10/10 Anthologies Are Rare, But HBO’s 3-Part Series Continues To Be Perfect

Mike White created lightning in a bottle when he delivered a biting social satire with a touch of murder, and The White Lotus has continued to be perfect for three seasons. Premiering on HBO in 2021, the first season of The White Lotus centered on a group of rich vacationers visiting the titular resort in Hawaii.

With much praise going to Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya McQuoid, the chaotic, emotionally fragile, and obscenely wealthy heiress, The White Lotus was an instant hit, becoming the buzziest watercooler show on TV. The White Lotus season 1 took home an impressive five Emmys, and this, combined with the show’s popularity and critical acclaim, changed its trajectory forever.

Originally, The White Lotus was conceived as a limited series that was easy to film at its single resort location during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when it was clear that the fantastic HBO show was a pop culture phenomenon, it grew into an anthology series, with season 2 taking place in Sicily, season 3 in Thailand, and the upcoming The White Lotus season 4 in the south of France.

All 3 Seasons Of The White Lotus Have Delivered

As seen with American Horror Story and Black Mirror, anthology series can become increasingly tricky to maintain from a quality standpoint. Due to the self-contained nature of each season, when a particular installment falls short of expectations, it stands out like a sore thumb. However, each of The White Lotus‘s three seasons has been spectacular, with the show continuing to raise its own bar.

Though season 1 may seem tame compared to how boundary-pushing the show has become, particularly with The White Lotus season 3’s incest storyline, it still rocked the television landscape when it arrived on HBO in 2021. In an era of binge TV, The White Lotus brought back appointment viewing, as each week, viewers were clamoring to see what outrageous and entitled thing the characters would do next as we got closer and closer to discovering who was in the coffin.

Then, when The White Lotus made the leap from limited series to full-fledged TV show, it kept upping itself. Season 2 increased the body count and the cringe-worthy behavior by shifting the focus from wealth to sexual politics. For The White Lotus season 3, the series got even darker with its exploration of Eastern spirituality and, by extension, death.

The White Lotus has mastered the anthology format by keeping what works and continuing to make it bigger. While there’s a chance this bubble could burst — many complained about the sidelined characters in The White Lotus season 3, particularly Lisa’s Mook — so far, the result has been TV at its finest blend of salaciousness and art.

Why The White Lotus’ Formula Keeps Working

Simply put, The White Lotus‘s formula continues to work because it’s excellent. Beginning each season with a flash-forward that sets up the central mystery, then cutting back to the beginning of the week with the arrival of the guests immediately hooks the audience, as we begin speculating who the killer is — and who won’t survive their vacation.

The “one day per episode” structure, in which each episode chronicles a day of the guests’ vacation sets a comforting rhythm while allowing the tension to naturally ratchet up as people settle into their stay and allow their worst traits to come to the forefront. By its nature, each episode in a White Lotus season is set up to get tenser, wilder, and more violent. There will never be a lull.

Perhaps the best part of the formula are the guaranteed changes in each season. While The White Lotus sees a couple of repeat characters, each cast is not only brand new but also comprised of Hollywood’s top-tier talent. We’ve had Jake Lacy as a toxic mama’s boy, Aubrey Plaza as a saronic and unsatisfied newlywed, Parker Posey as a snooty, Lorazepam-popping Southern matriarch — these are some of TV’s most delicious performances, and as an anthology series, The White Lotus ensures that they never overstay their welcome.

Finally, there’s the ever-changing locations of each White Lotus season. Each resort is a character in and of itself, one that encaspulates its season’s themes while pampering its guests and providing a space for them to become the worst, most lethal versions of themselves. Ultimately, though, whether it’s Hawaii, Italy, Thailand, or the French Riviera, The White Lotus makes it clear that awful people are everywhere.

The White Lotus Season 4 Has Big Shoes To Fill

While The White Lotus has gone from strength to strength, its continued success only ups the pressure of each subsequent season. The White Lotus season 3 finale broke records when it raked in 6.2 million viewers in April 2025, a 50% increase from the ending of The White Lotus 2 back in 2022 (via THR).

This places a huge expectation on season 4 not only to deliver quality but quantity in terms of viewership numbers. Only time will tell if it will succeed, but based on what we know, Mike White is setting the new season up to continue this trajectory.

Several White Lotus season 4 cast members have been announced, including AJ Michalka, Alexander Ludwig, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Coogan and Ari Graynor. These are some great names, and there’s no doubt that White will make the most of their talents, likely evening showing sides to the actors that we haven’t seen before.

In terms of theme, the new season will examine fame, celebrity, and art. With The White Lotus season 4 sun-soaked location in the south of France, it’s rumored that the prestigious Cannes Film Festival will play a role. An event as self-serious as it is glamourous, the festival would play perfectly into The White Lotus‘s satire. Either way, audiences should prepare to be titiliated, horrified, and thoroughly entertained when they check into the White Lotus for the fourth time.

Release Date

July 11, 2021

Network

HBO

Showrunner

Mike White