‘The White Lotus’: Mike White Hints at Asia-Set Season 3 Focused on ‘Death and Eastern Religion’
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers up through Episode 7 of “The White Lotus,” airing Sundays on HBO and streaming on HBO Max.
“The White Lotus” just wrapped up its second season, but creator Mike White already has his eyes set on Season 3.
Table of Contents
- ‘The White Lotus’: Mike White Hints at Asia-Set Season 3 Focused on ‘Death and Eastern Religion’
- Who appears in Season 3 of The White Lotus?
- What will the third season of White Lotus be about?
- When will the third season of The White Lotus be released?
In the “Unpacking S2 E7” clip pegged at the end of the Season 2 finale, White hints that Season 3 may take place in Asia and focus on “death and Eastern religion and spirituality.”
“The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex,” White said. “I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.”
White has stated that he would like a third season set in Asia, telling Deadline before the Season 2 debut, “I think it’d be fascinating to maybe move to a whole different continent.” We went Europe and possibly Asia, something wild like that would be fun.”
Ahead, a preview of everything that’s out in the universe about The White Lotus season three.
Who appears in Season 3 of The White Lotus?
The second season of the show exposed viewers to a murderers’ row of new characters played by Aubrey Plaza, Theo James, Meghann Fahy, Michael Imperioli, Will Sharpe, Beatrice Grann, Haley Lu Richardson, Adam DiMarco, and a slew of other disturbing males. But Jennifer Coolidge, who returned from the Emmy-winning first season, had another great performance—the question of whether she could play Tanya again was resolved in the season 2 finale.
A familiar face who may be packing her belongings for Season 3. Connie Britton, who played the high-powered Nicole in season one, revealed that she was expected to return for the second season. “He wanted me to be in the second season, and there was a concept for the role that I adored,” she told Deadline. “We intend to do it in the third season.” We hope to [do] that in the third season because a piece of casting didn’t work in the second. I’d like to see a spin-off for each character in the show.”
What will the third season of White Lotus be about?
White hinted to this in the post-finale interview, calling the third season “a satirical and hilarious look at mortality and Eastern religion and spirituality.”
Speaking of abandoned projects… According to Entertainment Weekly, White originally planned to focus season two on politics and power rather than sex and relationships. “The type of mythology of Sicily, at least from the perspective of Americans,” he added, “is the traditional sexual politics and role play that you identify with, like, opera and the mafia and Italian romance.” “I believed it should be more focused on men and women, relationships, and adultery, with an operatic tone, so I shifted.” Nonetheless, the writer-director believes he may revisit his original concept “down the line maybe, if they give us a third season.”
White is planning a continental shift for where he and his colleagues will check in. “You know, we did Europe, and maybe Asia, something insane like that, it would be fun,” he told Deadline earlier this year.
When will the third season of The White Lotus be released?
There are no release dates yet, but given that creator Mike White only finished editing this season “10 days ago,” as he recently told Katie Couric, it could be a while. “I need to reset a little bit,” White admitted on Couric’s show. “I don’t have much gas in the tank.” So I’m going to have to figure out how to unplug and refresh or whatever.” Could we suggest…a vacation?