Creature (dis)comforts

This post has some minor spoilers for the third season of The White Lotus. It also has some photos of creepy crawlies. Proceed with caution.

If I were a character on The White Lotus, I’d be the catsitter back in North Carolina trying to text the Ratliffs and not getting a response because they’ve all got their phones locked up in the wellness centre office. For all any of us knows, I am that character.

Alongside the show’s trademark focus on class systems, this season’s major preoccupation seems to be the nervous system. Everyone’s looking for some version of peace—inner peace, a good night’s sleep, a sense of security. In this melange of anxieties and addictions, the moments I found most relatable were all the times that calm, wholesome massage therapist got freaked out by a monitor lizard.

My experience with lizards is mostly limited to cute little ones that tended to stay outdoors and mind their own business.

In the world of prestige tourism like the one satirized in The White Lotus, there are many reasons to feel nervous. You could be a high-rolling nepo baby finance bro at risk of losing your livelihood and prestige. You could be a hotel security guard at risk of losing either your job or your girlfriend or your life, or all three. You could be a hotel manager—a Nazi in a previous incarnation—who is about to sacrifice your dignity for the sake of your musical aspirations. To me, the scariest situation of all is the woman who hears scratching critter noises coming from behind the wardrobe in her hotel room.

Read more with this 50% discount