It’s time to return to the White Lotus, so get your passports and some popcorn!
After the 2022 season 2 finale of HBO’s popular show The White Lotus, viewers were taken aback when, early on Monday, December 16, the official @streamonmax Instagram account posted a mysterious message hinting at a big surprise.
“In one hour, karma comes for everyone,” was hinted at in the post’s title, which also revealed the new season poster. Against a green background, the poster itself displayed a white lotus blossom with the same slogan: “Karma comes for everyone.” The poster’s subtle details—snakes hiding in the filament of the flower and the gold outlines of buildings in the background—alluded to potential story turns.
Just an hour later, the mystery of what karma exactly would be coming for everyone unraveled with the reveal of the latest trailer for the upcoming season.
Because The White Lotus is an anthology series on HBO, each season focuses on a different group of visitors who are either having a good time or not at various White Lotus resorts. The third season will take place in Southeast Asia, while the first and second seasons were set in Hawaii and Sicily, respectively. Fans were given a preview of what to expect from these new visitors as they go east.
While tourists checking into the White Lotus are sure to have a good time, some, like Parker Posey’s character, are aware that “something is off.” The character played by Michelle Monaghan also contemplates “what the f— is this place” as someone else remarks that they “almost died today.”
Even amid the chaos, a guest played by Aimee Lou Wood notes to what appears to be her significant other, played by Walton Goggins, “But we got the room comped, didn’t we, babe?”
In January, HBO revealed that Monaghan, Posey, Leslie Bibb, Dom Hetrakul, Jason Isaacs, and Tayme Thapthimthong were among the new cast members that would be starring in the upcoming third season.
A few weeks later, Goggins, Wood, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, and Patrick Schwarzenegger joined the cast of season three.
There will be at least one familiar face among the cast of the upcoming season. Variety said in April 2023 that Natasha Rothwell, who portrayed Belinda Lindsey, the spa manager, would be returning for season 3.
Each season of The White Lotus does not necessarily continue where the previous one left off because it is an anthology series. When discussing the themes of each season in a Max featurette following the premiere of the second season’s last episode, series creator Mike White alluded to possible narrative points for the next season.
“The first season we highlighted money and then the second season is sex and I think the third season, it would be maybe a kind of satirical and funny look at death in Eastern religion and spirituality — it feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus,” he stated.
The White Lotus’s third season will debut on February 16, 2025.
