes air on HBO and stream on Max every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
