‘The White Lotus’ Returns with Top-Tier Performances: Episode 1 Review
How is the White Lotus still in business? The luxury resort that functions as a setting for each season of Mike White’s eponymous HBO series has blood on its hands — and that doesn’t change in Season 3, Episode 1: “Same Spirits, New Forms.”
While other seasons opened with the discovery or body or reveal that someone died, Season 3’s cold open unfolds at the White Lotus in Thailand, where Zion’s (Nicholas Duvernay) meditation is interrupted by gunshots. He’s immediately terrified for the safety of his mother — as are all viewers who put together that this is Belinda’s (Natasha Rothwell) son — and then a body floats toward him.
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It’s shrewd of White to start the season this way, immediately delineating Season 3’s death from its predecessors. It could still have been an accident, but the implied violence and visibly widespread fear add new tension (as does a fresh theme song from Cristobal Tapia de Veer). Belinda is the only returning character this season; not only would her death sting worse after her Season 1 arc, but the scene with Zion demonstrates how much he’d hate to lose her.
“Same Spirits, New Forms” skillfully introduces a large ensemble (as viewers can count on White to do, from experience). This would be the moment to highlight those who stand out, but everyone shines in this episode. Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon, and Leslie Bibb’s trio says everything about their dynamic with furtive looks and forced smiles (and some unforced smiles, to be fair); Parker Posey and Jason Isaacs debut their North Carolina accents and work tirelessly to convince the White Lotus staff that their family is “normal.” Lisa Manobal and Tayme Thapthimthong reveal a charming rapport, and Rothwell seems right at home in her return to the resort. What Aimee Lou Wood conveys with an energetic smile and exclamation, Walton Goggins portrays with a scowl and an expletive.
That connection is particularly compelling; on the outside there’s obviously a gap in age and verve, but they also seem genuinely comfortable in the relationship. Even as Goggins’ Rick grumbles and pulls away, Wood’s Chelsea stays optimistic, calls him out, and tries not to let it get in the way of her vacation. On most shows — and indeed, in real life — it’s the kind of partnership where the Rick inevitably explodes with anger if not violence. That could still happen in the remaining seven episodes, but doesn’t seem to currently factor into their relationship.
It’s an astute contrast (or parallel) to Chelsea’s new friend Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) — and her own older partner, the surprisingly resurfaced Greg (Jon Gries). That’s two returning characters with a direct link between them — a dead link, as it happens, which connects all three seasons in a tangle of timing, threads, and danger. For now, they all begin their week at the White Lotus blissfully unaware of the shocking events to come. Tragedy is just around the corner, but for many of the characters it’s already unfolding in ways that are all-too familiar.
Grade: A-
New episodes of “The White Lotus” air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
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