The White Lotus (HBO not so Limited Series)

Yeah I’m avoiding social media tomorrow, I blocked every drag race word I could think of and Twitter still managed to spoil this weeks episode for me!
 
I've spent the weekend watching eps 1-7, coz episodes dropping weekly can fuck off, and though I hear the naysayers overall I'm VERY MUCH ON BOARD. Earlier eps weren't as compelling as previous seasons, and I think it was a mistake to stretch it out to 8 this time, but I thought 6 and 7 were bangers. Even in the slower episodes where I did end up getting my phone out (SORRY PAM) there's always been a fair bit to enjoy. As TV shows go it just feels like a NICE INDULGENT TREAT.

Parker is obvs my highlight. She's meant that I haven't missed Tanya, despite the character not being quite at the same level. I think the whole family are brilliantly realised.

Did we know that Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell are a couple? I did wonder why the latter was in such a small (for a recentish Oscar winner) part. He's been great.

I'm pleasantly surprised in myself for not wanting the brothers to fuck. Valentin, Belinda's son and the Schwarzenegger HOWEVER :horny: (FYI - fans of the demon twink should look out the oeuvre of Sean Ford.)

I really don't want Belinda or her son to die, but other than that I'm not too fussed who does peg it. My outside guess for the shooter is Gaitok's girlfriend, just because we know little about her and it could be a fun curveball.
 
I had a LOVELY time, but it was nowhere near as iconic as the s1 or s2 finales. There was no moment to rival Murray Bartlett shitting in the suitcase, or anything with Tanya on (and then off :() the boat, but I was fully invested throughout.

Carrie Coon did some terrific acting, it was all dramatically satisfying (a few hmmm moments of suspended disbelief with the Ratliffs' SMOOTHIE OF DEATH storyline aside), and I'm happy for Belinda. Oh and I was :o/:D at the little brother just nonchalantly explaining to his older brother why he bashed him off, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Parker was underused.
 
SO MUCH TO UNPACK!

The finale was a weird one - definitely the most memorable and satisfying episode of the season, but it was also complete NONSENSE :D

The rich family and the three girlfriends all boarding the boat home just after a MASS SHOOTING AT THE HOTEL THEY WERE STAYING IN, without a reference or any kind of emotional response to it :D yes I know all of these people are self absorbed but I very much doubt the Thai police would be letting anyone leave that hotel the same day!

And the hotel owner screaming KILL HIM! while holding her dead husband so that Gaitok can metamorphasise into COOL SUNGLASSES WEARING HITMAN BODYGUARD just hours after claiming to serve Buddha :altaf:

Gaitok's shy girlfriend morphing into LADY MACBETH the last two episodes was a scream as well. GET MONEY BITCH!

I suppose the overall moral of the story is to not take too much lorezepam in case you accidentally poison your children with a tropical fruit and a blender?

Second moral is don't waste your time on fate and philosophy and astrology if you insist on following your maniacal boyfriend into a gunfight. POOR CHELSEA!

That shot of Rick looking up DEAD AND SMILING from the water was an ICONIC moment though.

Also the scene of Belinda letting her beau down with "circumstances have changed" after her entire story arc had been built around Tanya doing the same thing to her. That was TOP NOTCH.

It's one of those shows that I don't mind being flawed - the whole thing is a blast and remains must see TV.
 
Oh and MY GOD, say what you want about the Sam Rockwell and Carrie Coon monologues - my Emmy nomination goes to Parker Posey for that reaction at the table when her daughter changes her mind about the Temple. The mixture of restrained GIDDINESS at being right all along and the overwhelming PRIDE at her daughter outing herself as a spoilt privileged brat, was worth waiting the whole season for :D
 
God that tied it all up absolutely BEAUTIFULLY :disco: A proper slow burner of a season - and one which really tested quite a lot in the first few episodes - but that really managed to make something wonderful out of it all in the last ninety minutes. Mike White you malicious homosexual you will ALWAYS be famous!
 
Loved Zion's "GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE", just moments before the only unambiguously good person ended up dying in a gunfight :D At least she got to spend the rest of her life with that deeply unnecessarily damaged man who just sparked off even more damage wherever he went!

Loved the little Where the Wild Roses Go tribute in that last shot in the lake :disco:
 
Oh and the demon twink nearly dying from CHEKHOV'S COLADA PROTEIN SHAKE was delicious, as was his utterly twisted attempt to say him tossing his brother off was him "being a people-pleaser in a family of narcissists" rather than what he'd been dying to do all season :D And a beautiful underwater shot too!
 
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I like that they subverted the expectations that those three would just fall apart in a pool of simmering resentments and toxicity. In real life, friends do bitch and gossip behind each others backs!

That said, "I'm glad you have a BEAUTIFUL FACE" is a very weird compliment. :D I assume intentionally so.
 
More fuel to the 'Jason Isaacs had beef with someone' rumours at 0.30 here.

"Most likely to come back? It's not going to be me, that's for sure..." :eyes:



He did attend a cast reunion to watch the final episode, though notably neither Mike White nor Parker Posey appeared to be there. :eyes:

 
honestly the girlfriends storyline was questionable all season, never really camp or interesting enough, and although Carrie Coon did act the shit out of her monologue... it didn't feel earned. wait, Laurie had an epiphany this afternoon? while hungover in bed? off screen?

maybe something was cut, idk, but it felt disconnected from the previous 7 episodes. we knew she was unhappy. but the show never really bothered to tell us why, or to really dig into their relationships so *shrug*. all 3 actresses are great but their story underwhelmed.

loved the finale overall though. the whole season was all about the Ratliffs and the absurdity of Tim trying to kill them with POISON PINA COLADAS (but not Lachlan because he's so PURE), changing his mind, watching Lachlan die, come back to life, and still failing to tell the family what he did and letting them read it on the internet... camp.

OBSESSED with Piper. yes, the food was vegetarian, but you could tell it wasn't organic. Parker Posey was a dream during this scene. absolutely brilliant comedic acting. arguably the highlight of the whole season. everyone in that family is a steaming hot mess and I fucking loved it!

good season, I definitely preferred it to 1. I think the way he writes now is a bit more "characters as metaphors" but I don't mind that. if there's one takeout from this season it's that fragile straight male egos will really be the end of EVERYBODY. poor Chelsea... :(
 
also gagged at Chloe partying in Greg's pool, shopping for a third as if her friend didn't just get shot dead just down the hill. had some time passed?
 
She really gets us.



I hope there’s a decree someplace protecting this woman at all costs.
 

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