大象传媒

After the success of series one and two, set in Hawaii and Sicily respectively, The White Lotus is back for a third installment - this time set in an idyllic resort in Thailand.

The programme is a sharp social satire following the exploits of various employees and guests at an exclusive Thai resort over one highly transformative week. As darker dynamics emerge with each passing day, the series gradually reveals the complex truths of the seemingly picture-perfect travellers, cheerful hotel employees, and idyllic locale itself.

But what do the Must Watch team make of it?

Naga: "Must Watch, Scott?"

Scott: "It is, but it's the least enjoyable of the three, I would say, from the episodes that I've seen so far.

“It takes a long while to get going. I was surprised that with the first episode - there is so little that happens, really. You're introduced to all of the different families and partners who are turning up at this very high-end resort.

“You get a little glimpse into why they are all in their own way, completely and utterly miserable or detached from reality. Plus you get the juxtaposition of the staff who work for them, who are just trying to make them happy, even though that's an impossible task. You get a lot of establishing shots of this beautiful resort in Thailand.

Scott continues: “Two things stood out to me. One, they've changed the music, which is a main character in itself."

Hayley: "And in the second series, they made it into a club banger. It was actually played in clubs."

Scott: "But of course, it's an anthology, and that brings me on to my second problem. I think when you have anthologies, it sometimes feels a bit frustrating that when you get to a new series, with the exception of maybe one or two characters, you're starting all over again.

“All the connection to all of the previous characters, bar one, is now gone, and it's like wiping the slate clean. I find that when you're starting with a blank slate, you end up comparing and contrasting through the series.

“The White Lotus is confident, all written and directed by the same person [Mike White], which is an astonishing effort, but so far, I haven't been as taken as the previous two.

“Then again, I think this is one of those shows where all of the plot and all of the attention is very much tied to the end of the series. It's like a coiled spring. It just sort of all goes right at the end. I think that 's the case with this one. For me, it just took too long to get going. Having said that, I did enjoy it."

Hayley: "Well...."

Scott: "Well...."

Hayley: "This is not a Must Watch."

Scott: "No!

"Was it all the song? Was it all the theme tune?”

Naga: "How much have both of you seen of it?"

Hayley: "Scott's seen three. It's eight episodes long. We were given six and I watched all six."

Scott: "That's a weekend!"

Hayley: "Now, it started wrong with the theme song."

Naga: "I think you both need to get over the theme tune"

Scott: "It's a banger Naga!"

Hayley: "The first season was high camp and incredibly funny and it was like a diorama of larger society all boiled down to this one resort. It was about how the rich treat the poor. About how white people treat people of colour. It was about who has to deal with the aftermath of anything.

“I think if you've ever worked in the service industry (like I have) it was a very triggering watch. The second season was more about the world falling apart and who might care or even notice. There was a lot of sex and death in it. There was also this whole subplot with the gays and Jennifer Coolidge, which was just incredible."

Scott: "And contains some of the greatest dialogue in human history."

Hayley: "This third season - all I can say is they've forgotten to make it funny. It's incredibly boring. They've tried to make it darker and more tense but all they've ended up with is nothing happening. I can assume that all the stuff that does happen is in episode seven and eight, which we weren't given.

"We talk about it's not the destination, it's the journey. I think this one is about destination, but you've got to make the journey good. The first season, every episode was so funny and it was so boiled down to perfection.

Hayley continues: “The cast in this one is still great. They just don't have much to work with. I deeply, deeply miss Jennifer Coolidge. I mean, I could say that about my general life.

"She really was the glue, I think. She played an heiress who was mourning her mother and who was also charmingly insane and tone deaf. I am so heartbroken to say that The White Lotus season three is not a Must Watch."

Naga: "Well, may I say, if you've only watched the first episode, that did not get a five star."

Scott: "Just a lot of preamble, isn't it?"

Naga: "Nonsense.

"I've seen the first episode of season one, and I loved it but I just didn't get into it, so I didn't go with the whole trend of everyone raving about it.

“I love Jennifer Coolidge, of course, and I knew I wanted to watch it. I just haven't gotten around to it. I don't think I'll bother now after seeing this first episode.

Hayley: "Well, the good thing about an anthology is it doesn't really matter.

Naga: "Aimee Lou Wood [plays ‘Chelsea’ in S3]"

Hayley: "She tries so much."

Naga: "She's amazing and she is funny, and she does that brilliant annoying thing where she's annoying. But I just thought, 'you are out on a limb here' because everything was so flat and I didn't care. I did not care. I'm not going to watch anymore."

Hayley: "I agree. But watch series one and two."

You can watch The White Lotus Season 3 every Monday on Sky. You can also catch episodes on the streaming service NOW.

But before all that, why not contact Scott and Hayley with the shows you’ve been loving, loathing or both on mustwatch@bbc.co.uk.

This week, the team reviewed A Thousand Blows and The Island.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on 大象传媒 Sounds.