My, my, my. After a rather lacklustre third episode, The White Lotus is gathering steam once more. In the space of an hour, we get revelations, yacht parties, drugs and guns. Yes – presumably that gun.
Where to start? The yacht, for one thing: the Ratliffs, Chelsea and Rick arrive on Greg’s superboat for a relaxing cruise around the Thai coastline. Is it… the boast Tanya died on? Inconclusive, though my extensive Googling suggests not.
Anyway, it looks like none of the guests are having fun. Tim is popping pills like his life depends on it – to the point of snaffling his wife Victoria’s entire supply of drugs to get high as a kite. Perhaps understandably, his fellow guests steer clear of his aura of abject depression. Do painkillers and alcohol mix? He’s about to find out.
Meanwhile, we finally get some answers about what Rick is actually doing in Thailand. Apparently, his father disappeared before he was born, while he was doing some kind of humanitarian work for the locals of Koh Samui – and his mother accused the White Lotus hotel’s manager’s husband (still with me?) of making it happen. And now Rick, presumably, wants vengeance.
Goggins does a good job with all the exposition – the puppy dog eyes are working overtime once more – but my god, the whole thing sounds like the plot offcuts of a particularly far-fetched episode of Neighbours.
Good job we have the three American frenemies to add some relatability. Today, they’re heading out in search of a party (possibly to cover up the fact that their relationship is already starting to fray) – dragging their poor Russian health advisor out of the hotel on the basis that they need somebody hot to show them a good time.
Michelle Monaghan is on top form here – her Jaclyn is outrageously snobbish, and one scene in particular, where the girls find themselves drinking cocktails with a bunch of retired Australians – is wonderfully awful. As the girls sip cocktails, the camera lingers over Hawaii’an shirts, grey hair and wobbling legs.
Jaclyn’s horrified expression is priceless, though I’d argue that a later scene – in which the three women get hounded through the streets of Koh Samui by an army of kids wielding water pistols – is an all-time series highlight. As their high-handedness gives way to horror, their politeness also vanishes. “Stop, okay? We’re adults!” Jaclyn screeches at one of the kids – only for the water-bombing to intensify.
So this is all fun and games. However! More importantly, Belinda finally gets her moment in the sun as she puts two and two together and figures out that a) Tanya’s dead and b) Greg is insanely rich (as we see later, he also has one hell of a nice house). “Motherf**ker!” she yelps at the laptop, before making stink eyes at him across the hotel lobby.
That volcano is bound to bubble over sometime soon, but while that heats up, spare a thought for Gaitok, who is given responsibility over the hotel’s new gun (an extra security measure) only to have it swiped approximately two hours later. The culprit? My money’s on Jason Isaacs’ Tim, fresh off a call with his lawyer that lays out just how screwed he is.
Prison? Yes. Frozen assets? Absolutely. “They’re not going to take the house are they?” he asks, voice cracking. Yes they are Tim – so stealing that gun feels like a mighty ominous move.
The wheels turn and the tension is ramping up. But those wheels are creaking slightly. Things feel a bit too try-hard, a bit too contrived here. Rick’s backstory is corny in the extreme; the whole gun subplot feels very obvious and the dialogue is a tad on-the-nose for comfort.
Take Parkey Posey’s Victoria, who meets a bunch of rich old men on the yacht and bitches outrageously about them afterwards. “I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of them were actual killers, you know?” she exclaims to her family. Indeed, Victoria, indeed. How many of them, we’re about to find out.
The White Lotus is streaming on HBO and Sky Atlantic
