Catch up on the drama before your next visit to ‘The White Lotus’
CNN
Viewers have been beguiled and baffled by Mike White’s “White Lotus series for two seasons, and excitement is running high for the next mysterious luxury excursion, set for Thailand to begin on Sunday night.
Less a ‘whodunnit’ than a ‘whowasitdunnto,’ “The White Lotus” features the discovery at each season’s opening of a dead body (or bodies) at an eponymous upscale resort, followed by a reset to one week prior, which slowly fills in the pieces of what happened, how it happened, and most importantly, to whom. While viewers are packing their bags to embark on the Mike White-created series’ next mysterious and dangerous luxury excursion – set to begin in Thailand on Sunday night – it may be helpful to flip back through some old vacation memories (the good, the bad and the cringe) from the previous two outings, in Hawaii and Sicily, to remember where we’re at. With the announcement early on that Natasha Rothwell’s beloved character Belinda Lindsey from Season 1 is returning for this third go-round, all attention has been on what her new storyline might be, and how it may connect to the very untimely, unfortunate yet meme-worthy demise of Emmy-winner Jennifer Coolidge’s zany Tanya McQuoid at the end of Season 2. A refresher: the pair’s connection started in Hawaii in Season 1, when the woefully rich, spoiled and unaware Tanya patronized spa worker Belinda’s wellness services at the White Lotus spa in Maui. Bowled over by Belinda’s abilities, Tanya began dangling the possibility of helping her launch her own standalone spa business, an idea that Belinda was first resistant toward, thinking it was too good to be true. Turns out, she was right, since at the end of the season, Tanya rescinds her offer to start the business – saying some drivel about not being able to maintain more “transactional relationships” in her life – and hands Belinda an envelope filled with cash. Belinda tearfully accepts it, with a look of pain on her face that spells out just how much she should have known better. (White has said that one of his reasons for bringing Belinda back was due to the fact that viewers were so utterly gutted by how things ended up for her in Hawaii). Fast forward to Season 2, which showcased a slow-boil premise that led to Tanya – now married to Greg (Jon Gries), the older gentleman who courted her in the first season – alone on a yacht with a bunch of “gays” who she believes are “trying to murder” her.
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