The White Lotus is heating up amid the 2025 TV schedule! The show aired its fifth episode of Season 3 last week, which offered shocking surprises and crazy plot twists involving the central vacationers in Thailand. It’s been an exciting season, and fans have been loving the twisted Ratliff family, and the toxic three girlfriends who have a “too-real” friendship dynamic. While the new characters have been riveting, Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya, who was a fixture on the first two seasons of the buzzy drama, is still missed. Now, cast member Parker Posey thinks she knows a way to bring the character back.
For context, at the end of The White Lotus Season 2, Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya character dies when she falls over a boat railing and hits her head. Plenty of viewers didn't see that ending coming, and it made for great TV. Still, the show has been without Tanya’s eccentric and larger than life personality as a result of her demise. Parker Posey, who plays Victoria Ratliff on the latest season, has been thinking of a way to revive the character. And her suggestion, which she explained to Now, links to a real-life author's experiences:
I’ve been pitching this. I’d like to bring Jennifer Coolidge back in the Swiss Alps. Because, when the altitude gets really high, people have visions. You know the writer Russell Banks? He would climb in the Alps, and he said that when you get to a certain height, you start to hallucinate. And he hallucinated a woman in this fur hat, who gave him a piece of chocolate.
First of all, I’m loving the idea of White Lotus in the Swiss Alps. A lot of tropical locations have been featured on the show, but a snowier locale has yet to be highlighted. Also, there's been a lot of speculation surrounding a ski resort season already, with a Norwegian newspaper reporting that series creator Mike White and the rest of his producing team applied for a grant to film in Norway. However, the show has been shooting at Four Seasons Resorts, and the hotel chain does not have a ski resort in Norway or The Swiss Alps.
However, if they do go ahead with this pitch, there is a lot that can be done with the idea of altitude sickness and hallucinations that occur, as Parker Posey suggested. This could totally be a great way to bring Tanya back, at least in some capacity. Posey continued:
And I’m like, ‘That’s Jennifer Coolidge. She has to do The White Lotus: Swiss Alps. She comes as a vision to one of our characters. It doesn’t have to be me climbing a mountain. But I think that would be fun.
Parker Posey isn’t the only one dreaming about how to bring back Jennifer Coolidge, as Mike White himself has apparently been contemplating the possibility. He previously discussed a potential spin-off involving Coolidge’s character that would predate the events of The White Lotus. Tanya is such a fascinating figure, and I’d totally be in to see an entire show just focused on her. Finding a way to reintegrate her into the franchise in some way is clearly being pondered, and I’d love to see her back in action, whether by Posey's method or by an idea from White's noggin.
Let's hope the creative team finds a way to bring back Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya. In the meantime, keep your focus on Parker Posey and the rest of the White Lotus Season 3 cast, as new episodes hit HBO on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. You can also stream the show on Max.
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