HBOHolidays come and go, but there’s only one hotel we really want to stay in (and it’s not even real). After a three-year wait, we’re packing our bags to The White Lotus in Season 3 Episode 1.
So far we’ve jet-setted to Hawaii and Italy, and Thailand is the next destination on the map. Granted, we won’t see Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya doing her best Peppa Pig impression on the back of a Vespa, but new drama is only a swimming pool away.
If we’re honest, it’s been an absolutely agonizing wait up until this point. The binge-worthy TV show has been teasing out its details for literal years, and it will definitely still have surprises waiting in store.
Unsurprisingly, its debut has kicked off with a bang. Ready for the most restless and unsettling holiday of all time? Here’s everything that went down in The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 1. Warning: spoilers ahead!
Somebody dies minutes into The White Lotus Season 3 Episode 1
HBOAs The White Lotus in Season 3 Episode 1, we’re in the absolutely beautiful depths of the Thai countryside. Out of the foilage emerges a gazebo, where a young American man has arrived for a meditation session. He introduces himself to the member of staff as Zion, explaining he’s there to visit his mom (it isn’t explicitly confirmed who this is, but we can take a good guess… more on this later).
Zio explains he’s been stressed out at college and his mom suggested taking the trip out to meet her. He also adds he’s done this sort of thing before, saying his mom “is into all that spiritual stuff.” The session begins, with the two sitting on the floor with their eyes closed. However, it’s not long before Zion realizes something is up.
Within seconds, Zion shakes his meditation mentor to tell her he can hear gunshots in the not-too-distance. Sure enough, stray bullets start to catch the nearby pond and windows, causing the mentor to make a run for it. Zion is more concerned about his mom, wading through the pond to try and find her.
As he approaches a big Buddha statue in the middle of the pond, bullets continue to nearly miss him. He quickly prays to the statue to keep his mom safe, but before he can get very far, a body floats past him, face down. Just as we’re about the make out who it is, the screen goes black. Cue titles…
The guests make their introductions
HBOWe’re briskly whisked back to a week beforehand. A crop of new guests are making their way to the hotel via boat – a Southern family of five, three female friends, and a bohemian-looking couple with a distinct age gap. Almost immediately, our bohemian man winds up the father of our family of five by smoking too close to him. Bear in mind, we don’t know anybody’s names yet.
While this is going on, we meet a young Thai staff member whose bike has broken down on the way to work. She’s picked up by one of the hotel’s security guards, and it’s clear they have a good relationship. It doesn’t seem to matter that she’s later as the owner of the hotel, the enigmatic Sritala, isn’t ready to meet the guests. She asks their boat if they can “tour the bay” to buy her time.
Soon enough, the staff members are waving them in. Each is assigned their own health mentor in line with the hotel’s wellness program – stats will be gathered on them to build a personalized itinerary that will see to their every well-being need.
First up is the Ratliff family (aka our family of five from earlier on). Husband and wife Timothy and Victoria have three children: Saxon, Piper, and Lochlan, also known as “Locky.” They’re Southern Belles, with Locky due to go to college at the end of the summer. He can’t decide between two, and this seems to be a big deal to everyone – especially Victoria, who is boasting about this to deaf ears. They’re mostly here because daughter Piper is doing her thesis on Buddhism and wants to interview a local monk.
Next to introduce themselves is couple Rick and Chelsea. They appear to be complete opposites of each other – Rick is stern-faced and hardly says a word, while Chelsea is endearing and fun-loving, wanting to make the best of being here. They’re assigned Mook as their mentor – who is the girl from earlier we saw getting a lift.
Best friends Laurie, Jaclyn, and Kate are the last to get off the boat. Jaclyn is famous (and appears to be an actress, though this isn’t explicitly mentioned) and has paid for the three to come away. They say they’re each so busy, they’re never able to make proper time to see each other. Sritala appears to be a fan of Jac’s, putting the trio in the best suite they have.
