The First ‘White Lotus’ Spin-Off Should Definitely Happen After Season 3

The White Lotus season 3 aired its finale this past weekend, which was ultimately divisive and one I personally did not love.

One of the main issues was the resolution, or lack thereof, of the Ratliff storyline, where Timothy heads back to the US where he’s about to be under investigation by the FBI for business illegalities. This entire season he’s been popping Lorazepam and fantasizing about how he might kill his family and himself to save them the pain and embarrassment.

He almost does so via deadly piña coladas, but changes his mind, though in the process almost accidentally kills his youngest son, Lochlan, who survives the poisoning without realizing his father did in fact poison him. The family finds out what’s going on back in the US at last by finally looking at their phones after a week without them. That’s it. We see no aftermath.

We should see the aftermath.

I have not seen a storyline in The White Lotus before that would justify a spin-off quite like this. If Lochlan had died, it wouldn’t work, but the entire Ratliff family dealing with Timothy’s crimes and “being poor” back in the US would make for a great series.

In a sense we…already had this show in the form of Schitt’s Creek, a rich family forced to adapt to a humble life in a small town. Amazing series, but obviously it would be a lot different in tone coming from the White Lotus universe.

This would allow the return of what were arguably the two best characters in the series, Victoria Ratliff and Saxon Ratliff, played by Parker Posey and Patrick Schwarzenegger (yes, that one). Posey was easily the funniest character in a season that wasn’t funny enough, and Schwarzenegger was a rare character who actually underwent significant character development by the end.

Will this happen? Odds are against it. Every single episode of The White Lotus is written and directed by Mike White. So either he would have to give up control of a spin-off to someone else (which could also affect its quality) or if he did it himself, it would significantly delay the already-greenlit fourth season which is about to start production, likely in Europe.

There is the fact that White has not ruled out a spin-off in the past, namely a prequel focused on the now-dead character of Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya. Here’s what he said to Deadline back in 2023:

“I absolutely think that’s possible, we were just talking about that… It’s a funny idea. And making Jennifer, you know, 20 years younger, that would be fun too. I think Jennifer’s like, “Sure, let’s do it!”.’

That did not happen, obviously, but if he’s open to that, maybe he’s open to a new idea. And maybe the Ratliffs could be it.

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