: Deadline’s It Starts on the Page (Drama) features 10 standout drama scripts in 2025 Emmy contention.

Audiences have come to expect Mike White to push boundaries as he explores the corrupting forces of wealth and privilege in his HBO anthology The White Lotus. Still, Season 3, set at the fictional resort chain’s Thai oasis, may be his most jaw-dropping yet.

As always, the eight-episode new installment, written and directed by White, begins with groups of ultra-rich socialites gathering for a week of rest and relaxation — or so they think. In reality, their lives are likely to be upended by the chaos that breaks out over the course of the week, which is pretty much guaranteed to leave at least one person dead.

The turning point for Season 3 is undoubtedly Episode 5, titled “Full-Moon Party.” The episode is set at the iconic full moon party on Koh Phangan. Brothers Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola) Ratliff have been enticed to join the free-spirited Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) for the sex- and drug-fueled all-nighter. Little do they know, they’re never going to be able to look at each other the same way again once the sun rises over their yacht the next day and they remember the incestuous kiss — and more — they shared.

Meanwhile, back at the resort, Natasha Rothwell’s fan-favorite Season 1 character Belinda is on high alert after running into Tanya’s (Jennifer Coolidge) ex-husband Greg (Jon Gries). Rick (Walton Goggins) is in Bangkok seeking answers about his father’s murderer. Timothy (Jason Isaacs) is becoming increasingly suicidal knowing that when they leave Thailand, his wife and kids are going to find out about his white collar crimes that’ll put him in prison and the rest of the family in poverty. Meanwhile, longtime friends Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Kate (Leslie Bibb) are off on their own escapade at a nightclub with resort staffer Valentin and his friends.

The high-energy episode quickly makes it evident that nothing will be the same on the other side of it. Below is the script for “Full-Moon Party” with an introduction from White, in which he shares his personal experience (photo included) attending the full-moon party on Koh Phangan. He also explains how this pivotal episode “changes up the pace” of the season to put every character in a precarious enough position that they’ll need to spend the remaining three episodes dealing with the fallout.

The full-moon party on Koh Phangan is a world-famous bacchanal, so when we decided to shoot the third season of White Lotus in Thailand, it felt like an obvious set piece. While I was writing and researching there, I decided to experience the fireworks, the jump rope and the numbing EDM for myself. (Photo below.)

Todd Solondz once told me that movies are like drugs and the audience goes with the expectation of getting various kinds of highs, depending on the genre. Comedies make people lose themselves in laughter, dramas give people a cathartic cry, horror and action serve up jolts of adrenaline, etc. When he said that, I imagined showrunners in their editorial Chem labs working to deliver the perfect product that will get their audience high and make them addicts.

After four episodes of leisurely character work and world-building, I knew the fifth episode needed to change up the pace. I wanted it to feel like a full-moon drug experience — spinning, tense, kaleidoscopic. It’s the episode that turns every character’s story inside out — and the rest of the season would be the aftermath. I wanted it to feel like the peak of the high, before the long, painful comedown.

Towards the end of the episode, there’s a montage that begins with the spiritual seeker Piper lighting a candle and praying in her room — then we check in on everyone else at different parties around the island, getting into trouble. I wanted the music to feel both ecstatic and holy. I think I am all those characters acting out their base, drug-fueled human impulses. And I am also the renunciant, praying for their delivery from suffering. And in this moment, the God who created them, looking down on them with empathy and despair.

Mike White

The White Lotus, which is competing in drama categories, has a total of 43 Emmy nominations and 15 wins across two seasons as a limited and drama series, including trophies for Outstanding Limited series, writing and directing for White and acting for Coolidge and Murray Bartlett. White also has won a WGA Award for Limited Series.

Read the script below.