Warning: spoilers for season three of The White Lotus ahead. Season three of The White Lotus packed a lot of questionable things into its eight-episode run: an incestuous threesome, intrusive murder-suicide fantasies, and endless brand collabs, to name a few. After ending on a shocking note, with toxic but lovable couple Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Rick (Walton Goggins) meeting a tragic end, the series’ Thailand-set third season set a high bar for chaos and mystic symbolism. Creator Mike White is surely up to the task, though—and naturally, the Emmy-winning HBO hit has already been renewed for a season four. Here’s everything we know about it so far:
Where will it be set?
In a Hollywood Reporter cover story, White and producer David Bernad spoke about wanting to choose a location responsibly, given how the high-profile show can influence spikes in tourism and a boost to the local economy. “Where we choose to go next could be hugely impactful [to that locale],” White said. “That’s why it was so cool to shoot in Thailand. It’s hard to go backward. Like, ‘Oh, we’ll do it in Paris!’ That feels like a cop-out.”
So, where will it be? Though a ski resort season would be especially fun, White has explicitly said he hates the cold, so that seems unlikely. White also said he wants to move away from the aesthetic of “crashing waves against rocks.” Given that The White Lotus has so far always been shot at a Four Seasons resort, we can look to their list of properties to make a few guesses. Perhaps the guests will head to Marrakech, against the backdrop of the Atlas Mountains? All the heat without the waves. Or given how much White loves to use animals and local flora and fauna as symbols, maybe a safari vacation in the Serengeti could work.
Are any former cast members returning?
Though each season of the anthology series features a new group of nepo babies, beloved character actors, and other casting wild cards, White has also always brought back at least one character to tie together the thread between seasons. In season two, it was Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) and Greg (Jon Gries), who galivanted around Italy on a moped before Greg set Tanya up to be killed in a murder-by-gays plot. This time around, we were reintroduced to Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), who finally got hers after being ghosted by Tanya—though in a characteristically cynical White-twist, she turned around and did the same thing to Pornchai.
So who could be coming back next season? Wood confirmed to W that, despite some fan theories, there’s no chance Chelsea or Rick will return, so that rules them out. Maybe we will once again return to Belinda and Pornchai—will White want plot symmetry between seasons, with Pornchai somehow getting justice this time?
The other most apparent loose end is with the Ratliff family. After the slow, season-long build-up toward Timothy revealing to his spoiled and sheltered family that he had lost all of their money, it was disappointing to be denied that climactic moment as a viewer. He was also apparently facing time in federal prison. Will there be Zoom calls with Jason Isaacs from his cushy minimum security institution next season? Will we see Parker Posey’s Victoria working at a hotel, rather than visiting one as a guest? Will Patrick Schwarzenegger’s Saxon go on his own spiritual seeking journey, inspired by the death of Chelsea? The possibilities are endless.
There’s also the possibility of an all-star season, with the ensemble solely comprised of past cast members. White has said he’s open to the idea, with HBO CEO Casey Bloys riffing that maybe Molly Shannon’s character from season one knows Victoria. “There are so many connections between all these awful people,” he told THR.
When will The White Lotus season 4 return?
There’s no release date yet—stay tuned for updates.