Why The White Lotus season 3's major plot change is its riskiest yet

It's a major part of the charm of diving into the world of The White Lotus for its third season, with promises of the weird and wonderful waiting for us all.

So, it's rather easy to forget that – as well as providing meme-worthy scenes, witty wider-world commentary and the kind of hotel guest interactions that are intended to make you squirm – the series does actually revolve around the mystery of a death.

Where season 1 had the death of hotel manager Armond (Murray Bartlett), season 2's surprise demise of Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) is one that plenty of fans are still reeling from.

So, who will be offed in season 3, you may be wondering. Of course, the series doesn't reveal that until its usually shocking last moments, which will end weeks of viewer speculation.

But it's the way that the series kicks off this time around that may leave some reeling from its very noticeable tonal shift.

Previous seasons of The White Lotus have started with a mystery body bag being loaded onto a plane and then another floating in the sea to be discovered by a hotel guest while out swimming.

Season 3, however, starts on quite a starkly different note. Sure, the hook of the dead body at the beginning is there in essence, but it's the dark manner in which everything unfolds that will undoubtedly leave some a little shakier than usual.

In the serenity of The White Lotus Thailand, we see Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) chatting to Amrita (Shalini Peiris) in one of the meditation huts at the plush resort.

Zion talks of the stresses of completing his finals and "some other stuff" before Amrita guides him into a meditation. But it's as they're taking deep breaths and revelling in the silence that the sound of distant gunshots brings Zion out of his cloud of peace.

Like Zion, the viewer wonders if they're real, but when the sound persists again – this time, seemingly closer – Zion immediately grows anxious, telling Amrita that what they're hearing is the sound of a gun.

A second later, they see a pair of guests running and, suddenly, the gunshots are a lot closer, frightening the surrounding monkeys and only adding to the cacophony of anxiety-inducing sounds.

Amrita's trying to calm Zion, who is worried about his mother Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), scared for her wellbeing because she is "out there".

But when a gunshot is aimed at the window of their own hut, all hell breaks loose. Guests and staff start running, screams can be heard and Amrita darts off, leaving Zion by himself. He jumps into the surrounding water looking for cover of some sort, and again, more gunshots, more screams.

Gunfire continues to ring out, soon accompanied by the sound of sirens. It's not too long before the show slips into its previous rhythm again, with Zion turning around in the water to see a floating body.

Five minutes in, stress levels at an all-time high, and welcome back to The White Lotus, people.

While series creator Mike White has been forthright in the fact that this third season is "much darker" than before, starting off proceedings with what seems to be a mass shooting will certainly leave many wondering whether this is a plot device risk worth taking.

And before the sensitivity police come at me, take a second to contemplate that while fictional, using something like a mass shooting – which has clear and harrowing grounding in reality – is undeniably jarring when trying to slip it seamlessly into the overall style of The White Lotus.

Many came after BBC's own Crossfire for the same reason, denigrating the Keeley Hawes drama for having a sole premise that revolved around a hotel shooting, a "premise" that's not all that far from reality.

Most notably, the 2015 Sousse attacks in Port El Kantaoui, Tunisia, saw 38 people killed after a gunman opened fire on tourists staying at the popular resort.

There was, of course, the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting by Stephen Paddock, who fired more than 1,000 rounds from his suite at the Mandalay Bay hotel. The tragedy went on to become the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in American history, claiming the lives of 60 people.

So, it's confusing that an American filmmaker and actor like White – with gun laws and mass shootings being a very tangible reality for US citizens, especially – would use something so dreadful as a mere plot-driving narrative in his series.

Even if it turns out that this first episode is simply a red herring and has only been included to get us all talking, is hinting at or making viewers think that there's a real possibility of a hotel massacre really worth it?

In a bid to outdo previous seasons, I can't help but think that these initial "water cooler" moments have come at the cost of the show's integrity a bit here. White himself has admitted his surprise at the premiere episode's dead body being such a focal point.

"When that first season became such a water cooler show [that] people were talking about, I was like, had I only known if I'd put a dead body at the beginning of Enlightened, maybe people would've watched Enlightened," he told NPR. "You realise these kinds of hooks do actually get viewers."

I could very well eat my words in seven weeks' time, when it could potentially be revealed that it was only intended to seem like there was a mass shooting at The White Lotus Thailand.

But that wouldn't quite explain the shots aimed at Zion's hut, the fear within the guests and staff, and also the kind of emotional note the series starts off on.

Part of the intrigue of the show as a whole is observing the guests, wondering who either has it in them to commit a murder or who could end up dead. This time around, that stream of thought only takes on a more sinister tone, as thoughts inevitably turn to who could be responsible for the cold-blooded murder of multiple people.

Let's just hope that The White Lotus hasn't lost the essence of what's made it so great in seasons past – the reflections on real-world society, the sheer unexpectedness of it all, its innate oddness and wickedly dry humour.

But really, after episode 1, I'm left thinking: Has the desire to shock and create those talked-about White Lotus moments gone too far here?

The White Lotus season 3 premieres on Sky Atlantic and NOW on Monday 17th February 2025. Seasons 1 and 2 are available now. Find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.