White Lotus fans might be disappointed by a recent Season 4 story update from one of the show's biggest executive producers.
HBO's hotel-based murder mystery dramedy is back on the air after over two years in waiting, taking audiences to the sunny-basked jungles of Thailand for its hotly anticipated third season.
The series has quickly become as much a global showcase as well as a gripping 'whodunit?' with its exotic locations (Hawaii, Italy, and now Thailand) being as much of a character of the show as each season's star-studded cast.
White Lotus Season 4 Strikes Major Story Beat From the List
Fans may be disappointed after hearing what The White Lotus executive producer Dave Bernad had to say about Season 4's potential story.
In an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Bernad spoke about the process of deciding on locations to set new seasons of the HBO series in, straight up denying that one fan-favorite setting theory will ever come to pass.
After host Bill Simmons joked about why the show has not done "a skiing season," Bernad admitted he "[feels] confident [they] will never do a season in the cold:"
Bill Simmons: "If my wife came in right now, she would be like, 'Why don't you guys do a skiing season? Go to Switzerland.'"
Dave Bernad: "By the way, Mike [White] does not like the cold, that is why we will never do it. I feel confident we will never do a season in the cold."
Simmons: "Really? You are not going to do a ski season?"
Bernad continued, adding that the show's creator Mike White "is not built for the cold," so it is unlikely to happen:
Bernad: "Mike is not for it. He is a California guy. He is not built for the cold. Never say never, but I would be surprised. I think one of the best parts of my job now is hotels are calling me. I get the run-off. Mike says, 'No'...I am telling you every hotel is offering to fly us to see the hotel.
This will be particularly disappointing for a large swath of the White Lotus fandom who have been clamoring for a future season to be set in a non-warm environment.
Before it was announced that Season 3 was going to take place in Thailand, places like Switzerland, Vail, Colorado, or Whistler, Canada were some of the most popular locales where fans wanted to see the series go. That, ultimately, did not come to pass and seemingly never will.
Elsewhere in the interview, Bernad broke down what it is like deciding upon where to set the next season of the series. He noted that White comes up with a general idea or theme and then decides upon a location based on that:
Bernad: "I think the next couple of months, I am going to be flying all over the world looking at hotels."
Simmons: "And do you figure out the location first, or the idea?"
Bernad: "That is what I was saying about the Thailand story. First there is a theme. We knew with Season 3 we wanted to kind of Eastern philosophy and bigger existential religious ideas. So, we knew it had to be Asia, but we did not really land on the series until we landed on Thailand."
He even let slip that "[they] have a general concept" already decided upon for Season 4 and are now in the process of picking where to set it:
Bernad: "With Season 4, we know what the themes are. I will not talk about about it now, but I know..."
Simmons: "So you know it?"
Bernad: "Yes, we have a general concept, and then we will go scout cities that could make sense for that general concept. I think the season will present itself once we land and see hotels."
Where Could The White Lotus Go Next?
Of course, fans are still knee-deep in the events of The White Lotus Season 3 and will be for several more weeks (especially with its record-breaking episode count).
However, soon, questions of where the show will go next will almost surely start to come.
Sadly, for many, the idea of one of these gripping murder mysteries taking place on a snow-capped mountain somewhere will not come to pass, but there are still plenty of locations around the world for the show to take a stab at that would be equally exciting.
Over the years, fans have developed a working list of several big-name locales that would make perfect settings for a White Lotus to set itself.
It has previously been mentioned that Season 1 was originally going to be set in Australia, but thanks to restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, it called an audible and moved to Hawaii instead. Who is to say that Season 4 could not revisit this Australia idea and take its cast and crew down under?
Other popular names that keep coming up are the African savannah (perhaps taking place at a safari resort of some kind), a mega-metropolis like Tokyo, Japan, or the idyllic beaches of the Carribean or Brazil.
One unique move the next season could make is setting itself on the open seas on a mazzive cruise ship—like 2024's murder Mystery Death and Other Details.
What a fascinating twist on the White Lotus formula it would be to see its signature twisting narrative set itself in the middle of the ocean with nowhere for its characters to escape.
Season 3 has seen the in-universe White Lotus brand expand with a full-on wellness resort, so maybe luxury cruise liners are next on the fictional company's business plan.
The White Lotus Season 3 continues on HBO and Max, with new episodes dropping every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.
