Is The White Lotus Even An Anthology Series Anymore?

This post contains spoilers for "The White Lotus."

Each "White Lotus" premiere episode feels a little like a game of Clue. One of these people at a scenic resort — we always know from the show's deadly cold open — is going to die, and there's a pretty good chance someone else is going to kill them. The structure behind Mike White's multi-Emmy-winning series makes it a uniquely entertaining and participatory watch, even when the satire is shot through with real emotion and darkness. Most viewing experiences are made worse by constant guessing ahead, but "The White Lotus" asks us to do it, punctuating each new episode with exotic potential threats like toxic fruit seeds or venomous snakes.

The show might encourage new viewers and fans alike to think like Agatha Christie, but in season 3, its mystery comes with some surprising prerequisites. It's clear from day one of the Thailand trip that there will be some references to past seasons of the HBO series, as put-upon Hawaiian spa manager Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) returns to the cast just as Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya came back for the show's second season. But by episode 3, it's obvious that the new version of "The White Lotus" isn't going to skim over past storylines the way its predecessor did. Instead, it's putting Belinda in the crosshairs of season 2's murderer — and calling the entire show's status as an anthology series into question in the process.

Before this week's episode, which is aptly titled "The Meaning of Dreams," White's darkly comedic mystery show was a self-contained anthology through and through. New viewers could join the series in its second season without having watched the first, with Tanya and Greg's (Jon Gries) strange relationship as the only connective tissue between the two. Those two characters, held over from season 1, were never a barrier to entrance for newbies anyway, as Coolidge played Tanya as inexplicable in every setting and Greg's attitude shifted enough between seasons to make him unrecognizable even to returning viewers.

Season 3 appeared to be headed in the same general direction at first. It introduced a whole host of new, deliciously unlikeable characters (and a couple worth rooting for), including a trio of old, blonde school friends in full "Real Housewives" mode, a creepy, loopy family led by Jason Isaacs' floundering financier, and a mopey hitman (Walton Goggins) prompted along by his chipper young girlfriend (Aimee Lou Wood). Belinda's presence didn't initially seem prohibitive to the anthology formula, as she was easily able to explain her backstory in a debrief with her local counterpart, Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul). But then Greg showed up again, clearly in hiding and now going by the name Gary. More importantly: Belinda recognized him and confronted him about it, a move that could put her at risk.

"The Meaning of Dreams" is the point at which "The White Lotus" arguably becomes a cut-and-dry drama, not an anthology series. After all, anyone who decided to tune in for season 3 alone under the assumption that they didn't have to marathon past seasons (BLACKPINK fans, for example, or people who really love Carrie Coon) would surely be confused when Belinda approached "Gary" at dinner, asking him about her former possible benefactor Tanya and earning a cool glare and a few excuses in response. There's also a short but important scene earlier in the episode, too, when Greg's girlfriend Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) tells Chelsea (Wood) that his ex-wife killed herself by walking into the ocean. It's a story that connects directly to season 2, but newcomers to the series wouldn't realize that it's both significant and a lie. Tanya was killed by men Greg seemingly hired, after all. Plus, her whole body was found, making the details of Chloe's secondhand account (in which she said only a leg was recovered) all the more suspicious. It also seems pertinent to know that Greg has four ex-wives, something people who are starting at season 3 won't know.

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with an anthology series turning into a drama series. Plenty of other shows have done it before, even though some (lookin' at you, "American Horror Story") try to cling to the anthology title while becoming increasingly laden with callbacks and serialized plots. The label a show works only matters insofar as how it helps people categorize it. On a cultural level, "The White Lotus" already switched to the "drama" category at the Emmys, though plenty of other award shows still recognize it as an anthology. On an audience level, it's as simple as giving a different answer when someone inevitably asks "Do I need to start from the beginning, or can I jump in now?"

Perhaps most importantly, "The White Lotus" is becoming more serialized in a way that's thrilling and captivating. We never learned enough about Gries' character in the first place, and Belinda hasn't been given the hero moment she deserves. In the absurdist, uncomfortable world of this show, it's hard to imagine a happy ending if the two do have a showdown, but the tension between one of the show's most loveable characters and one of its most detestable is exciting and nerve-wracking. I don't think I'd enjoy the show as much if it turned backwards too much, but White has never seemed interested in doing so, and has always used narrative ambiguity to great effect. 

The Belinda-Greg showdown is also in line with the Buddhist principles the Thailand tourists keep fumbling around. Mike White is essentially reincarnating these characters, karma and all, to see how their paths change or stay the same when granted a new life. Call it an anthology or a drama series – either way, it's good TV.

New episodes of "The White Lotus" air on HBO and stream on Max each Sunday at 9 pm ET.