History Series / TheWhiteLotus

* IvyLeagueForEveryone: The rich guests who are stated to have attended specific colleges went to well-known prestigious ones: Cameron and Ethan met at Yale, and Albie just graduated from Stanford. On the other hand, Portia mentions that she went to Chico State.[[note]]California State University, Chico an oldish and perfectly respectable but decidedly non-"prestige" state school near Sacramento.[[/note]]

''The White Lotus'' is an Creator/{{HBO}} dark comedy anthology series created by Creator/MikeWhite (''Film/SchoolOfRock'', ''Series/{{Enlightened}}''), where each season takes place in a different property of the fictional White Lotus hotel chain around the world.

The third season will be set in UsefulNotes/{{Thailand}}. Belinda (Rothwell) from the first season is currently set to return amid other casting.

The second season follows a different group of staff and guests at the White Lotus UsefulNotes/{{Sicily}}, including Creator/MichaelImperioli, Creator/FMurrayAbraham, and Adam [=DiMarco=] as three generations of the Italian-American Di Grasso family on a trip to their ancestral homeland; Ethan Spiller (Creator/WillSharpe), a newly-minted TechBro and his nagging bitter wife, Harper (Creator/AubreyPlaza) on vacation with their frenemies Cameron Sullivan (Creator/TheoJames) and his wife Daphne (Creator/MeghannFahy); strict hotel manager Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore), wealthy British expat Quentin (Creator/TomHollander) and his nephew Jack (Leo Woodall); and local girls Lucia (Simona Tabasco), a sex worker, and Mia (Beatrice Grannò), an aspiring singer. Returning from ''Hawaii'' are Tanya (Coolidge) and her new husband Greg (Creator/JonGries), joined this time by Tanya's assistant Portia (Creator/HaleyLuRichardson).

* TrapIsTheOnlyOption: Dominic knows ''immediately'' that [[spoiler:Lucia's request of 50,000 euros from Albie is a scam]] and all but tells as much to him, but he coughs up the money anyway because he has something to gain from the situation.

* FailedASpotCheck: It's one thing for Armond to write off Lani's weight gain as her overeating. It's another when her water breaks in ''the hotel lobby''...and Armond just thinks she wet herself.

* AmbiguousSituation: [[Spoiler:Despite the numerous suspicious elements in Quentin's story, it's never actually confirmed whether he was going to kill Tonya or whether she was just being paranoid. He never reveals any ulterior motives or takes any actions against her.]]

* AnimalMotifs: Costume designer Alex Bovaird dressed many characters in animal print or jewelry to emphasize the season’s commentary about the often primal nature of sex and love.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Season 3: Thailand]]
* TheBusCameBack: Natasha Rothwell's Belinda, last seen in Hawaii, returns for this season.

*** In "Arrivederci", Isabella is seen telling some hotel guests that the ''Theatre/{{Tosca}}'' program ends that night. [[spoiler:That opera ends with the titular heroine jumping to her death from the parapets of Castel Sant'Angelo, but not without first personally killing Baron Scarpia, the opera’s villain. Tanya also manages to kill the BigBad of her storyline, but falls from his yacht to her death.]]
*** Also in "Arrivederci", Tanya wears the exact same outfit as the mannequin in one of the exhibits of the ''Film/TheGodfather'' set museum that the Di Grassos visit in "Bull Elephants"... [[spoiler: the one that recreates Apollonia's death scene, foreshadowing that Tanya is the guest who dies this season.]]

*** [[spoiler:Mark's concern that he might have a terminal decease]].

** In season 1, [[spoiler:Paula concocts a plan for Kai to steal Nicole's US$ 75,000 bracelets from the safe in the Mossbacher suite]]. This plan has several flaws that they didn’t think through: [[spoiler:a) It relies entirely on none of the Mossbachers deciding to go up to the suite, b) Kai doesn’t have the connections to fence the bracelets without being turned in or getting cents on the dollar, c) if either Paula or Kai is caught, there will be a trail of evidence leading to the other.]]
** In season 2, [[spoiler:Greg and Quentin plot to murder Tanya so Greg can inherit her vast fortune]]. This plot has several flaws that the conspirators didn't consider: [[spoiler: a) The plot doesn’t account for Tanya bringing Portia along to Sicily and they have to improvise ways to distract her and separate her from Tanya, b) Quentin has framed pictures of him and Greg lying around his palazzo in Palermo where Tanya could (and does) find them, c) the plot involves a ridiculous number of people as accomplices (at least half a dozen besides Greg and Quentin) anyone of which could have second thoughts, blab about the plot or try to blackmail them afterwards, d) the triggerman they procure to do the actual killing is a low level drug dealer / gigolo who leaves his pistol lying around where the target could (and does) get at it. ''Twice'']]. The only reason this plot gets as far as it does is because the intended victim is so dimwitted.

** Deconstructed in Season 1. This appears to be the kind of friendship that exists between Paula and Olivia, but Paula explicitly tells Kai that Olivia tries to ruin any other relationships Paula has so that she doesn't need to share, and it's pretty clear that, by the end of the season, [[spoiler:Paula can't stand her but is nevertheless trapped with her as a friend, at least for the time being]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Olivia notes that Paula's text messages could implicate [[spoiler:her involvement in the heist. Kai will also presumably be pressured to reveal how he knew the combination to the safe]]. We don't find out whether any of this will catch up with her.

* BickeringCouplePeacefulCouple: Harper is aghast to learn that SickeninglySweethearts Cameron and Daphne never fight and considers it abnormal. She contrasts them against her relationship with her husband Ethan: even though she and Ethan are at odds on the trip and bicker often, it's because they talk about everything.

* ChocolateBaby: It's implied, but never confirmed, that the Sullivans' eldest child is not Cameron's. Cameron has darker coloring, while the child is blonde and blue-eyed like Daphne. While this is not genetically implausible, Daphne's [[CheatingWithTheMilkman hunky personal trainer]] is ''also'' blonde and blue-eyed, and she discusses him fondly in the same scene she shows Harper a picture of the child. It's yet another element to the complexity of her and Cameron's dysfunctional but affectionate marriage.

* MistakenForProstitute: The hotel's lounge singer mistakes Mia for a prostitute and straight up asks her how much she charges. In his defense, Mia herself had commented earlier that her outfit and makeup did made her look like a prostitute. It's somewhat understandable as she came with her friend Lucia, who ''is'' a prostitute.

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler:Two of Quentin’s accomplices jump out of the yacht into the sea when Tanya comes out of the cabin shooting a gun blindly. Their fates are never revealed, and considering neither of them is young, that they were some distance from shore, and it was the middle of the night, there’s no guarantee they made it shore]].

* JerkassHasAPoint: Many characters are flawed, crude, or outright corrupt people who still have valid takes on the situations they’re in, which contributes to the series’s theme about the complexities of social dynamics.

* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Harper and Ethan were the more honest and trusting couple, as compared to Cameron and Daphne's HappyMarriageCharade. Some PoorCommunicationKills moments and jealousy issues later, Harper and Ethan are now the couple hiding secrets behind a facade of happiness.