The petals of a white lotus flower enlighten those who appreciate its beauty and devastate those who do not value its virtue. Native to Hawaii, the White Lotus flower is rare and mysterious, like the tourists staying at the Hawaiian White Lotus resort; Mike White’s dark comedy TV Show for HBO highlights vacationing as an aristocrat, the subculture of the ultra-rich, and their interactions with quirky hotel staff and each other.
Cristobal Tapia’s music composition of the theme song mixes Hawaii’s natural sounds with unsettling music, juxtaposing the beautiful episodic scenery into something sinister. Visually, the show’s cinematography is excellent and coastal, following the ocean’s waves with locals canoeing, tourists swimming, and families dining together.
Filmed by the water creates a calming atmosphere despite the show’s chaotic drama and dark moments. Viewers are given a first hand look at dark secrets of one family (the Mossbachers), the struggles of being newlyweds (Rachel and Shane Patton), and the travesty that is the ditzy heiress Tanya McQuoid who is painfully single with too much money to burn.
For most, the fundamentals of happiness are love and family, or at least the facade of them. The Mossbachers appear to be a functional family, and the Pattons act like everything is okay when it’s not. Without giving too much away, Season 1 of White Lotus challenges each character’s meaning of love and the definitions of self-preservation. Each episode provides an escape for ordinary people as they are allowed to enjoy watching dysfunctional families take on more and more problems despite being extremely well off.
As American rapper The Notorious B.I.G. so famously sang, “Mo Money, Mo Problems!”
I give The White Lotus Season One: 4 Coffee Cups (out of 5).
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