That ‘White Lotus’ ending was frustrating — and perfect.

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

It’s a brand-new week, but this year feels like it’s been going on for decades.

All Other TV News

The single best thing you are going to see on the internet today is Nestflix, a fake Netflix that only features fake movies and TV shows that were in other movies and TV shows, including everything from Crash Course in The Exorcist to The Crows Have Eyes 3 from Schitt’s Creek to History of the World, Part II from History of the World Part I to 30 Rock‘s MILF Island (which is clearly the inspiration of real show FBoy Island). This is a serious rabbit hole.

Obviously Elan Gale, the creator of FBoy Island is making plans for FGirl Island. Obviously.

White Lotus, which started off slow and turned into one of my favorite shows of the year, always had to end the way it did because the point was always that (roll over for spoiler text): rich white people always win and rarely face consequences for their bad behavior, and it is the working class who pays for their excesses — that was always the point of the series.

And that more shocking finale moment — you know the one — actor Murray Bartlett was just as surprised as you were at how realistic it looked. (Again, the article linked here is very spoilery, proceed with caution.) And can we just give Bartlett a little love here? His was an inspired performance.

As for this ranking of the characters from least to most evil, I dunno, I think the top two need to be swapped out. (I can not stress this enough: spoilers.)

One last comment about White Lotus: Mike White took some flack for not including more of the native Hawaiians’ stories in the series, and he focused on how he could only really tell the story from his own perspective, that as a white man, he’s not the person to tell those stories. And that’s fair! But in the wake of what Damon Lindelof did with the writers’ room in Watchmen, bringing writers with such diversity to tell the story from their perspective, it’s a defense that I am not sure really stands up anymore.

I will always love these two:

Please do not send Greg Gutfeld or any other Fox News host — even Tucker Carlson — powdery white substances.

The Bar Rescue guy is really sorry for comparing out-of-work people to starving dogs on Laura Ingraham’s show.

This is probably a very niche thing, but for those of you who use an Apple TV and had to deal with those infuriating bugs on HBO Max that made it impossible to fast-forward or rewind or save your settings, the cause has been revealed: when HBO Max added the $10 ad-supported tier, it mucked things up because adding commercials where commercials had not previously been confused the coding. Also, the global nature of HBO Max is making things messy. Anyway, they are building a whole new app from the ground up, apparently.

I guess we’re still talking about that Jeopardy! host decision? Alright.

So according to a New York Times piece, contrary to what the show claimed, Mike Richards had some control over how the host (himself) was chosen, specifically:

… as executive producer, Mr. Richards retained a key role in selecting which appearances by each prospective host would be screened for focus groups, whose reactions weighed heavily in Sony’s decision-making, according to three people familiar with the show’s internal deliberations. The other supervising “Jeopardy!” producers were excluded from that process, the people said.

The same story notes that Alex Trebek left Ken Jennings a gift of his cuff links for his first day as guest host, a gesture some took as Trebek choosing him to be his successor.

According to this TMZ story, Mayim Bialik was actually Jeopardy!‘s first choice, but she couldn’t make it work with her other obligations. And I don’t want to be suspicious that this is a story planted by the studio to make themselves look better for choosing their own guy, but the thing is, according to The New York Times story above, “the host works roughly two days a week, two weeks a month.” So, come on.

John Oliver feels like the rest of us.

The creator of The Handmaid’s Tale says he’s not sure if this season will be its last, but since they are currently filming it, shouldn’t that be something they are actively discussing?

Julie Bowen helped save a woman who passed out in Utah’s Arches National Park a couple of weeks ago, and everyone identifies her as “Modern Family actress” — and understandably — but to me, Bowen will always be Sarah from Lost.

Make of this what you will:

Larry David was disinvited from President Obama’s big birthday party and if he doesn’t turn this into the plot of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, what are we even doing here.

Love is dead. Again.

Renewals

Cancellations

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In Development

Casting News

Mark Your Calendar

  • Y: The Last Man will debut on FX on Hulu on September 13.
  • The Premise will premiere on FX on Hulu on September 16 and it looks amazing.
  • American Horror Story: Double Feature will premiere on FX on August 25.
  • What We Do in the Shadows will return on FX on September 2.
  • Wu-Tang: An American Saga returns on Hulu on September 8.
  • Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground will debut on HBO Max on August 19.
  • CSI: Vegas debuts on CBS on October 6.

  • Afterlife of the Party will premiere on Netflix on September 2.
  • Chucky debuts on USA and Syfy on October 12.

  • Squeaky Clean will premiere on Roku soon.
  • Craig Ross Jr.’s Monogamy returns on ALLBLK on September 2.
  • The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf will debut on Netflix on December 17.
  • JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stone Ocean will premiere on Netflix in December.
  • Under Wraps will premiere on Disney Channel in October.
  • Sharkdog will debut on Netflix Jr. on September 3.
  • D.P. will premiere on Netflix on August 27.

R.I.P.

Jane Withers, Former child star who had a second career in adulthood appearing in shows such as General Electric Theater, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Love Boat, and Murder, She Wrote

Brad Allan, Stuntman

Nanci Griffith, Texas singer-songwriter and Grammy-winner

Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, Founding member of Kool and the Gang

Robert “Bob” Ringwald, Jazz musician and father of Molly Ringwald

Fez Whatley, Shock jock on “The Ron and Fez Show”

Bobby Bowden, Hall of Fame college football coach

WATCH THIS

Bachelor in Paradise: Our long national nightmare is back, now with 100% more David Spade for some reason. Season premiere. 7 p.m., ABC

Indiana Jones marathon: Who knew archeologists were so sexy? 6 p.m., Paramount Network

Ben & Jerry’s: Clash of the Cones: Ice cream masters compete to create a flavor for the iconic ice cream company in this new series. Series premiere. 8 p.m., Food Network

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Melissa McCarthy, Jai Courtney, Little Simz
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: Ben Platt, Dana Bash, Jeff Bowders
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Dr. Jonathan Lapook, Fumi Abe
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Willie Nelson, Megan Stalter, Gabriels, guest host Maren Morris

MON. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Bachelor in Paradise
(new)		 Celebrity Dating Game
(new)
CBS The Neighborhood
(repeat)		 Bob ♥ Abishola
(repeat)		 Young Sheldon
(repeat)		 United States of Al
(repeat)		 NCIS: Los Angeles
(repeat)
CW Roswell, New Mexico
(new)		 The Republic of Sarah
(new)		 Local
FOX Hell’s Kitchen
(new)		 Housebroken
(new)		 Duncanville
(new)		 News/Local
NBC American Ninja Warrior
(new)		 The Wall
(new)

One thought on “That ‘White Lotus’ ending was frustrating — and perfect.”

  1. I loved The White Lotus. Super bummed by Alexandra Daddario’s character arc. Belinda is the best person on the planet. And that scene….that scene was WILD! Team Quinn forever though.

    Reply

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