The White Lotus is officially back with the first episode of its third season premiering on Friday night
2.4 million viewers tuned into season 3 of White Lotus, creating record-breaking ratings and marking the return of the pop-culture phenomenon which will no doubt dominate social media debate for the foreseeable future.
According to creator Mike White, the theme for the slow-burn, satirical drama’s new season is death and Eastern religion. Topics of suicide and incest are also brought up, adding to the unsettling, mysterious tone.
The anthology sees the return of the beloved Belinda from season two, played by Natasha Rockwell, amongst a slew of new faces including Walton Goggins, Parker Posy, Jason Isaacs, Leslie Bibb and Aimee Lou Wood.
The premiere continued the iconic, fan-favourite format of an unidentified dead body appearing at the episode’s beginning, ensuing its classic murder mystery style.
Filmed in Phuket and Samui, the new season has delighted many Thai viewers by featuring its local attractions, language and music, with K-pop icon Lalisa Manobal, ‘Lisa,’ from Blackpink even featuring as Mook.
“It’s very exciting for me – it’s her debut as a Thai actress, and she’s starring as a Thai character,” said Geeratiya, 36 to The Guardian. She felt goosebumps when she heard Lisa, who often speaks in English in international interviews, using Thai in a promotional clip from the series. “I can hear her lines without having to translate it … I feel like it’s a little win for us.”
Dubbed “the White Lotus effect,” the show has brought in significant tourism, seeing an uptick in visitor numbers in previous settings in Hawaii and Sicily.
“The power of media and moving pictures, Netflix or streaming, it’s immense,” said Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the tourism subcommittee of the National Soft Power Strategy Committee, to The Guardian. “Thailand has increased financial incentives to attract filmmakers, with greater perks offered to those who base their productions in lesser-known locations.”
Catch the new season of The White Lotus on Binge every Friday at 9pm AEST.
Words By Laura Gordon
