The White Lotus: another helping of the comedy-drama set in a luxury hotel
New season is ‘as moreish, and mouth-watering, as a big bowl of spaghetti alle vongole’
The first series of The White Lotus was a “lockdown treat” – a comedy-drama about the ghastly ways of the super-rich, set in a five-star resort in Hawaii, said Ed Power in The Daily Telegraph. Now, it’s back, but this time the action unfolds in a luxury hotel in Sicily, and there is a new cast.
The only familiar faces are Jennifer Coolidge, who returns as the eccentric heiress Tanya, and Jon Gries, her series-one lover. As before, the overprivileged American holidaymakers are drawn with “gimlet-eyed precision”, from a nerdy professional couple to a multigenerational family of Italian-Americans making a misty-eyed visit to the land of their forefathers.
True, the series (on Sky Atlantic and Now) suffers “from all the characters being different flavours of unlikeable”, and the European ones (who include a Bertie Wooster-ish Englishman played by Tom Hollander) are a bit on the flat side; but at its best, it offers “brilliantly bawdy fun”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It is fun to watch, said Abby Robinson in the Radio Times, but it “lacks the bite” of series one, which thrived in particular on the sparring between the hotel manager Armond (Murray Bartlett) and a particularly annoying guest.
Still, “there is nothing more enjoyable to watch on television right now”, said Nick Hilton in The Independent. “Whip-smart, sexy and with an artistic sentiment as relentlessly focused on audience gratification as the lowest-denominator reality TV: this is as moreish, and mouth-watering, as a big bowl of spaghetti alle vongole.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Epic meltdown'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
The World of Tim Burton: a 'creepy, witty and visually ravishing' exhibition
The Week Recommends Sprawling show at the Design Museum features over 600 exhibits from across the directors' five-decade career from early sketches to costumes and props
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: October 31, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
6 exciting homes for athletes
Feature Featuring a rock-climbing wall in New York and a basketball-tennis court in Washington
By The Week Staff Published
-
Peter Ames Carlin's 6 favorite books on pop culture icons
Feature The author recommends works by James McBride, Jim Bouton, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Wild Robot: animated adventure is 'warm, funny and wise'
The Week Recommends 'Sharply written and richly detailed' adaptation of Peter Brown's best-selling book
By The Week UK Published
-
Francis Bacon: Human Presence – a 'stirring, splendid' exhibition
The Week Recommends 'Riveting' show at the National Portrait Gallery explores the artist's 'wild' portraits
By The Week UK Published
-
Robert McCrum shares his favourite books on sport
The Week Recommends Writer and editor picks works by Nick Hornby, David Goldblatt and others
By The Week UK Published
-
The Story of a Heart: a 'heart-rending' account of two children and one heart
The Week Reccomends Dr. Rachel Clarke's 'finest book yet' blends the 'arresting and the informative"
By The Week UK Published
-
Oedipus: Mark Strong and Lesley Manville star in 'devastating' production
The Week Recommends Robert Icke's modern adaptation of the Sophoclean tragedy is 'riveting' from start to finish
By The Week UK Published
-
Is The Office Australia a reboot too far?
Talking Point The latest version of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's mockumentary feels like 'a bad case of déjà vu'
By The Week UK Published