Full of dark humor, melodramatic themes, and rich folk who have ZERO clue what’s it like be a regula smegula citizen, well at least to the very last episode (and that’s still a stretch). The White Lotus is really a satire on equality as we take a look into the lives of the rich and popular who have to rub elbows with the everyday staff at a Hawaiian resort.
What draws you in is the first episode tipping you off to two juicy plots, a dead person and a potential breakup? But who is this man? Where is his wife? Does he know who died? Well you’ll find out right out the gate who this guy is and as the season progresses you’ll figure out where his wife is and what he knows about the dead body under the plane.
If you read on ahead there will be SPOILERS. You have been WARNED!
Ok so where to begin….Let’s tackle Tanya first. Tanya is on vacation grieving the loss of her mother and preparing for her last goodbye as the goal is to spread her ashes in the ocean. She puts all of her worries onto wellness consult Belinda, who becomes her favorite person (she has borderline personality disorder). She really strings Belinda along as she guilt trips her into fancy dinners for companionship and gives her false hope that she would invest in Belinda’s business idea. When Tanya meets her new resort neighbor Greg, he becomes her new obsession and Belinda and her business is put on the back burner. Tanya eventually breaks down and spirals out admitting all of the recurring flaws she sees in herself and realizing she’s falling into a dark pattern. Unfortunately, she hurts the person who has supported her most through her vacation, Belinda, handing her over an envelope full of cash while turning away from her original offer to invest.
The Mossbacher family is comprised of mother Nicole (works in communications), dad Mark (thinks he has cancer and is wholly depressed and detached), 16yr son Quinn (super awkward and phone obsessed), daughter Olivia (fake woke, likes to arragontaly rebuttal everything her parents say) and Olivia’s best friend Paula (who is also extremely arrogant but you can tell she has a few more morals and values than the rest of the Mossbachers.
Nicole is the backbone of this family. She makes all the money, she cares for her family in her own seemingly uptight and annoying way, and she just wants everyone to enjoy their time together. However, momma still has to work and the family at times throughout the series does not appreciate all the effort she puts in to have to afford this vacation.
Marks a lil wimpy but within reason. He believes he has testicular cancer and is going to die early just like his father. Well come to find out Marks father in fact did not die from cancer, he was gay and had aids. NOW why I still see this as hella problematic because gay does not equal aids, it did fit in how the story unfolded. When Mark finds out this new he simultaneously finds out he doesn’t have cancer so he’s now in this new weird place trying to figure out who he is. He flirts with the Hotel manager, tells his son all about his cheating scandal however he ultimately comes out a big hero after saving Nicole from an attack.
So about that attack; we have the children. Quinn’s just a lil weirdo teen. We never get the actual truth but we believe he’s gay or just looking for a place to belong after he gets all interested in paddleing with some handsome hawaiian natives. At the end he wants to stay in Hawaii and he manages to do just that by tricking his family at the airport and running away (a little far fetched but it’s a TV show).
Now Olivia and Paula on the other hand are like mean, sarcastic, dramatic, rebellious, drug using teenagers. They are best friends and while they never truly mention it I’m sure Paula is on the poorer side. Olivia has had everything handed down to her and believes everything belongs to her, including Paula’s love interests. We find out that she’s already stolen one boyfriend and has her eyes set on the new even after all Paula’s effort to keep him hidden. Paula is able to recognize the flaws of her rich friend and family, and as she gets to know her new beau Kai, (a native hawaiian who’s family used to own the land the resort is now on), and wants to help him hire a lawyer to get their land back.
She gets the code to the safe and gives it to Kai and against Kai’s better judgement he goes in to steal only to get caught by an upset and crying Nicole. He had no intention of hurting her but he didn’t want to be recognised, however, Mark comes out of nowhere they tussle he gets away. Of course he ultimately gets caught, Olivia figures out what Paula did and Miss Paula reads her for filth. She let’s Olivia know that she can try to pretend all she wants to but she’s just like her rich stuck up family and she will never understand the suffering of the poor or minority communities. They kiss and make up and are back to their mean girl ways by the departure.
LASTLY, we have the newlyweds and the hotel manager fiascoooo! What would you do if your mother in law showed up to your honeymoon? Shane comes from money, rachel does not. It’s clear that Shane is a huge pretentious ass and does not deserve Rachel off the bat. He gets fixated on the fact that the hotel gave them the wrong room and launches a personal vendetta against hotel manager, Armond. Armond is a gay, tense man. He takes his job serious, he wants everything spic and span. He is “clean and sober”, that is until he stumbles upon the girls bag full of drugs and Mr. Shane won’t stop bugging him about the room.
The entire honeymoon Shane ignores or puts down Rachel’s feelings. She wants to continue to work and he wants her to be a trophy wife. He thinks it’s great his mom shows up on their honeymoon, Rachel is clearly uncomfortable. When Rachel finally brings up that she thinks she made a mistake in marrying Shane, he gets….angry…I would say borderline violent…especially throws a HUGE red flag. You just can’t be bangin on no table around me in anger, it’s giving you about to hit me vibes…ion like that. His vendetta is costing him his marriage and he just doesn’t see the error in his ways .
And this is where I leave you.. Nope i’m not gonna tell you who died or if Rachel and Shane are heading to divorce court. However, I will leave you with this. While there were small personal growths in the characters the key takeaway is….no one really changed. Yes they had these experiences however, at the end of they day they went back to being who they were. It was just a vacation after all.
Key Takeaways
- Trust your own intuition – or you might catch a felony after meeting a girl a week on vacation
- Forgiveness is around most corners….
- Be true to yourself always
- Always lock the door to your office
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