The White Lotus: Special Treatments
February 23, 2025 7:16 PM - Season 3, Episode 2 - Subscribe
Kate and Jaclyn discuss Laurie's divorce while Timothy gets bad business news. Rick shares trauma during meditation with Amrita, Chelsea bonds with Chloe, and Gaitok reveals feelings to Mook.
"This season is less funny than previous seasons of The White Lotus, and that’s natural. A lot of the humor came not from the series’ outlandishness but its directness, which is less hilarious now that we expect it. But this season is also darker. Its characters have come to the White Lotus not just with personal baggage weighing them down, but secrets."—from Amanda Whiting's 3-star recap for Vulture.
With special guest star Ke Huy Quan as this season’s Laura Dern.
"This season is less funny than previous seasons of The White Lotus, and that’s natural. A lot of the humor came not from the series’ outlandishness but its directness, which is less hilarious now that we expect it. But this season is also darker. Its characters have come to the White Lotus not just with personal baggage weighing them down, but secrets."—from Amanda Whiting's 3-star recap for Vulture.
With special guest star Ke Huy Quan as this season’s Laura Dern.
Enjoyed this: The White Lotus’s Tayme Thapthimthong Needs You to Feel How Much Gaitok Loves Mook
posted by armacy at 7:04 AM on February 24 [5 favorites]
posted by armacy at 7:04 AM on February 24 [5 favorites]
Great interview with Parker Posey in the NYT (archive link).
posted by ellieBOA at 8:55 AM on February 24 [4 favorites]
posted by ellieBOA at 8:55 AM on February 24 [4 favorites]
What are the odds that Rick and Greg know each other?
And was that Rick doing the heist? At first I thought that gunman seemed like a younger man, but Rick is in pretty good shape, I think he could pull it off. Also, I initially thought it was his general unconcerned attitude, but he seemed pretty sure that Chelsea wasn't in any danger during the heist.
Also, he seemed pretty upset when he first learned that Jim Hollinger was in Bangkok, but he seems pretty sanguine about it now. Was it that he didn't have enough money to go to Bangkok, but now has a sudden influx of cash to make that trip easier?
I wonder how fast you can fence something in Thailand. There was a military coup in 2014, but I haven't been keeping up w Thai politics. Wonder how much of a presence the military has during the timeline when the show is taking place.
posted by ishmael at 9:55 AM on February 24
And was that Rick doing the heist? At first I thought that gunman seemed like a younger man, but Rick is in pretty good shape, I think he could pull it off. Also, I initially thought it was his general unconcerned attitude, but he seemed pretty sure that Chelsea wasn't in any danger during the heist.
Also, he seemed pretty upset when he first learned that Jim Hollinger was in Bangkok, but he seems pretty sanguine about it now. Was it that he didn't have enough money to go to Bangkok, but now has a sudden influx of cash to make that trip easier?
I wonder how fast you can fence something in Thailand. There was a military coup in 2014, but I haven't been keeping up w Thai politics. Wonder how much of a presence the military has during the timeline when the show is taking place.
posted by ishmael at 9:55 AM on February 24
Wouldn’t a financier already have a whole slew of lawyers on his payroll? Tim would be calling his lawyers, with whom he had a long-standing professional and personal (golf) relationship, at his company or at his company’s retained law firm, wouldn’t he? Hell, he would probably have a lawyer on-call who merely represented him outside his role as CEO of Lax and Boat Shoes, LLC.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 12:03 PM on February 24 [3 favorites]
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 12:03 PM on February 24 [3 favorites]
My assumption was he was lining up a white collar criminal attorney, as recommended by his regular attorneys. Whoever drafts your contracts is not necessarily who you call when the feds are raiding your office.
I thought Victoria was a little too bitchy to Kate, for a gracious Southern matriarch type. Not sure if that's just foreshadowing of her being ruthless with everyone outside the family, or if there's something particular about Kate/Austin/the mutual friend that gets her hackles up.
