This post contains spoilers for this week’s episode of The White Lotus, “Killer Instincts,” which is now streaming on Max.
If this were one of the previous White Lotus seasons, it would be finale week right now. We would know who the dead body was that Zion saw drifting in the pond, we would know the identity and motive of the active shooter(s), what the real story is between Rick and Jim, how the other Ratliffs will respond to Tim’s news — assuming any of them survive the trip — and all the rest.
Instead, Mike White got HBO to agree to make eight episodes of The White Lotus instead of seven this year. And at the risk of losing my title as spokesman for the “Make TV seasons longer, dammit!” movement, more hasn’t been more with Lotus Season Three. Rather than use the extra time to go deeper into each storyline, it feels like White has just been…
