Dissecting the Themes of The White Lotus

I already knew before I finished The White Lotus that I wanted to write about it. The new HBO series came recommended to me with scant details, but that only seemed to make it more alluring. All I knew going in was that the show was about several different guests that stay at a fancy hotel in Hawaii. That alone was enough to intrigue me, because I like stories with multiple, overlapping threads. My friend simply told me he thought I’d like it, and that was that. No persuasion needed. Usually, I can be a little reticent about trying new shows, but with this one I jumped right in.

Needless to say, there will be spoilers from here on out. If you haven’t checked out The White Lotus yet, you should definitely give it a go!

The series hooked me straight away, but I couldn’t figure out what exactly The White Lotus was until halfway through. The first two episodes were very entertaining; I enjoyed the events and the quirky personalities, but I was itching to know what the show’s well-executed components were in service of. Was it simply a comedy of errors, or was something more dramatic lying in wait? Would the interpersonal focus shift toward a murder mystery? Was there going to be a…