THE WHITE LOTUS SEASON 3 EPISODE 1 RECAP

HBO’s hit series The White Lotus is back to much delight as it has slowly risen to become one of the best series from the channel. Each season has featured a new location and this time, we travel to the tropical paradise of Thailand.

Setting the Stage- Spoilers Ahead

The wealthy, the privileged, the spoiled, and all of the high rollers in society bring their problems and more back to the luxurious resort. The cast features a southern American family headed by Jason Isaacs known as the Ratliff family. Patrick Schwarzenegger plays Saxon Ratliff, Sarah Catherine Hook is Piper Ratliff, Sam Nivola is Lochlan Ratliff, and Parker Posey is mom Victoria Ratliff. As always there is something simmering beneath the surface as Timothy (Jason Isaacs) seems to be hiding something as he receives a phone call from a reporter with the Wall Street Journal.

The star studded cast doesn’t end with the Ratliffs however as Walton Goggins plays a grumpy and standoffish Rick who is visiting the island begrudgingly with his girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood.) Michelle Monaghan is an esteemed actress named Jacklyn who’s off on a getaway with two best friends Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon.) Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) is one of two returning characters this season as she is visiting the resort this season to learn about their wellness program.

The episode starts off with Zion (Nicholas DuVernay) meditating with an employee when gun shots ring out throwing the resort into chaos. It’s an unfamiliar start as typically we set off meeting the cast and getting familiar before the side plots begin to unfold. The episode then flashes back to a week earlier to familiar territory allowing us to meet the characters and begin to dip our toes into the season and events yet to come.

The show continues its track record of throwing characters that are easy to hate at us while also giving us a couple younger ones that we can’t help but sympathize with. The two younger Ratliff kids so far seem to be the two fish out of water as everyone else save Belinda has a trait or more that already have us hoping they’re the dead body we saw floating in the water.

How will this season unfold? We have our early theories and there are quite a few staff we meet in episode one to keep our eye on but, so far this season has started out uniquely capturing our attention right off the bat.

Did you watch episode one? What are your theories let us know in the comments below!

The White Lotus airs every Sunday at 9pm est streaming only on Max.