A return to the White Lotus

The White Lotus, now back for a third series, could perhaps be best described as Death in Paradise for elegant people. Most obviously, this is because its plots revolve around murders in an idyllic location — only with a far bigger budget, a much starrier cast and several episodes per story. But there’s also the fact that it follows the same pattern every time.

So it was that season three began this week, rather like its predecessors, with some lovely scenery, a dead body and a caption reading “One week earlier.” After that, we duly watched a bunch of rich, good-looking folks arriving at a luxury White Lotus resort where they were welcomed by the resolutely smiling staff and a nervous manager, before gazing round and marveling at the beauty of it all.

Following Hawaii and Sicily, the marveling this time was directed at the beauty of Thailand, where the program’s creator, writer and director Mike White turns his winningly satirical eye on the cult and jargon of wellness. Not that his latest group of guests needed much encouragement to “focus on self-care” — because, again like their predecessors, they’re a complacently entitled lot. Indeed, when it comes to characterization, the new series seems like variations on a well-established theme — not all of them major.

Jason Isaacs, for example, plays a driven plutocrat, somewhat incongruously called Timothy, who’s trying (and failing) to put work out of his mind temporarily in favor of some quality time with his wife and three children of varying degrees of social awkwardness. So far, these children appear to have only a single trait each, with one son priapic, the other introverted and the daughter moonily spiritual.

We also get a trio of glamorous middle-aged women, led by TV star Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), who constantly (and accurately) assure each other how great they look, while evincing an unmistakable brittleness. In the role of a couple inexplicably together are the raddled Rick (Walton Goggins) and his much younger British girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), who he clearly didn’t pull thanks to his good-humored charm.

The first episode felt mostly like an extended exercise in throat-clearing

There is, however, one difference from the previous series. Presumably (and understandably) confident that anyone who saw them is likely to trust him to deliver the goods eventually, White proceeds here much more slowly than before. As ever, these are obviously People With Secrets. Already, one of the middle-aged glamour pusses has developed a habit of retiring early to her bedroom with a load of wine and look of heartbreak. Timothy is now fielding calls from a nosy journalist apparently investigating some dodgy business dealings. Rick was last seen scrolling through photos of the resort’s elderly female owner on his phone. Yet in the past, setting up these little mysteries surely wouldn’t have taken White an hour.

As one of those trusting viewers, I’m in for the long haul. Even so, by the show’s admittedly high standards, this first episode was definitely disappointing. While The White Lotus’s customary qualities of visual splendor, top-drawer acting and beady observations of American smugness were gratifyingly in place, the result felt mostly like an extended exercise in throat-clearing.