Is the white lotus an anthology series at all?

This post contains spoiler For “The White Lotus”.

Every “White Lotus” premiere episode feels a bit like a hint. One of these people in a picturesque resort – we always know from the deadly cold of the show – will die, and there is a pretty good chance that someone else will kill her. The structure behind Mike White’s Multi-Emmy Prize winner series makes it a uniquely entertaining and participatory clock, even if the satire is shot through real emotions and darkness. Most of the experience experiences are even worse by constant guessing, but “The White Lotus” demands that we are doing this and underlines every new episode with exotic potential threats such as poisonous fruit seeds or toxic snakes.

The show could encourage new spectators and fans to think like Agatha Christie, but in season 3 its secret is associated with some surprising conditions. On the first day of the Thailand trip, it is clear that there will be some references to the HBO series’s last season, as the spa manager of Put-Upon Hawaiian, Natasha Rothwell) returns to the line-up when Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya came back for the second season of the show. But in Episode 3 it is obvious that the new version of “The White Lotus” will not be flooded with past action lines like its predecessor. Instead, it puts Belinda in the crosshairs of the murderer of the second season – and to question the status of the entire show as an anthology series.

Before the dark comedic mystery show of “The Signal Dreams”, White’s Darkly Comedic Mystery Show was a self-contained anthology through and through. New spectators were able to join the series in the second season without having seen the first, with the strange relationship between Tanya and Greg (Jon Gries) as the only connective tissue between the two. These two characters, which were held from the first season, were never an obstacle to admission for newcomers anyway, since Coolidge Tanya played as inexplicable in any environment and Greg’s attitude was postponed enough between the seasons so as not to recognize him even for returning viewers.

Season 3 initially seemed to go in the same general direction. It provided a whole series of new, deliciously unlikely characters (and a couple for which it is worth, for a trio of old, blonde school friends in full “Real Housewives” mode, a creepy, loop family from Jason Isaacs’ Flounering Financier, and a Mopey -Hitman (Walton -Goggins) (Aimee Louwood) (Aimee Lou Wood) (Aimee Lou Wood) (Aimee Lou, (Aime) (Aimee Lou,) before. Belinda’s presence initially seemed not unaffordable for the anthology formula, since she was easy to explain her background story in a recording with her local counterpart Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul). But then Greg reappearedClear in the hiding place and now under the name Gary. It is even more important: Belinda recognized him and confronted him with it, a step that could endanger them.

“The meaning of dreams” is not an anthology series at which “the white lotus” becomes a cut drama. Finally, everyone who decided decided to switch on the third season aloneBlackpink fans, for exampleOr people who really love Carrie Coon) would certainly be confused when Belinda approached “Gary” at dinner, asked him about her former possible benefactor Tanya and brought a cool look and a few excuses in response. There is also a short but important scene in the episode when Greg’s girlfriend Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) Chelsea (Wood) says that his ex-wife killed himself for killing by going into the ocean. It is a story that connects directly with season 2, but newcomers to the series would not recognize that it is both significant and a lie. Tanya was finally killed by men Greg. In addition, her entire body was found, which was found the details of Chloes Second’s hand account (in which she said that only one leg was recovered) all the more suspicious. It also seems to know relevant that Greg has four ex-women what people who start in season 3 will not know.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with an anthology series that turns into a drama series. Many other shows have already done it, although some (which they look at, “American horror story”) cling to the anthology title and are at the same time loaded with recalls and serialized actions. The label A Show only works when it helps people to categorize it. On a cultural level, “The White Lotus” already switched to the “Drama” of the Emmys category, although many other award shows still recognize them as anthology. At the audience level, it is so easy to give another answer if someone inevitably asks: “Do I have to start from the start or can I step in now?”

The most important thing may be that “The White Lotus” is serialized in an exciting and fascinating way. We have never learned enough about Gries’ character, and Belinda was not given to the hero’s moment that she deserves. In the absurd, uncomfortable world of this show it is difficult to imagine, a happy ending when the two have a showdown, but the tension between one of the most lovable characters of the show is exciting and nerve -wracking. I don’t think I would enjoy the show as well if it was turned too much back, but White never seemed to be interested, and has always used narrative ambiguity.

The Belinda-Greg Showdown also corresponds to the Buddhist principles that the Thailand tourists fiddle around again and again. Mike White is essentially converted by these characters, karma and everyone to see how her paths change or stay the same when she grants a new life. Name it an anthology or a drama series – one way or a good television.

New episodes of “The White Lotus” Air on HBO and Stream on Max every Sunday at 9 p.m.