This was very much a setting things up episode, and honestly I don't have any hunches about which of the shenanigans matter yet.
posted by the primroses were over at 1:55 PM on February 24 [3 favorites]
I thought Victoria was a little too bitchy to Kate, for a gracious Southern matriarch type. Not sure if that's just foreshadowing of her being ruthless with everyone outside the family, or if there's something particular about Kate/Austin/the mutual friend that gets her hackles up.
This was very much a setting things up episode, and honestly I don't have any hunches about which of the shenanigans matter yet.
posted by the primroses were over at 1:55 PM on February 24 [3 favorites]
After the prologue, the show opened with a POV shot of the camera bobbing up and down in the water. Showing glimpses above the surface, and below the surface. This style of shot has been repeated several times. What we're seeing so far is all of the characters on the surface, with hints of what lies below, and soon I feel like most of them are going to be deep under water.
posted by guiseroom at 2:47 PM on February 24 [2 favorites]
posted by guiseroom at 2:47 PM on February 24 [2 favorites]
"Best costuming choice in this week’s episode: Lochlan’s Pringles boxer briefs or Jaclyn’s Valentino sequin dress?” asks Manuel Betancourt for the AV Club.
soon I feel like most of them are going to be deep under water
The opening credits also literally end with a tsunami.
posted by bcwinters at 3:53 PM on February 24 [1 favorite]
soon I feel like most of them are going to be deep under water
The opening credits also literally end with a tsunami.
posted by bcwinters at 3:53 PM on February 24 [1 favorite]
I was favoriting your observation of the tsunami reference.
posted by ishmael at 6:45 PM on February 24
posted by ishmael at 6:45 PM on February 24
Yup, I just thought it was a a cute eponysterical moment…flood waters, moby-dick, etc…
posted by bcwinters at 7:14 PM on February 24 [1 favorite]
posted by bcwinters at 7:14 PM on February 24 [1 favorite]
also in the opening credits is lots of sea creatures eating people
posted by mmascolino at 8:33 PM on February 24 [2 favorites]
posted by mmascolino at 8:33 PM on February 24 [2 favorites]
With special guest star Ke Huy Quan as this season’s Laura Dern.
I lack encyclopedic memory of previous seasons. If you also do, let me translate:
Laura Dern was a voice-only cameo last year, playing the wife of Dominic Di Grasso played by Michael Imperioli.
This year's voice-only cameo was Ke Huy Quan playing Kenny Nguyen, the FBI-raided grifter on the other end of the call from Timothy Ratliff, played by Jason Isaacs aka Lucius Malfoy.
posted by mcstayinskool at 12:47 PM on February 25 [9 favorites]
I lack encyclopedic memory of previous seasons. If you also do, let me translate:
Laura Dern was a voice-only cameo last year, playing the wife of Dominic Di Grasso played by Michael Imperioli.
This year's voice-only cameo was Ke Huy Quan playing Kenny Nguyen, the FBI-raided grifter on the other end of the call from Timothy Ratliff, played by Jason Isaacs aka Lucius Malfoy.
posted by mcstayinskool at 12:47 PM on February 25 [9 favorites]
Ah, thank you. I kept thinking, "But I didn't see Ke Huy Quan." The voice sounded familiar though.
Valentine being in on the heist seems plausible, but would she have invited a friend to the heist? At the same time, Rick was kind of adamant that Chelsea had not been in danger. Either he's commenting from the fact that he thought a thief wasn't going to hurt a bystander like her, or the bystander knew not to hurt her (or anyone). There was a long gaze at one piece of jewelry before it was stolen, I can't remember now a necklace or armband, and I feel like that's the show telling us to keep an eye open for it in the future.
Another thought about Lochlan being closeted. After the night before with his older brother commenting that their sister was hot, he seemed to glance at his brother's rear without much reaction. Then he asks Piper about her own sexual history and it kind of seemed less gross so much as he was wanting to start a conversation about sexual identity.
