I am a writer in Los Angeles, which is just a sidelong way of saying I still have roommates as I approach 30. I’m lucky in that it’s a largely frictionless affair, though the television is far too communal for someone who watches far too much of it. The other night I was catching up on HBO’s The White Lotus when one roommate wandered in and asked if he could have the TV after my soap opera. I was quick to protest but soon thought better of it.
The White Lotus is a soap opera about the people who turn up their noses at soap operas and a guilty pleasure that takes pleasure in making you feel guilty. It is written and directed by Mike White, who for all his many credits and awards I will always identify first and foremost for his role as Ned Schneebly in School of Rock. Each season of White Lotus is set at a different luxury resort of the (fictional) White Lotus chain — respectively, Maui, Sicily, and in the latest season an island of Thailand. Each season also starts with a flashforward glimpse of a corpse, the question of course being who is the cadaver and more importantly who made it.
