This is a show that has been much talked about and that my wife asked to watch. Shot entirely within a Hawaiian resort during the COVID-19 lockdowns, it has the trappings of luxury and glamor while being a comparatively cheap show to make. The opening scene teases a death to draw your interest and soon we’re introduced to a batch of rich and spoiled guests. The social commentary is lightly piquant, the little stories of their lives gossipy and it’s entertaining at least if intellectually unchallenging. Then it works towards the ending and I realize it’s one of the most cynical shows I can remember.

A boat brings the latest batch of guests to the White Lotus resort. They consist of the four members of the Mossbacher family plus Paula, the friend of their daughter Olivia, newlyweds Shane and Rachel Patton, and Tanya, a single, middle-aged woman who is grieving her dead mother. They are welcomed by the resort manager Armond, the spa manager Belinda and a new hire Lani. Immediately things start going wrong. The wealthy Shane is upset that they have been given the wrong suite while Rachel who comes from a humble background tries to convince him that it’s alright. Tanya is a complete package of unresolved trauma and mental issues. Meanwhile Mark, the father in the Mossbacher family, feels emasculated as it is his wife Nicole who earns money as the CFO of a major corporation. Olivia and Paula bully the younger brother Quinn who spends most of his time playing video games by himself. While presenting a jovial public face, Armond grows increasingly frustrated behind the scenes dealing with the myriad problems, especially when it turns out Lani is pregnant and starts giving birth right at the resort.

It’s a show featuring beautiful people living it up in a luxurious resort in scenic Hawaii. From the opening scene, we know that one of them will die within the week and there’s plenty of petty drama on display, so it’s an instant draw. For me though, the initial sheen wears off fast. Once we get to know these characters a little better and understand what makes them tick, it’s not hard to see where their storylines are going as the characterizations are all rather shallow. Plus this does take place entirely within the confines of the resort which starts to feel small after a while. We see scene after scene of the same people sitting down for breakfast, for dinner, sipping drinks by the pool, chatting in bed and not much more. Even if the characters don’t seem to get bored, I was starting to get bored on their behalf. At least go on hike or a drive or something, I kept thinking.

What saves the show from mediocrity is the sharpness of its writing and its extremely cynical social commentary. What the guests have in common are that they are all rich white assholes. Paula isn’t white but her friend’s family is paying for her so she is there at their sufferance. A good number of non-whites can be seen among the staff including of course the native Hawaiians. Again and again, we see the guests taking their immense wealth and privilege for granted. The thing is, they’re never outright evil. It really is just normal for them. As Mark puts it, colonialism is bad, racism is evil, yadda yadda but it’s a done deal and no one is giving up what they already have. Olivia and Paula’s running commentary on everyone is cruel yet incisive and darkly funny. The real shock is that most shows would probably contrive to have the rich assholes get some form of comeuppance at the end. The showrunner here Mike White however chooses to make it so that they basically all get a happy ending. Instead it is the working class who try to break the system who are punished. It’s a stunning reversal, deeply cynical and yet perhaps realistic in the context of how the real world operates.

Wicked as the writing is, this is still a show made to appeal to a more general audience and so is somewhat simplistic. The point points are obvious, the character archetypes too flat and so on. Even the teaser of a dead body the beginning turns out to be a red herring and this isn’t any kind of murder mystery at all. Still, White, perhaps from his experience in reality shows, is something of a genius at petty drama and the provocative ending ensures that the show will be the subject of much discussion and is thus memorable. This was somewhat better than I’d expected and while I feel the formula will grate rather soon, it’s not a bad choice if you’re into watching something that is easy to get into.