A familiar face returns
HBOAnother face gets off the boat too, and it’s a familiar one. Belinda arrives on a different part of the hotel’s beach, met by a new colleague. If you don’t remember, Belinda worked at the Hawaiian hotel in The White Lotus Season 1. She’s essentially there on a placement aboard, looking to expand her spirituality teachings in a brand-new setting. She can’t believe her luck in being there, put in a room worthy of a guest.
We see her offer her thanks to a statue of the Gods, before later having a solo dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. She can’t believe there are Black people around who aren’t working there, being treated like royalty as they pass her by.
Of course, there are no prizes for guessing who Zion’s mom is. We see the two on the phone later on in the episode, with Zion explaining he can’t wait to come and visit. Belinda feels as if she’s really landed on her feet – except she absolutely hates the creatures and lizards she routinely sees running around.
Obviously, everybody has their secrets
HBOThe rest of The White Lotus Season 3 is dedicated to unearthing the guest dynamics… or at least starting to. The Ratliffs are unwilling to subscribe to the hotel’s wellness program (which includes giving up their phones to be “present”), telling staff they just want to have a good time. While Piper is keen to start exploring the local temples and take Locky with her, oldest brother Saxon would rather show him a good time. Locky doesn’t want to upset either of them, agreeing to both their plans.
Meanwhile, Timothy and Victoria have their own issues. Victoria spends her time seeming disassociated and extremely tired, though she blames this on her jet lag. She’d rather Piper studied Christianity so they didn’t have to travel “halfway across the world” and stayed in London instead (the irony being that London is also halfway across the world from their US home). Timothy is frequently called by a Wall Street Journal reporter, who wants to dig into the history of his former company.
Mook takes Rick and Chelsea to their suite, with Chelsea wanting to throw herself into the hotel’s spa treatments. When Rick is in a mood with her, Chelsea says she wanted to go to Australia, leaving him to spend time by the pool. Rick asks Mook if Sritala’s husband Jim – who helped co-found the hotel – is around. Mook tells him he left for Bangkok that morning after a short illness. Rick storms out of the room in a rage. Mook visits security guard Raitok, hinting at their blossoming romance.
Jac, Laurie, and Kate are wowed by their surroundings, celebrating their friendship with a bottle of champagne. While Kate and Jac appear to be in each others’ pockets, Laurie feels like the odd one out. Jac and Kate lavish each other with comments about how youthful and successful the other is, half-heartedly following up with patronizing praise for Laurie. They get hit on at the pool by Saxon, who tells Locky (who appears after escorting Piper to a local temple) “Airplane journeys make me so horny.”
HBOThankfully, the idiot has no luck, turning his attention to an unimpressed Chelsea. When that doesn’t work either, Saxon brushes it off saying “It’s a numbers game, Locky.” It’s worth remembering Saxon works for Timothy, claiming to not see a vacation because he “loves his work” too much.
All of our guests’ dynamics play out over that night’s dinner. Locky feels the pressure of Timothy and Victoria deciding which college they want him to go to without his input, with Piper feeling the pressure for not having organized her interviews before they left. While Victoria falls asleep at dinner, Timothy leaves the table to get yet another call from the journalist. An article is urgently going out with or without his input, and Timothy refuses to comment. Putting the phone down, he hurriedly phones someone else to work out what’s going on.
Rick is consumed with finding Jim, though we don’t yet know his motives for why. Chelsea makes a friend at the bar, who tells her she lives in a house up the street from the hotel. The woman’s boyfriend is also older than her, falling into the stereotype of a white, balding man overseas. The pair get drunk and have fun moaning about their partners.
The trio of besties take the party back to their room, where Laurie’s sidelining continues. One comment too many, she takes herself off to bed early, watching through the window as Kate and Jac adore each other. She screams and cries with rage, the other two absolutely oblivious.
The White Lotus Season 3 is now airing weekly on HBO. While you wait, check out everything we know about House of the Dragon Season 3, if The Penguin Season 2 will happen, and more TV shows streaming this month.
You can also catch up with our full We Love TV & Movies schedule.
