Mike White knows what he’s doing.
The 54-year-old filmmaker responded to “The White Lotus” critics who complained that Season 3 had “no plot” on Sunday’s episode of the show’s official podcast.
“I actually feel like the discourse, or all the buzz around it, has brought more people to the show. And then they come to the show and they’re like, ‘What the hell is this?’” White said. “The pacing and the vibe and what it’s doing, it definitely gets under their skin in some way.”
“There was complaining about how there’s no plot,” White noted. “That part I find weird because… it never did. Part of me is just like, bro, this is the vibe. I’m world-building.”
The Emmy winner continued, “If you don’t want to go to bed with me then get out of my bed. I’m edging you! Enjoy the edging. If you don’t want to be edged, then get out of my bed. Do you know what I mean? Don’t be a bossy bottom. Get the f–k out of my bed. Don’t come home with me. Don’t get naked in my bed. Get the f–k out of my bed. Obviously something is going to happen.”
Season 3 of “The White Lotus” took place in Thailand and starred Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Walton Goggins, Aimee Lou Wood, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sam Nivola, Sarah Catherine Hook, Leslie Bibb, Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon, Natasha Rothwell and more.
The finale received mix reactions from audiences, but set the record for the most-watched episode of the series with 6.2 million viewers.
Before the final episode, White told The Hollywood Reporter that he’s “grateful” he gets to make the HBO series, even though the job comes with criticism.
“Everything’s always going to be compared to something else. There’s a critic I won’t name, and every time I do something, they’re like, ‘It’s not as good as the last one.’ You didn’t even like that one!” White told the outlet.
“I certainly have gotten enough praise, so it’s probably good for me to have some people be like, ‘Did you have to go so slow?’” he added.
The location for “The White Lotus” Season 4 has yet to be confirmed, but White has hinted he might want to take the show in a different direction.
“For the fourth season, I want to get a little bit out of the ‘crashing waves against rocks’ vernacular,” he said in a video interview for Max after the Season 3 finale.
“But there’s always room for more murders at the White Lotus hotel,” White added.
