The White Lotus has been broadcast on Sky Atlantic in the UK
(Picture: HBO)Making a TV show now is all about intertextuality. Which is a fancy way of saying you need to throw some meat to the dogs in the chat rooms. Succession does this very well, with its Shakespearean allusions, literary quotes and cliffhangers. Twin Peaks: The Return was so challenging in its layers of unexplained mystery that it was a no-go to anyone but the most dedicated of nutcases. Line of Duty became so heavily reliant on teasing who ‘H’ was, that it set itself up for grand disappointment when it was finally revealed.
The White Lotus may not have captured mainstream attention in the way that Line of Duty did, but it has generated so much chat around its second season that it has evoked opinions from people who haven’t even seen it. More to the point, it has demonstrated a kind of new kind of peak TV, where the show is used to stimulate conversation as much as be actually watched. It makes for a less passive experience and is another sign of the social media-fication of everything. You must interact! Share! Speculate! Opiniate! Which is, of course, all manner of fun for fans and haters alike.
