John Powers

Okay, let's continue. Hands on buzzers. Mayor of New York. Yes, yes, yes. He's a Jew, Bob. Yes. That's right. Ed Koch is a Jew. Ten points.

That's his name. All right.

That's his name. All right.

That's his name. All right.

One of the most exquisitely cynical lines in 20th century literature comes in the Italian novel The Leopard. A young aristocrat is telling his uncle, the prince, why he's joined up with Garibaldi's revolutionaries. This is precisely the thinking behind successful TV franchises, which try to change things just enough to seem fresh, while still serving up what the audience loved the first time.

One of the most exquisitely cynical lines in 20th century literature comes in the Italian novel The Leopard. A young aristocrat is telling his uncle, the prince, why he's joined up with Garibaldi's revolutionaries. This is precisely the thinking behind successful TV franchises, which try to change things just enough to seem fresh, while still serving up what the audience loved the first time.

One of the most exquisitely cynical lines in 20th century literature comes in the Italian novel The Leopard. A young aristocrat is telling his uncle, the prince, why he's joined up with Garibaldi's revolutionaries. This is precisely the thinking behind successful TV franchises, which try to change things just enough to seem fresh, while still serving up what the audience loved the first time.

Except for maybe Fargo, no show tackles this challenge more honorably than The White Lotus, the Emmy-grabbing HBO series in which rich, entitled white folks cause trouble at enviably gorgeous beachfront resorts.

Except for maybe Fargo, no show tackles this challenge more honorably than The White Lotus, the Emmy-grabbing HBO series in which rich, entitled white folks cause trouble at enviably gorgeous beachfront resorts.

Except for maybe Fargo, no show tackles this challenge more honorably than The White Lotus, the Emmy-grabbing HBO series in which rich, entitled white folks cause trouble at enviably gorgeous beachfront resorts.

Written and directed by Mike White, The White Lotus doesn't merely introduce new characters and locales every season —the latest one is set in Thailand— but also shifts its tone and preoccupations. Still, it follows a template. Like its predecessors, season three begins with an unidentified dead body and then flashes back to show us who's dead and why.

Written and directed by Mike White, The White Lotus doesn't merely introduce new characters and locales every season —the latest one is set in Thailand— but also shifts its tone and preoccupations. Still, it follows a template. Like its predecessors, season three begins with an unidentified dead body and then flashes back to show us who's dead and why.

Written and directed by Mike White, The White Lotus doesn't merely introduce new characters and locales every season —the latest one is set in Thailand— but also shifts its tone and preoccupations. Still, it follows a template. Like its predecessors, season three begins with an unidentified dead body and then flashes back to show us who's dead and why.

We watch the guests arrive at the White Lotus, a wellness-centered resort on the island of Koh Samui. These include the well-heeled Ratliff family from North Carolina. The parents are played by Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey. There are three 40-something girlfriends led by Jacqueline, a TV star played by Michelle Monaghan.

We watch the guests arrive at the White Lotus, a wellness-centered resort on the island of Koh Samui. These include the well-heeled Ratliff family from North Carolina. The parents are played by Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey. There are three 40-something girlfriends led by Jacqueline, a TV star played by Michelle Monaghan.

We watch the guests arrive at the White Lotus, a wellness-centered resort on the island of Koh Samui. These include the well-heeled Ratliff family from North Carolina. The parents are played by Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey. There are three 40-something girlfriends led by Jacqueline, a TV star played by Michelle Monaghan.

There's gloomy Rick, that's Walton Goggins, a scruffy dude who's here with his far younger girlfriend Chelsea. And as always in paradise, there's a serpent. it would take an hour to tell you the plot. Suffice it to say that after a low-key start, the show becomes a stir-fry of financial secrets, dark family histories, drug abuse, kinky hijinks, poisonous snakes, scary gunfire, and oddball comedy.

There's gloomy Rick, that's Walton Goggins, a scruffy dude who's here with his far younger girlfriend Chelsea. And as always in paradise, there's a serpent. it would take an hour to tell you the plot. Suffice it to say that after a low-key start, the show becomes a stir-fry of financial secrets, dark family histories, drug abuse, kinky hijinks, poisonous snakes, scary gunfire, and oddball comedy.

There's gloomy Rick, that's Walton Goggins, a scruffy dude who's here with his far younger girlfriend Chelsea. And as always in paradise, there's a serpent. it would take an hour to tell you the plot. Suffice it to say that after a low-key start, the show becomes a stir-fry of financial secrets, dark family histories, drug abuse, kinky hijinks, poisonous snakes, scary gunfire, and oddball comedy.

White loves to shove his characters and audiences out of their comfort zone. We often can't be sure whether something is supposed to be funny or serious or both. We don't know which characters are actually nice, are deeper than they first seem, or are blithely headed toward bad things. Take, for instance, the Ratliff family, Timothy and Victoria and their three grown-up kids.