The award-winning series that rich people hate

BarcelonaWhen The White Lotus landed on Max, it did so, in principle, as a miniseries with a beginning and an end. The success it had – it was one of the most talked about fictions of 2021 and won five Emmy awards – made the platform decide to commission more seasons from its creator, Mike White, and the project ended up becoming a franchise that explores the miseries of the rich who travel to resorts to find peace and live (even more) like kings while the poor workers of these resorts endure humiliation and contempt. After visiting Hawaii and Sicily, Mike White goes to Thailand, to the island of Koh Samui, with a new group of dysfunctional tourists and builds a satire that laughs at the wellness industry and the spiritual aspirations of the wealthy. The third season premieres this Monday on Max.

One of the great points in Mike White's favor is his ability to show us the destinations he chooses with images that are really beautiful and could work as a tourist advertisement. The key to the return of the series, however, is that you can be in the most paradisiacal place in the world and still be as stupid and cretinous as at home, which is precisely what happens to most of the characters. The range of tourists we meet this season is made up of a group of lifelong friends who have traveled together after a long time without seeing each other, a family (father, mother and three children) with a lot of money and a couple made up of an unfriendly man with a chip on his shoulder and a girl who is a free spirit. On the workers' side, we have the owner of the resort, one of the health mentors and a security guard. The character that serves as a link between this installment and the previous ones is Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), who was the manager of the spa

To bring all these characters to life, White has chosen a group of actors with prestigious names such as Carrie Coon, Parker Posey and Jason Isaacs. Actresses who have gained notoriety thanks to other television projects also appear, such as Aimee Lou Wood, who became popular after her time on Sex educationLisa, singer of the K-pop group Blackpink (one of the most famous at the moment), plays one of the hotel workers.

Money and the rhetoric surrounding the wellness industry is one of the main themes of this season. The White Lotus resort in Thailand is an establishment where people go to seek better health and relaxation, and that is why, among other things, there is no Wi-Fi in the rooms (much to the chagrin of the family man, who is supposedly a financial bigwig). According to Mike White, this season is much darker and more epic than the previous two. "I feel like the others were a rehearsal for this one," he said in an interview with Time.

Where was 'The White Lotus' filmed?

The first and second season of The White Lotus increased tourism in Hawaii and Sicily, respectively. With the third installment, Thailand and the island of Koh Samui are also expected to experience a White Lotus effect. In an interview in New York Times, Marc Speichert, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for Hotels and resorts Four Seasons' hotel manager, said they expect "exponential" growth. "Our Maui and Taormina properties have seen a tenfold increase in visitor numbers," he said. In fact, the series uses the Four Seasons resort on Koh Samui as the setting for the fictional The White Lotus. In addition to filming on the island, scenes were also shot in Phuket and Bangkok.

The White Lotus effect will not end in Thailand because Max has already given the green light to a fourth season. Mike White has detailed that he sees himself capable of making up to six seasons and that he already has some ideas. We will have to see what Max thinks of all this, who for the moment is very grateful to a franchise that has given her 15 Emmy awards (including those of the first two seasons).