‘The White Lotus’ – ‘Special Treatments’ – Review
After its debut episode, our interest was peaked with Season Three of The White Lotus as new mysteries abound. A series of intriguing characters with ALL KINDS of issues have drawn us into this twisting new narrative. Episode Two, ‘Special Treatments’ takes us deeper into this still evolving new chapter of one of HBO’s most addictive series.
As Kate and Jaclyn speculate about Laurie’s divorce, Timothy continues to get distressing updates from his business. Later, Rick reluctantly opens up about his family trauma.
While Season Three of The White Lotus started out with a literal BANG, we’ve still got a while to go until we can actually discover the revelation of the chaos that unfolds. But don’t worry because the dramatic fireworks are already starting to go off! And we get our taste of the simmering jealousies and picky cattiness prevalent in ‘Special Treatments’ with the backstabbing talk that’s carried out between ‘best friends’ Kate (Leslie Bibb), Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan). While they might be on their ultimate ‘girls trip’, Jaclyn and Kate can’t help but talk behind Laurie’s back, about her life crash resulting from a bitter divorce and a seemingly stalled career. It also doesn’t help that both Laurie and Jaclyn are starting to receive the attention of hunky spa therapist Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius). But just when you think that this cattiness is one-sided in favour of Laurie, she and Kate both seemingly turn on the glamorous Jaclyn, and her own mysterious, slightly torrid marriage and groundwork is definitely being laid for an explosive confrontation.
Also not faring any better is the rugged and mysterious Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins), who despite the prompting of his clucky girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), is still struggling with an immense feeling of depression and stress, and audiences get their first peak into his character history, and the ghosts he’s been running from his whole life. Aimee Lou Wood continues to charm audiences with her bubbly and vivacious performance as Chelsea, and every time she’s on screen, you can’t help but be charmed by her. While she’s trying to work out Rick, a shopping spree quickly goes wrong when she and her new ‘bestie’ Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) are wrapped up in a violent armed robbery, and it’s in this moment that she and Rick share their first moment of genuine closeness. While they are both wrapped up in a very uncomfortable dinner with Chloe and her boyfriend ‘Gary’ (Jon Gries), in what is a very memorable scene, we also get to see their own romance kindled in one of the episode’s sweeter moments.
The drama is also building for the Ratliff’s – and they are not at all a happy family. While Victoria (Parker Posey) is happy to self-medicate on a wide cocktail of anxiety medication and flaunt her own sense of superiority, Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) continues to show off how he’s an A-grade douchebag. Middle child Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) continues to get caught up in the general drama of her family and gets incredibly perturbed when her younger brother Lochlan (Sam) directs probing questions at her concerning her sex life and injects a whole heap of drama that is genuinely off-putting and makes you wonder how weird he actually is. Then there’s family patriarch Timothy (Jason Isaacs), whose growing anxiety turns atomic when the extent of his financial problems are made present as he’s suddenly caught up in severe criminal action following a botched financial deal in which he unknowingly helped participate in. This moment with Isaacs’ Timothy leaves the ‘Special Treatments’ on a shocking end moment, and it’s clear that this dream holiday is suddenly turning into something less than a dream.
This juxtaposition of a brewing drama of chaos while situated in a literal rainforest paradise only adds to the intrigue. It again displays the genius of show creator Mike White. White knows how to push his audience’s buttons with his characters and the sharp dialogue that he gives them, and he’s building in a desire for us to learn more with each passing moment. His use of pauses and uncomfortable silences in key conversation scenes helps to draw out the sizeable tension that lies at the heart of The White Lotus, and there’s plenty more mystery to come from here.
The White Lotus is currently streaming on NEON and SKY TV.
Image: SKY TV
