Saturday, April 12, 2025
Thespian Toros
The Office Apprentice: Simon by Andrew Bowman
Final Departure:
Hot teacher? Bukkake?
It was only last month that I posted about the hotties from season 2 of The White Lotus. (HERE:) Although season 3 had already begun airing, I was determined to finish the second season prior to starting the third. Well, I did finish season 2, just in time to binge the eight episodes of the third season prior to it's season finale which aired last Sunday.
I wasn't going to rush, but I could feel the energy from the show on-line, there were stories on the cast and the stories everywhere I looked. Usually, I'm pretty adept at avoiding spoilers on-line, but I knew with The White Lotus, that would be impossible. The show always starts with a murder, and I was determined to be surprised when I watched. Sooo...., I watched 2 episodes each, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and was ready to watch the last two the night of the finale.
There was so much written about the show, I won't add spend too much time adding to the array of opinions. I'll simply say I loved it. The show was character driven, and although there were certainly scenes with action, it was the slow burn I really so appreciated. Writer and director Mike White built tension through small, but powerful emotional moments. Not many filmmakers can create such intense stakes, through simply writing beautifully complete characters we quickly grow to love.
As stated, I wasn't going to watch it now, or so quickly, but wanted be surprised by the ending. Part of my hesitation was all the incest talk about the Ratliff brother played by Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola. I'm always uneasy when incest is made sensual or sensationalized. Given my line of work in family therapy. I've seen so many families destroyed by incest, and there's usually absolutely nothing sensual about it.
Again, I give praise to White for how he constructed the dysfunction in the Radcliff family. Although 'incest' was all over social media and the net, White walked, wrote and directed, a fine line which really wasn't so much about incest at all. The Radcliff family was a uniquely written group, and I know I'm not the only one who wondered about the intimacy between the other family members.
I saw it between Piper and her father, and between Piper and Lochlan, (Nivola) I wondered at one point if the twist was that it was Piper and Lochlan in an incestuous relationship. Turns out it wasn't there at all. Just the suggestion of the issue within the family had viewers watching their scenes through a different lens.
When I say I loved everything about season 3 I mean it. I loved the writing, the directing, the acting, the cinematography, the location, the music and all of the characters. I though Carrie Coon was outstanding, but equally so Leslie Bibb. Bibb was given the big moments Coon's Laurie was given, but she made the most out of all of her scenes. I loved me some Mook, some Gaitok, some Chelsea, and some Valentin and Pornchai. I loved Parker Posey's accent and wanted to see much more of Zion.
I think one of the signs of a well written script, just like a well written book, is that you're sad when it's over. You miss the world created, and the characters you just spent so many hours invested in. Whenever most of us return home from a great trip, one filled with great moments and great friends, there's always a let down. I certainly felt it this weekend, missing the characters I so quickly grew to love so much.
Of course, this is FH, so I couldn't end my thoughts on The White Lotus, without a little male skin. Patrick's posterior was a sight to behold, meaty and worthy all on it's own. If I had one bit of criticism of the show, it would be to get rid of the prosthetic penises. They are not needed. If a penis is needed in the scene, hire an actor who'll do the scene. If not, stick to butt scenes.
The current fixation At MAX has with prosthetic penises is annoying. First off, the actors tend to spoil any possible mystery anyway, ensuring we know they didn't do a full frontal scene. Secondly, unless you're adding a T-Rex to season 4, viewers don't need unnecessary special effects. Maybe hire some hotties from gay porn to play some hotel staff members and happily go full frontal. The prosthetics and computer generated appendages are really more distracting than anything else.