The White Lotus S3 Was a Mess.

Reactions to Mike White’s third installment of The White Lotus have been divisive and controversial: there was an incestual family, a K-pop star and a chaotic season finale. As a huge fan of the first two seasons, I was thrilled ot watch a bunch of rich people wreck their lives in Thailand. And I won’t lie — When Mike White told The New Yorker that he would be asking fans to transfer their loyalty “to an almost entirely new show,” I was nervous, but prepared.

Unfortunately, what we got were concepts of a phenomenal show that felt incredibly rushed, leaving storylines unfinished. White may be a victim of his own success — or perhaps his creation is becoming the perfect mirror for performative tourism and identity fatigue.

Season two was both hilarious and dramatic — an art mastered by few, but certainly not lost on Jennifer Coolidge. But I wonder — was White testing the incestual waters by putting Coolidge’s character in a position to react to perceived incest? Who’s gonna tell him that what made that incest funny was that it was not incest?

Yes, I have watched Game of Thrones and everything Ryan Murphy’s ever created —  indeed, their isn’t isn’t funny either. But for George R. R. Martin, historical fiction tells tales of death on the battlefield and the twisted preservation of royal bloodlines. Murphy, on the other hand, details documentary-style dramatizations. This was neither.

White clearly enjoys pushing boundaries — which he certainly did, but not without sacrificing the audience’s trust. His “shock for the sake of shock” felt far more like a Wayans brothers’ film than it did his usual disturbed artfulness.

Mister White, must I remind you of your own work? Season three came off of Jennifer Coolidge, making a plea for her life, “Please, these gays are trying to murder me!” before going all Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood on everyone in earshot of her — and almost getting away with it, before literally face-planting into her own demise.

This season’s big book-end moment though, featured a cliché — and predictable — “Luke, I am your father” trope and an underwhelming “Sike! Nobody dead here” to conclude Timothy Ratliff’s (Jason Isaacs) long-developed suicidal/homocidal storyline.

But at least that story had some resolution. A special element of the show is often the intertwining of our different groups. For instance, the Ratliff brothers party with Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), leading to the young Ratliff boy doing the unspeakable to his older brother. And of course, Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) recognizes Chloe’s boyfriend, Greg/Gary (Job Gries) — but how does the girls trip connect to the other storylines? Well, that’s be — sort of — answered by an early scene where Kate (Leslie Bibb) approaches Victoria Ratliff (Parker Posey) to re-introduce herself, reminded her of the intimate bridal party weekend they’d spent together a couple of years back. Leaving Kate and viewers uncertain of if she didn’t remember her or just didn’t like her, Victoria made a strange impression in a seemingly important moment that was never revisited.

The White Lotus season three felt like a really strong first draft that needed several revisions. But thank goodness for Parker Posey, right? Though it certainly isn’t the first time a Lorazepam mom with a Southern drawl was the glue that held it all together.

Mike White, I have one parting request: Please continue to make us uneasy. Make our stomachs turn into a knot that is no match for even the most skilled Girl Scout. But might you tie it with scandals and storylines that veer in every direction besides incest and — in case you were planning on it — statutory rape? Thank you.