\n<\/p>\n
Take a moment. Focus on your breathing. Calm your mind. Let the sounds of the external world fade away. Did you just hear gunshots? Ignore them. Embrace the now. Find in your minds what is timeless. Pay no attention to the corpse floating by you.<\/p>\n
If you watched either of the previous two seasons of the HBO hit \u201cThe White Lotus,\u201d you probably were not surprised to see Season 3 kick off with a dead body. This show is effectively an anthology drama, with each new edition following a different set of rich tourists and well-meaning service industry employees at high-end international resorts. The writer-director Mike White has developed a sturdy blueprint for this series, combining beautiful locations, talented actors, dark social satire, gentle humanism and just a little bit of mystery. Think \u201cFantasy Island,\u201d but with a TV-MA twist.<\/p>\n
Because White takes his time establishing characters and telling their stories, he hooks the audience in the opening minutes of each season with a tease of where the plot is headed. Someone \u2014 as yet unidentified \u2014 is going to die. Please stay tuned.<\/p>\n
In the Season 3 premiere at least, this formula retains plenty of pop. We begin in a sun-dappled Thailand jungle, where one of the White Lotus chain\u2019s wellness-centered seaside getaways is nestled among thick groves of trees filled with monkeys and wild birds. There, a stress-management session is interrupted by some loud pops and a cadaver. And away we go, rewinding to the start of the story, one week earlier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Once again, White has assembled a stellar cast, easily sorted into four different groups who will all, no doubt, interact before the season\u2019s over.<\/p>\n
The largest is the Ratliff family, North Carolina blue bloods led by Timothy (Jason Isaacs), a business bigwig with no interest in any of the resort\u2019s spiritual healing exercises. Parker Posey plays Tim\u2019s wife, Victoria, a brassy belle who thinks everything her children do is a hoot. Patrick Schwarzenegger plays the eldest son, Saxon, a beefy finance bro who works for Tim and is on a constant hunt for sexual partners. Sarah Catherine Hook is Piper, the daughter, a University of North Carolina student working on a thesis project about eastern religions (and who is the reason the other Ratliffs are, semi-reluctantly, in Thailand). And Sam Nivola is the youngest son, Lochlan, a high school senior who just got into Duke but isn\u2019t sure he wants to follow in his father\u2019s and brother\u2019s heavy footsteps.<\/p>\n
The second-biggest group is a trio of \u201clongtime friends\u201d (don\u2019t call them \u201cold\u201d), reconnecting after a long time apart for a \u201cvictory tour\u201d (don\u2019t call it a \u201cmidlife crisis trip\u201d). Carrie Coon plays Laurie, a busy New York professional. Leslie Bibb is Kate, a Texas housewife apparently married to a tycoon. And Michelle Monaghan in Jaclyn, a famous TV actress recognized by the resort\u2019s staff and guests.<\/p>\n
Next up is a couple who do not seem at all compatible. Walton Goggins plays Rick Hatchett, an irritable man who seems shady (though we do not yet know why). Aimee Lou Wood is Chelsea, his much-younger girlfriend, an upbeat free spirit eager to indulge in whatever the resort has to offer.<\/p>\n
Each set of guests have been provided with a \u201chealth mentor\u201d to help them book spa treatments and activities. The lady-pals have Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius), a hunky Russian whom one or more of them will surely take a run at before the season\u2019s over. The Ratliffs have Pam (Morgana O\u2019Reilly), whom they mostly ignore \u2014 especially when she tells them the resort has a \u201cno cellphones in public areas\u201d policy. Rick and Chelsea have Mook (Lalisa Manobal, better known as Lisa from Blackpink<\/a>), who is in a flirty relationship with the security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n