I agree that Victoria's behavior with Kate was out of character for someone portraying a bit as a big southern lady. There would have been at least a veneer of polite niceness, even if she didn't remember Kate. At the same time, her kids did recognize their mom was acting rudely. Which leads to the question of why. How did Victoria end up in Texas on a weekend girls trip? Are we going to find out more and more of the individuals are somehow connected?
The biggest surprise about Saxon's massage was that he didn't harass and bully the masseuse into giving him a happy ending.
Was the weird creep in the yoga class eyeballing Piper just that, a weird creep or is he supposed to be someone or something more?
I'm on the fence with Gaitok and Mook. Gaitok appears to be respectful of Mook's reaction to him being interested, but how will he take Mook's concern for his well being? It seems like he thought it meant she did like him, rather than say a friend being concerned for a friend.
Overall, this episode felt too long. I definitely have the feeling that it was designed to help set things up as we go forward, but I was glancing at how much time I have left in the show as I watched. I either do that when I'm worried it's almost over and when I'm wondering when it will be over. This time it was the latter.
posted by Atreides at 10:43 AM on February 26 [1 favorite]
Valentine being in on the heist seems plausible, but would she have invited a friend to the heist? At the same time, Rick was kind of adamant that Chelsea had not been in danger. Either he's commenting from the fact that he thought a thief wasn't going to hurt a bystander like her, or the bystander knew not to hurt her (or anyone). There was a long gaze at one piece of jewelry before it was stolen, I can't remember now a necklace or armband, and I feel like that's the show telling us to keep an eye open for it in the future.
Another thought about Lochlan being closeted. After the night before with his older brother commenting that their sister was hot, he seemed to glance at his brother's rear without much reaction. Then he asks Piper about her own sexual history and it kind of seemed less gross so much as he was wanting to start a conversation about sexual identity.
I agree that Victoria's behavior with Kate was out of character for someone portraying a bit as a big southern lady. There would have been at least a veneer of polite niceness, even if she didn't remember Kate. At the same time, her kids did recognize their mom was acting rudely. Which leads to the question of why. How did Victoria end up in Texas on a weekend girls trip? Are we going to find out more and more of the individuals are somehow connected?
The biggest surprise about Saxon's massage was that he didn't harass and bully the masseuse into giving him a happy ending.
Was the weird creep in the yoga class eyeballing Piper just that, a weird creep or is he supposed to be someone or something more?
I'm on the fence with Gaitok and Mook. Gaitok appears to be respectful of Mook's reaction to him being interested, but how will he take Mook's concern for his well being? It seems like he thought it meant she did like him, rather than say a friend being concerned for a friend.
Overall, this episode felt too long. I definitely have the feeling that it was designed to help set things up as we go forward, but I was glancing at how much time I have left in the show as I watched. I either do that when I'm worried it's almost over and when I'm wondering when it will be over. This time it was the latter.
posted by Atreides at 10:43 AM on February 26 [1 favorite]
Sam Nivola and Sarah Catherine Hook visit Moo Deng. (Instagram link)
They are so much happier than their White Lotus characters, heh
posted by the primroses were over at 4:01 PM on February 28 [2 favorites]
They are so much happier than their White Lotus characters, heh
posted by the primroses were over at 4:01 PM on February 28 [2 favorites]
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Maybe he'll answer some of the questions left over from last season.
So far, I'm enjoying it. I was thinking the characters overall seem a douch-ier bunch on the whole, but maybe Saxon is just contributing way more than his share, on second thought.
Meanwhile, Lochlan is a weirdo.
Timothy's going to disappear in the middle of the night and end up driving a truck full of nitro glycerin in some Latin American backwater. Victoria looks like she'll get a hard landing, but it won't keep her from staying sedated.
Is Goggins looking for daddy? Or some kind of payback? What does Chelsea see in this charmer, anyhow?
Was Valentin in on the heist?
It feels like the three amigos will end up scratching each others eyes out pretty soon.
Belinda, I hope this business pays well, because you deserve better.
posted by 2N2222 at 8:54 PM on February 23 [1 favorite]