The Meaning of Dreams

Just watched the third episode. The family drama and the romantic tension between Mook and the security guard are mostly good. Other than that, most of the men seem either depressed or into weird stuff. And the three women characters-did anyone even write their dialogues, or are they just saying whatever they feel like? This time, they're talking about politics.

It's been three episodes, and nothing big has happened yet. They just keep building up mystery in every episode, but I'm still waiting for something exciting to happen. At least a fight between Saxon and Greg would be fun to watch. The comedy works here and there, but overall, it's still just decent. 2.5/5.

Imagine the chaos happening back home right now, while the Ratfliffs are away and oblivious. Maybe that's the story we should be watching because Thailand is a relatively inert place.

The great cast still lends some interest to the proceedings. Finally, Walton Goggins gets a chance to do something other than mope around with a pained expression on his face.

But the plotting overall is too thin. Maybe Mike White needs a writing partner now to bounce ideas off of, to beef up some of the deader plot lines.

The Thai staff characters are dull as hell. In previous seasons, we got gems like Armond. Why write characters as dull when you have the option to give them some kind of demented liveliness? Instead of having Gaitok be weak and incompetent, have him be a wannabe Rambo type who goes nuts when a thief gets past him and causes chaos in his attempts to be more aggressive.

At this point, it's safe to say that "The White Lotus" hasn't just found its formula-it's perfected it to the point where every new season feels like a sadistic game of who falls apart first?-with a tropical paradise as the arena. In this episode, Mike White keeps tightening the screws on the suspense, letting the tension drip like the sweat of the guests who, under the Thai heat, are desperately trying to keep it together while their lives crumble around them. The episode delivers everything the show does best: petty intrigues masked by forced smiles, small talk hiding corrosive power dynamics, and that ever-present feeling that something is about to explode-or, in this case, be let out of a glass cage and bite someone.

Timothy's growing paranoia might be the episode's most well-crafted thread, almost like a case study on how a man used to control deals with the looming collapse. His obsessive phone calls, the way his cellphone turns into a ghost haunting him every minute, and his desperate attempts to hold on to any illusion of normalcy (as if a simple screen lockdown could fix his problems) make him one of the most interesting characters this season. Victoria, on the other hand, shows a cruel pragmatism that only highlights how distant they really are as a couple. She offers him a pill to help him sleep but not to actually get better-a perfect metaphor for how she handles her own life and the problems she'd rather sweep under the rug. The final scene, where Timothy finally gives in and steals another pill, encapsulates this mindset: denial as the only survival strategy.

Saxon continues his mission to be the worst kind of brother, oozing casual misogyny and a toxic masculinity that swings between darkly funny and deeply uncomfortable. His relationship with Lochlan is a brutal reflection of that tough love style of bullying disguised as life advice that runs through so many family dynamics. But while Saxon is predictable, Rick is a mystery. His little weed run outside the resort felt like a throwaway subplot-until he suddenly decided that freeing a bunch of caged snakes was a good idea. And just like that, the sequence turns into one of the tensest and most unexpected moments of the episode. The "cobra show" scene is a perfect example of what this show does best: a moment that starts off almost as a joke but slowly builds into an unsettling tension-until something actually dangerous happens. Chelsea getting bitten by the snake that Rick let loose isn't just a tragically ironic twist (especially since she was obsessed with that snake necklace in the last episode); it also puts a huge target on her back for whatever disasters come next.

Over in the three-friend drama, the rivalry disguised as friendship between Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie just gets juicier. Their dynamic is pure passive-aggressive poison, every interaction dripping with jealousy and fake politeness. The highlight is Kate casually (or maybe intentionally?) revealing her political shift, forcing Jaclyn into a hilarious moral gymnastics routine. If past seasons used romantic couples to expose the discomfort of relationships in crisis, this season plays with a different kind of tension: female friendships that exist more out of habit and convenience than genuine affection.

But "The White Lotus" wouldn't be "The White Lotus" without some sinister foreshadowing hanging in the air. Piper's comment about the waves swallowing a man feels like one of those ominous lines planted to haunt us later in the season, just like Belinda getting spooked by strange noises in her room. And then, of course, there's Rick, who's making it more and more obvious that he didn't come to this resort just to relax-his growing fixation on the hotel's owners and his upcoming trip to Bangkok are practically screaming that something big is about to go down...

Overall, the episode perfectly captures what makes "The White Lotus" so addictive. It doesn't rely on huge twists or shocking reveals to keep you hooked. What makes it work is this intricate game of microaggressions, loaded silences, and tiny moments that seem insignificant now but could be the start of something catastrophic. Every season of this show begins as a messy web of random interactions, but piece by piece, it all starts coming together to reveal something deeply unsettling underneath. And right now, it's clear-the storm is getting closer.

My husband and I absolutely loved the first two seasons. I'm now beginning to realize that a good part of that was because of Jennifer Coolidge. She is deeply missed this season.

I'm afraid the writing is weak because it's basically the same stories as in the first two seasons, just different characters. And it's hard to really like any of them other than the masseuse. Everyone else is so irritating. The casting is lacking. Jason Isaacs is supposed to be portraying a southern businessman, but his British accent keeps breaking through. Patrick Schwarzenegger definitely seems to have been cast for the name factor, but he's not a great actor, and his character is really unlikable. And Parker Posey's overdone southern accent is annoying.

And what's missing in this season is that while the resort is gorgeous, it seems much more claustrophobic and not open like the other two locations in the first two seasons. You see the resort, and then you see the ocean, but you don't see the resort and the ocean in the same shot as you did in the other seasons. And unfortunately, the weather was not very forgiving because it was cloudy so much of the time. Maybe that was a production choice, but if so, it makes the whole story seems so much more dreary.

Was so excited for the new season, but disappointed as the story is slow, and the cast and scenery are not what they were in the previous seasons. I'm hoping that there is going to be a season 4 (so I originally heard there was not going to be), and I hope they can choose a better location and cast.

Whatever they are doing, it isn't working. Unlike the previous two seasons there are absolutely no characters that are engaging and it is totally devoid of the humour of season 1 and to a lesser extent season 2. I'll stick with it but after three largely uneventful episodes I'm not overly optimistic. Episode 3 was the dullest so far with lots of 'mood' shots but very little by way of moving the stories on unless you like watching rich, unlikeable people shovelling food in their mouths. I was quite forgiving of the rather bland opening episode as it is all about introducing the characters and location but episodes two and three have been equally nondescript.