Commentary: ‘White Lotus’ Jumps The Shark With Shock Value
by Frank Martin
Jumping the shark is extremely common with series that last multiple seasons. It’s kind of a catch-all term that refers to the moment a show has outlived its welcome due to poor writing. The reasons for this may vary, but for HBO, shock factor can certainly be involved. Because the channel isn’t held by the same standards as regular television, they have always pushed the boundaries of what’s acceptable. HBO audiences almost expect it. But when shows feel this push after their initial success, they run the risk of sacrificing storytelling for shocking moments. The latest season of White Lotus highlights this well.
The program is a loose anthology series about luxury resorts around the world. Each season focuses on a different cast of characters, although there is canon and some overlap between them. One of the groups of guests this season focused on a family whose father, Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs), is under criminal investigation back home, and he’s working hard to hide this from his wife and kids, who are all undergoing their own journeys. One such journey involves an accidental act of drunken incest between his two sons, Lochlan (Sam Nivola) and Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger). This shocking scene is emphasized by other moments such as when Timothy accidentally exposes his genitals to his family and Saxon being open about masturbation with Lochlan.
That’s just one of the character groups. There’s also a man who unleashes a venomous cobra that bites his girlfriend and a local husband and wife who try to recruit Saxon into an odd voyeuristic sexual encounter. Although shocking moments like these were common in the first two seasons, they typically involved characters to root for and rapidly evolving plots that felt absent from this season. Instead, shock value took center stage rather than being used as fuel for quality storytelling. If White Lotus is to redeem itself with future seasons, it should remember to engage audiences before trying to shock them.
White Lotus is now streaming on HBO Max.
