The White Lotus, created by Mike White, is the hottest show in the world right now! The third season of the hit HBO series just came to an end in April 2025, four years after the series premiered in the summer of 2021.
The White Lotus is already coming back for season 4, and probably more seasons, honestly. There doesn't seem to be anything stopping this show from becoming an all-time great drama-comedy series.
To celebrate the greatness of this show, I ranked all three seasons of The White Lotus so far. Honestly, there is no "worst" season of this show. They are all good, but there's definitely one show that stands apart from the rest.
3. The White Lotus season 1
- Premiere date: July 11, 2021
- Cast: Murray Bartlett, Sydney Sweeney, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Jake Lacy, Alexandra Daddario, Fred Hechinger, Natasha Rothwell, Steve Zahn, Brittany O'Grady, Molly Shannon, Lukas Gage, and Jon Gries
The White Lotus season 1 is so awesome! I just watched the first season again after watching The White Lotus season 3, and it's so funny. I don't think I remembered just how much I clicked with this show when it came out in the summer of 2021.
The White Lotus season 1 is set in Hawaii. It introduces fans to the exotic resort run by the overworked, underpaid, and significantly stressed Armand, played by Murray Bartlett. Armand tries to hold things together as the staff and guests cause a lot of drama. Most of the season revolves around Armand trying to keep Shane (Jake Lacy) at arm's length as the newlywed spirals about being put in the wrong room.
It pains me that I have to rank it last on the list, because I love it so much, but the truth is that it's just a little bit worse in some ways than the other two seasons. Honestly, there are parts of season 1 that are better than season 2 and season 3. There are moments, storylines, characters, and episodes that absolutely surpass season 2 and season 3. I'd even argue that with the six-episode first season, the story is tighter, which is actually better in some respects.
2. The White Lotus season 3
- Premiere date: Feb. 13, 2025
- Cast: Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, Walton Goggins, Leslie Bibb, Sarah Catherine Hook, Natasha Rothwell, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jason Isaacs, Aimee Lou Wood, Lalisa Manobal, Michelle Monaghan, Sam Nivola, Lek Patravadi, Tayme Thapthimthong, Jon Gries, Sam Rockwell, Scott Glenn, and more
The White Lotus season 3 just premiered on HBO this year after a pretty big gap between seasons. I wanted to rank season 3 as the top season so bad, but I just couldn't do it. And, it's not because it's not an awesome season. It's so good!
There are so many cringeworthy, amazing moments in this season. It's iconic. First, you have everything Parker Posey was doing as Victoria Ratliff, but then you have Rick's (Walton Goggins) daddy issues and all the romantic, friend, and family drama. Ultimately, I don't know how White and the team were able to put it all together. We've seen so many shows like this just go completely off the rails.
Despite some of the negative reactions, I actually enjoyed the pacing of season 3. It works really well with this story. Sure, it moves slow at times, but that's the vibe. It's the waves crashing into the shore. White had a lot to say about society this season, perhaps more than any other so far. And, it works really well.
1. The White Lotus season 2
- Premiere date: Oct. 30, 2022
- Cast: Michael Imperioli, Aubrey Plaza, Theo James, Meghann Fahy, Will Sharpe, Tom Hollander, F. Murray Abraham, Jennifer Coolidge, Adam DiMarco, Beatrice Grannò, Jon Gries, Tom Hollander, Sabrina Impacciatore, Michael Imperioli, Theo James, Aubrey Plaza, Haley Lu Richardson, Will Sharpe, Simona Tabasco, Leo Woodall, and more
The White Lotus season 2 is the best season of the series so far for me. While there are reasons to rank this season below season 1 and season 3, there are too many reasons why this season is the best.
First of all, I think this story is the most intriguing. There are so many moving parts, but I feel like each character is on their journey, and there was enough time to explore all of those stories without it feeling like some characters were stuck on the sidelines. That's how it felt in season 3 at times for those characters.
I mean, it's almost too difficult to describe all of the storylines, but we have stories about marital drama, infidelity, addiction, potential incest?, socioeconomics, tourism, and so much more. Weaving that web together is no small feat, and White deserves a lot of credit and praise for not letting all of those different threads become one big knot.
While each season has an equally great cast, I do think The White Lotus season 2 cast was just a little bit better. And, that's not to discount the season 3 cast. It was incredible, but season 2 takes the cake for me.
So, that's the ranking of The White Lotus seasons! We'll share more news about the fourth season of the hit series when we find out. It sounds like White and his team are headed back to Europe for season 4!