The new season of The White Lotus has arrived on Foxtel, and if you haven’t watched it yet, scroll down to the next story because there be spoilers ahead.
This time the action is centered on a branch of the resort chain in Thailand, with the previous seasons having been located in Hawaii and Sicily.
Like the previous two seasons of the show it begins with a flash-forward, we meet Zion (Nicholas Duvernay), he’s the son of Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell) the masseuse from season 1. He’s at a resort in Thailand taking a one-on-one meditation session when the peace and serenity is interrupted by gunshots. He leaps into a lagoon surrounded by Lotus flowers. He’s looking for his mother to protect her, when a face down body floats by – cut to a week earlier.
As the guest arrive, we meet the Ratliff family. There’s businessman dad Timothy (Jason Isaacs) who does not want to give up his phone for the digital detox, strung-out pill popping mum Victoria (Parker Posey), alpha-male son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), religious scholar daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) and doe-eyed youngest son Lochlan (Sam Vivola). The older brother is obsessed with sex, and we ended up with an uncomfortable scene where the older brother announced he was going into the bathroom to masturbate while the younger brother looked on, until he pulled the door shut. Que much talked about Patrick Schwarzenegger full frontal nude scene.
Also arriving is May to December couple Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Rick (Walton Goggins), he’s clearly not at the resort for the relaxation and appears eager to meet the husband of the resort’s founder Sritala Hollinger (Lek Patravadi). Said husband appeared in photographs he looked at online and eagle-eyed viewers might have spotted he’ll be played by veteran actor Scott Glenn.
Then there’s the trio of women reuniting girl’s getaway. Laurie (Carrie Coon), Kate (Leslie Bibb) and TV star Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan). They’re all smiles and happy memories of the past, but clearly, they’re all measuring how their lives have turned out in comparison to each other.
Alongside these guests we’ve got hotel staff including Manager Fabian (Christian Friedel), health mentor Mook (pop star Lalisa Manobal), infatuated security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) and health therapist Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul).
We all knew that Belinda was the returning cast member, she’s come to The White Lotus in Thailand to learn about their practices so she can take new skills back to the Hawaii branch, but she wasn’t the only returning cast member.
In a scene where Chelsea sits at the bar, she met ex-pat Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) who explained she’d had an argument with her husband. Cut to a shot of Greg Hunt. Jon Gries character appeared as the husband of Tanya in the first two seasons – clearly this guy is an unlucky charm.
We’ve met the character, now the temperature will slowly start to rise, and all their individual weaknesses, foibles and obsessions will take over. This will be the show’s longest season to date with eight episodes, and they’ve already green lit the series for a fourth outing.
Jodie Whittaker stars in new Netflix series Toxic Town
Jodie Whittaker (Dr Who, Life, Broadchurch) stars in a new true-life story about a group of mothers who took on their local council after they realised that their children were being born with deformities because their new housing estate had been contaminated by the closure of a nearby steel mill.
The four-part series begins on 27th February and also stars Aimee Lou Wood from Sex Education, Joe Dempsie (Games of Thrones, Skins) Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, The Full Monty), Rory Kinnear (The Diplomat) and Brandan Coyle (Downton Abbey).
New Zealand series ‘nOOb’ comes to Netflix
Set in Gore, NZ in 2005, n00b follows the social downfall of Nikau Bennett.
When Nikau is outed as gay, we see him plummet from cool guy to social outcast. Nikau must traverse the complicated world of high school and either find the confidence to be his true self, or he’s got to convince everyone he’s not gay.
Everything had been going fine in Nikau’s world, he had a hot girlfriend, he’s the star player on the rugby team and he’s in line to be head boy next year. If only he hadn’t left his computer open for his classmates to discover his hobby of writing gay fanfic about Aston Kutcher.
Being gay in New Zealand in 2005 is not cool. Amusingly Nikau’s teammates declare this while having a team circle jerk. Now he’s got to be careful he’s not caught showing off his dance moves or perving at the new emo boy James. This six-episode series has just landed on Netflix.
The Real Housewives of Sydney are back for a third season
They’re back. A third season of the The Real Housewives of Sydney will arrive on Foxtel next week promising feuds, fights, fashion and a guest appearance from Real Housewives of Melbourne alum Jackie Gillies.
Tune in for the trials and tribulations of Krissy Marsh, Victoria Montano, new cast member Martine Chippendale, Terry Biviano, Nicole O’Neil, Dr Kate Adams, Caroline Gaultier, Sally Obermeder.
The show returns Tuesday 25th February. We still miss Athena X, Melissa Tkautz and Lisa Oldfield.
