Spiritualized western women obsessing about ‘Mercury in retrograde’; gringos rocking insane floral shirts; friendly locals suddenly requesting large sums of money on a suspicious sob story.
Oh, and that guy who’s now sober because he penetrated too deep into the red-lit chasm of the abyss.
These are the characters you inevitably meet traveling Southeast Asia.
And it’s why you get that feeling you somehow know the characters of White Lotus Season 3 — even though they’re probably richer than you — and rock more expensively insane floral shirts.
Created, written and directed by Mike White, The White Lotus is a dark comedy anthology appearing on HBO (aka Max). Season 1 starts at the eponymously-named resort in Hawaii, before moving to Sicily for Season 2, and touching down in Thailand for Season 3. Most of the characters are new, though they’re are a few recurring characters linked to a mysterious murder.
(Before we continue, let’s thank HBO for providing viewers with an oasis of quality content amidst the sea of streaming sludge that’s out there.)
Okay, on with the review of The White Lotus Season 3, from the lens of a travel blogger. ALERT TO MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD:
First, the scene and setting of The White Lotus are sublime; taking us from the lush resort, past the islands of Koh Samui, and into a Buddhist mediation center. Season 3 focuses on the spiritual side of travel, which has become popularized by people seeking to disconnect from the spiritually bankrupt technocracy of the West.
One of my favorite early parts is when the receptionist asks her guests (the uber-waspy Ratliff family of five) to surrender their cell phones upon entering the resort.
“We consider the hotel to be a digital detox area,” she says. “You can just focus on being present, and each other, and self care.”
Eternal fratboy Saxon Ratliff (played perfectly by Patrick Schwarzenegger) responds, “What am I supposed to do here all week without my phone, eat a bunch of fruit?”
After much debate, the Ratliffs do give up their phones, actually giving the viewers some sense of digital detox, and preventing us from some Euphoria-esque hell where we have to watch young people texting all series. Thank you receptionist lady!
As someone who has traveled extensively through Southeast Asia and South America without a phone (my record is one year), I appreciate White Lotus for even raising the specter of phone-less travel and pray to Lord Shiva it will spread.
Probably not, but here’s hoping.
One character who probably should have given up her phone is Chelsea, the spiritually mismatched girlfriend of nihilist Rick Hatchett (played by national treasure Walton Goggins). Later in the season, Rick leaves the White Lotus resort to attend to some shady business in Bangkok and Chelsea is left perpetually lost in his voice mail.
“It’s like we’re in this yin-and-yang battle,” Chelsea tells Saxon at a party, “and I’m hope, and Rick is pain, and eventually one of us will win.”
Chelsea is that spiritualized, yet materialistic European girl we all know from traveling. Rick is the negative energy American guy, who at one point releases a bunch of snakes from captivity in a Thai market. (Crazy coincidence: I know of an actual American traveler who released a bunch of rare birds from a Bali temple and was summarily deported.)
Collectively, Chelsea and Rick were my favorite characters — that was until Rick walks into the lobby of a Bangkok hotel.
Midway through the season Rick reunites with his old travel buddy Frank (Sam Rockwell), who delivers a four-minute monologue that is one of the most jaw-disjointing stories ever relayed on TV.
Frank is the lone-wolf renegade American who stayed in the clubs of Bangkok a little too long it seems, and is now on the sober train. (p.s. if you haven’t been to Bangkok, whatever you think it is … it’s exactly that.)
The only thing better than Frank’s monologue is when Frank falls off the wagon and lands right back in the Go-go bar with Rick, leading to a scene that puts The Hangover to shame.
As anyone who has attempted sober traveling will know, there’s nothing more likely to break your sobriety than reuniting with that old travel buddy who knows how to go fullpower, 24-hour, no toilet, no shower.
In case anyone reading hasn’t watched, I won’t reveal any more plot details. But hopefully you will watch and itch that travel bug, and meet up with that old travel buddy, and break your sobriety, for just one night at least.
“It’s Bangkok, let’s paint the town red,” says Frank. “I’ll go back to the monastery tomorrow.”
Speaking of monasteries, the whole reason the Ratliff family is in Thailand is so daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) can meet a famous Buddhist monk.
In a monologue of his own, the monk drops some Buddhist gems, explaining its teachings on pleasure, pain, consciousness and ultimately death and reincarnation in front of Piper’s tortured father Tim.
When traveling Southeast Asia you can, and should, seek out such wisdom. The fact that it’s shared on TV — even in some basic way — is a gift to viewers eclipsing all the natural beauty of the resort, and even those floral shirts.
So… for the first ever Renegades Logbook review of a TV series, I give The White Lotus Season 3 a full FIVE STARS — befitting of this epic resort.
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