"The White Lotus" Season Finale: Where to Next?

The most recent chapter in HBO Sundays, season three of their hit show The White Lotus, came to a close this weekend. In true The White Lotus finale fashion, the polarizing episode has lit up internet discussions with praise, complaints, theories, fan edits, and other musings on the season and its conclusion. What planes successfully landed coming out of Thailand? What may have caused some viewers to be left wanting more? What does it all mean for the show’s future? Let’s discuss. Spoilers for the entire season below.

The White Lotus has been a major player in the television space since its Hawaii-based debut season premiered in 2021. Beyond finding its way to both awards and commercial success, the show has established a distinct and ever-present digital footprint. Due in no small part to Jennifer Coolidge’s work in the streaming-success’s first two seasons, the show continuously spawns a flurry of memes, edits, and other comments. Pair this with the recent season’s finale viewership of 6.2 million lapping the first season’s finale of 2.3 million, The White Lotus has a marketing director’s dream level of engagement. So why has the season three finale received such a polarizing response from fans?

Answering that question requires asking another question first: Why do people watch The White Lotus? What drew viewers to the show in the first place and allowed them to nearly triple their audience across three seasons? When the show debuted, critics and fans alike praised it for its unique comedic tone and direct class and gender commentary. There has most definitely always been a vocal minority of the show’s viewership that disputed the level at which the show’s content was really operating,  but these are the qualities that made the show take off with the general public. Did people simply get tired of Mike White’s shtick after two back-to-back seasons of it? Is the fault on them for expecting anything different? Or was season three genuinely a step down in quality of the same form that viewers have grown accustomed to?

While season three set up an irrefutably entertaining ensemble cast of characters, the standout storyline of the season was easily that of Laurie, Jaclyn, and Kate. They present three middle-aged best friends staying at the resort on a girls trip to catch each other up on their lives, talk smack, and try to feel young (or at least find peace in feeling not-so-young.) Laurie’s final monologue on struggling to find what gives her life meaning, elegantly delivered by the marvelous Carrie Coon, is one of the most moving parts of the episode and season in general because it had a point of view on what it wanted to express. And yet, even in one of the finale’s highlights, there is a twinge of something unearned in it. Reports of certain character-building dialogue being cut are likely responsible for this feeling, and it is unfortunately more glaringly obvious in most of the season’s other major storylines. There’s wanting to avoid spelling it out for the audience and then there’s almost entirely cutting dialogue that makes a storyline’s culmination satisfying. But, that’s also television in the streaming era for you.

The White Lotus has never pretended to give us a complex, action-driven narrative. The concept’s success lies in intriguing character studies, dry humor, and social commentary. It is certainly possible that audiences have just grown bored of White’s tone, but in this case, season three’s polarizing reception is due to a simple shortcoming in the third department. As previously stated, the characters we are introduced to in the season’s premier are an eclectic bunch, full of interesting identities and relationships. But their journeys this season are generally lacking in both action and theme. The relationship between Gaitok and Mook is about as paper thin as can be and a disappointing waste of superstar Lisa’s talents. Timothy Ratliff’s phone calls were frustratingly repetitive and lacking in development, though his material in the finale is almost enough to re-balance his storyline. Lochlan’s explanation for the hand job seen ‘round the world is a major eye-roll. There are absolutely themes of identity, purpose, and morality throughout the season’s content. Unfortunately, the moments where we get rewarding glimpses into how the characters are manifestations of those themes instead of those points being bluntly stated as lines of dialogue, are sadly few and far between across the season’s whole.

Piper is one character whose season arc felt satisfyingly closed because it has something to say, even if what it’s saying is simple. Her speech at breakfast about not being able to handle the monastery’s living conditions is both hilarious and poignant! It is reminiscent of much of what worked so well for the character arc of Olivia Mossbacher, played by Sydney Sweeney in season one. Other storylines this season felt as if they had both so little action and so little to say thematically that it leaves viewers thinking “What do I have to engage with besides this fun personality on my screen?” In a recent interview with Variety, White stated “There was complaining about how there’s no plot. That part I find weird. It never did…part of me is like bro, this is the vibe. I’m world-building.”  It’s definitely reassuring to see White’s acute awareness over his show in this regard. But, at a certain point, what is that world-building worth if you don’t do anything with it? Part of the dissonance causing fans  disappointment is witnessing the amazing job White does at carving out characters worth studying coupled with his apparent disinterest in studying them.

Perhaps people found the ending too predictable? The show’s hashtag on social media is rife with users claiming  they were unsurprised by the reveal of who Rick’s father really was and who ultimately died. The latter was certainly an, ahem, dead giveaway if you were to notice the title of the episode before clicking play: “Amor Fati.” A Latin phrase meaning “love of fate,” these words are uttered by Chelsea mid-episode in a conversation with Rick about how bad things that happen too him happen to her too. This was a pretty clear airhorn to most viewers that Chelsea, and likely Rick, would be the victims of the highly-anticipated death reveal. If the show had acknowledged this obvious red flag and used it as fuel to build up dread for the couple’s fate, the ultimate result may have been more impactful. Instead, the writing continued to treat the identity of the victim(s) as a shocking reveal, assuming an elementary nature in the thinking of its viewers. White definitely picked the right body to put in that bag, though, as the outpouring of heartfelt reactions and strong emotions expressed for the death of Chelsea are hard to imagine occurring for any other character.

It’s pretty safe to assume that the show will receive renewal given its status as certifiable zeitgeist media. Both fans and critics alike will be keen to know where then, shall Mike White and The White Lotus go next? The setting of a new season of The White Lotus is always a hot topic of conversation, but something tells me that audiences will be just as eager to know what direction the show’s tone and storylines will take in season four. One thing is for sure and that is that no matter what White does next, there will be people who don’t like it, which I’d say means he’s clearly doing something right.

Gabe Ozaki is an actor, writer, and film critic. He is based in Chicago.