The moment happens almost instantly. After arriving at the absurdly plush White Lotus hotel in Thailand, Laurie, played by Carrie Coon, begins justifying that she’s “fine” with her room, which is slightly more tucked away than the rooms belonging to her two “long-time, not old” friends, Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan). “You paid, you should get first pick,” adds Laurie, referring to the fact that Jaclyn, a successful TV star, is footing the bill for all three of them.
It’s just a tiny glimmer in the first episode of the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus – but one that’s enough to lay out the hierarchy that’s at play between these women. At the top, of course, is Jaclyn, who is not just rich but famous. Several fellow hotel guests and members of staff recognise her, with the owner, Sritala, treating her like royalty: “We gave you my favourite,” the glamorous boss says of their villa. Jaclyn has also, we later learn, found love with “the man of [her] dreams”, which raises her to an even higher calibre. In the middle, there’s Kate, who later performs an insufferable humble brag about her partner, David, who runs a company that “everyone in Austin knows about”.
