The show’s most unifying theme, also integral to its Thailand season, is the transactional nature of so many relationships that cross lines of gender, race, culture, and most crucially class, whether between guests and hotel staff or among lovers. In that respect, it fits into a current international vogue for stories, rooted in our polarized global economy, that indict the rich and powerful, from Parasite and Triangle of Sadness to Squid Game and Succession. Because corpses tend to surface in the flash-forwards that open each Lotus season, it also capitalizes on streaming’s recent obsession with whodunits—and has, in turn, created a market for such flimsy leisure-class murder mysteries as Netflix’s The Perfect Couple and Hulu’s Death and Other Details. What set White’s work apart from the pack are his keen insights into human psychology and his ability to help actors translate that understanding into performances that convey the unique mix of desire, delusion, and hypocrisy swirling in each character’s head.
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