Who’s ready to get weird in Thailand? One of the most anticipated series on the 2025 TV schedule is upon us, in Mike White’s long-awaited third season of The White Lotus. After Season 2 ended in the shocking death of Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid, we’ll see a (mostly) new cast of eccentric characters check in to the titular resort when the series premieres February 16. White got fans hyped with promises of a “longer, bigger, crazier” season, and while critics are praising Season 3, many are saying it starts a bit slow and is less comedic than its predecessors.
In addition to an impressive new cast that includes Harry Potter alum Jason Isaacs, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Michelle Monaghan and Patrick Schwarzenegger, to name a few, Season 1 fan favorite Natasha Rothwell is back, as her character Belinda is in Thailand as part of the resort’s exchange program. The trailer looks as unhinged as ever, and Emma Kiely of Collider confirms Season 3 is “irresistibly entertaining,” rating it a 7 out of 10 and writing:
When the first official trailer dropped for Season 3, not a lot of action or drama seemed to be promised, and it was an accurate tease, as this season falls behind its predecessors in both humor and drama. The script isn’t as sharp or packed with laugh-out-loud quips, which gives a distinct meandering feel to the narrative progression. Season 3 may be less exciting, but it’s easily the show’s darkest and most existential installment, with death, crime, and spirituality at the forefront.
Only the first six of the eight-episode season were released to critics, so any big reveals or twists remain under wraps. Still, Alison Herman of Variety agrees that it takes time for the pieces to come together in Season 3, and even for Mike White to reveal all the pieces the characters are playing with. However, once it gets going, the newest offering is White’s most ambitious. Herman writes:
Season 3 is the least immediately gripping entry in this running vacation diary to date; White seems to understand he’s earned our patience, and with a fourth season already guaranteed, there’s no need to continually justify the concept. But when the story coalesces and kicks into gear somewhere around its halfway point, it’s as wild and unpredictable as any of the powder kegs White has combusted.
Nick Levine of NME, meanwhile, declares The White Lotus television’s most essential destination, giving it a 4-out-of-5-star rating. The pacing issues that slightly blemish the first two episodes are a result of introducing so many characters, Levine points out, and were also present in the first two highly regarded seasons (which can be streamed with a Max subscription). The review continues:
A little sweetness definitely helps to balance out the prevailing saltiness. As the season progresses, the sneaky intricacy of White’s plotting begins to yield surreal, shocking and genuinely hilarious moments. No one can write a scene where one character pretends not to remember another quite as exquisitely as White. Tanya may be gone, but this transgressive soap opera remains unique and completely jaw-dropping.
Niv M. Sultan of Slant feels that after the Season 3 premiere kicks off with its signature murder and then flashes back to “One Week Earlier,” the characters are content to simply stew in their established misery. The cast is great, though, and the first six episodes still pack a punch, the critic says. Sultan gives it 2.5 out of 4 stars, writing:
The problem is that The White Lotus follows its adrenaline-pumping opening by turning down the heat and taking the lid off the pot. Across the six out of eight episodes provided to press for review, characters repeat similar arguments, simmer in mostly static tensions, and otherwise spin their wheels—as the ultra-rich are, I guess, wont to do. Though the cast gives magnetic performances and the atmosphere proves characteristically transportive, the season ultimately feels like a blunter, less jolting riff on the show’s tried-and-true formula. It’s intriguing, but self-defeatingly lethargic. It’s often quite funny but not as consistently as its predecessors. And though it packs a bite, it still feels as if it’s prowling on familiar ground.
Belen Edwards of Mashable says The White Lotus is still “a pressure cooker of social tensions and personal crises,” with fantastic performances from top to bottom. Overall, however, Season 3 attempts to do too much, threatening to spiral into bloat. The review continues:
[Mike White] pushes the envelope further this season, exploring new threats and taboos that left me freaking out. Overall, though, the season so far feels like The White Lotus is floundering in its attempts to both expand on its formula and stay true to it at the same time. It wants to have everything at once: soapy drama and spiritual commentary, the resort's claustrophobia and a long side excursion to Bangkok. Unfortunately, the result is at once overstuffed and underdeveloped.
Every one of the reviews I read praised the cast in its entirety for their work on The White Lotus Season 3. Fans of the Mike White series will have to watch for themselves to see if the darker, slower and decidedly less funny direction is for them. Catch the premiere at 9 p.m. ET Sunday, February 16, on HBO and streaming on Max.
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