Fans of The White Lotus have been left divided over a storyline in the third season of the hit HBO series, with some claiming they’re “bored to tears” by one character’s plot.
The third season of Mike White’s luxury hotel resort drama follows numerous high net worth individuals, played by stars including Michelle Monaghan and Carrie Coon, during their holiday in Thailand.
In the series, Jason Isaacs stars as businessman Timothy Ratcliff, who is being hounded by journalists enquiring about his financial history due to a scandal brewing with his ex-business partner, Kenny.
Although much of Timothy’s dodgy dealings are still a mystery, he frequently sneaks out to make phone calls to his assistants and lawyers in the middle of the night in an attempt to control the fallout.
However, many White Lotus fans on X/Twitter have claimed they’ve had enough of Isaac’s performance and requested the show instead focus for longer on other of the series’ many characters.
“Can I be brutally honest for a second and admit that I’m bored to tears with whatever is going on with this man,” one person wrote to 20,000 likes of approval from other viewers.
“Like I’m sorry I can’t watch any more scenes of him looking upset on the phone. I just don’t care. Arrest him,” they added. Get him off my tv screen and let me go back to the character actresses I actually care about.”
Another user responded: “FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT!! HOW MUCH MORE SWEATING AND LOOKING DISTURBED CAN WE TAKE?”
“Unfortunately I agree. Love Jason Isaacs, I was really excited he would be in White Lotus but his scenes so far are the same thing over and over again,” a third fan said.
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Meanwhile, a fourth person echoed: “We get it, he’s worried, now something else can happen.”
However, other White Lotus fans had more faith in the series’ forthcoming episodes. “He’s a fantastic actor. It’ll pay off down the road,” one person claimed.
“The whole point of the show is its slow-burn character development in the first few episodes. It gradually builds momentum until everything explodes at the end,” another fan hit back.
“The way they depict suspense and buildup is so well done and written, it’s nerve-racking if you really pay attention.”
It comes after Isaacs recently opened up about the gruelling White Lotus filming schedule.
The actor said the experience was “a cross between high school and Lord of the Flies”, telling Sharp: “We never got away from each other!”
He continued: “Sometimes, it was two weeks of night shoots and then you see each other all day every day. In that time, it’s incredibly hot – not fun hot, holiday hot – we’re in costume and makeup, and we’re not meant to get a tan or lie by the pool, and you can only have so many massages.”
Isaacs added that the intense filming process is intentional as White wanted to create “a pressure cooker atmosphere, not just to the story we were telling, but to our own lives”.
The Harry Potter star said that “the intensity” led to there being “an offscreen White Lotus as much as an onscreen White Lotus – just with slightly fewer body bags”.
In fact, it brought the actor, who has been acting since the 1980s, out of his comfort zone. “It’s not something I’m used to,” Isaacs said, adding: “Normally, you go home.”
The White Lotus airs Sundays in the US on HBO and Mondays in the UK on Sky Atlantic and NOW.
