For those of you who are lucky enough to have access to HBO programming, The White Lotus may be the best character study that network has released since Succession in 2018, which premiers its third season in the U.S. in just a few weeks. 

The White Lotus chronicles a week in the life of an ultralux resort and the interplay between the guests and staff on the Hawaiian island of Maui.  The characters are a masterclass in privilege, race, and economic strife. It’s sometimes painful or cringe worthy to watch, but it is an entertaining guilty pleasure to its core.

Perhaps what sets The White Lotus apart for me and from most shows on television is that it presents a realistic portrayal of wealthy men and women who have rejected the norms of the traditional life course. There are the first-time newlyweds in the mid to late 30s, the power couple parents in their mid to late 50s, and the heiress in her late 50s or early 60s who meets a man her elder and they engage in wild sexual romps. Each and everyone of these characters quietly and deliberately assassinate age-based stereotypes. They are the future.

Give it a watch!