If you're in the business of listing the best new TV franchises to arrive in the last few years, you can't ignore The White Lotus, which is part of a rush of superb content that has come out of HBO recently. Whether you're in the US and watching on Max, in the UK using Now or Sky Atlantic, or elsewhere, it's been a shot in the arm for those who love murder mysteries.
The second season established an anthology format, where each season is disconnected from the previous other than being at the same fictional hotel franchise, and now we can see the same trick in action a third time. The third season got a full trailer this week, and it looks like a feast for the senses.
This time around the action will be set in The White Lotus' Thailand branch, a remote and unspoiled location for the rich to take private holidays without worrying about being bothered by the hoi polloi. Of course, following the tradition set by the first two seasons, this tranquility will be disrupted by a murder at some point.
In the frame as both suspects and investigators this time around are a family whose patriarch's business prospects are going up in flames in secret; a couple with a huge age gap and a mysterious private mission; a hotelier looking to learn all she can from this premier band; and a group of childhood friends looking to reconnect despite apparent differences.
That's quite a list of archetypes and motivations, and suffice to say they'll all have their own agendas once the crime becomes apparent – while the hotel's staff will also be trying to keep a lid on things. It'll doubtless make for some unbelievable moments as people try to make themselves seem innocent, even though they might well be just that.
The White Lotus has been a hugely popular show, with its first two season both netting 90%+ scores on Rotten Tomatoes, so HBO will very much be hoping that it can repeat that success a third time. Its strategy makes claiming that it has the best streaming service a little complicated (since Max only exists in the US), but there's no doubt that HBO's TV is some of the very best out there.
