On Monday many of us watched the final episode of The White Lotus season 3 and commentary has been abuzz. It's always a really interesting time when a show is so popular (and has appointment viewing), because there are so many opinions to consume at once, in real time. From professional TV reviewers, to bespoke podcast episodes, to your local meme account - everyone can have (and has had) their say. Now, I will have mine and please be warned there are some spoilers below - if you don't want to know anything skip down to the Now Streaming section.
I keep hearing and reading people say this season has been too slow or there are too many pointless characters, which I disagree with. I was pretty damn invested every week, and felt like the story continued to evolve beautifully across the season. Mike White, the show's creator, deals pretty exclusively in character and theme, so this isn't really meant to be a twisty, action-packed who dunnit - he is more concerned with the why, the morals, life’s big questions, a person’s foibles.
Like a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy, you know going in that the character will lead to their own downfall. The interest is in seeing that story unfurl with a heaping of dramatic irony for the audience. This season was all about spirituality and beliefs, both how they hold us through and how they hold us back.
Whether it be thinking you're avenging your father, and actually being the one to kill him. Or inadvertently poisoning the member of your family you had decided to spare. The death of the lovers with entwined fates. That you cannot always save the one you love, but the ripples of your beliefs may save others. The hubris of thinking money or status will not change you - or does not even define you. A daughter who has always looked down on her mother’s beliefs, easily trading in her own when they no longer served her. That a local security guard can get the girl and the promotion, if only by sacrificing his pacifist beliefs. A woman realising her desperate search for meaning in love, work or motherhood never amounted to the meaning she could find through the passage of time.
None of these eventualities are altogether surprising when they do arrive but that is what makes The White Lotus so magical and so profound. It is ironically the journey, not the destination (although, Koh Samui is a beautiful destination to reach).
The White Lotus (2021) season 3 is now out in full, and available on both Binge and Max for your enjoyment if you were putting off the week-to-week watching.
Black Mirror (2011) season 7 is now streaming on Netflix with 6 new episodes of mind-bending, soul destroying sci-fi to sink your teeth into.
The Studio (2025)
TV Series
Apple TV+
Created by and starring Seth Rogen, The Studio follows a Hollywood film studio where Rogen’s Matt has been made Head. As a studio head, Matt is torn between his desire to create artistic films with integrity and the commercial pressure to make financial returns on their productions. Rogen is supported by an all-star cast of Catherine O’Hara, Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn and Bryan Cranston as fellow studio employees. The most fun to be had is from the stars playing themselves though - from Martin Scorsese to Steve Buscemi, Zac Efron, Charlize Theron, Paul Dano and Dave Franco. Yes, in the world of The Studio, Dave Franco is Dave Franco but Seth Rogen is not Seth Rogen.
The jokes in this are likely best enjoyed by the film fanatics among us, full of references and cameos that perfectly satirise the challenges facing Hollywood right now. My favourite bit so far follows the studio execs finding a way to make a film using the Kool-Aid IP without it being a soulless cash-grab, with references to the success of Barbie (2023) as their blueprint for success and a script about the Jonestown Massacre by Martin Scorsese as their potential, high-brow way in. To me, that’s elite comedy.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (2023)
Film
Netflix
A perfect coming-of-age story following 11-year-old Margaret as she moves to a new town with her parents (played perfectly by Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie). The film follows a school year whilst exploring themes of religion, family and puberty at the tender ages of 11-12, teetering on becoming a teenager, with all the embarrassment and anxieties that come with that time of life. The fear of change coupled with the desire for growth and independence. This film is a very funny, charming and wholesome watch, with endless empathy for the trials and tribulations of adolescence - no matter how trivial they may seem.
The film is based on a novel of the same name, written by Judy Blume in 1970, and is set in the same era (complete with lovely costuming and sets). What I loved most about this is the way they are able to explore this phase of life half a century ago, and still feel completely timeless and relevant today. Coming-of-age films now must contend with SO much, that they can lack an understanding of the growing pains that have always existed.
Dying for Sex (2025)
TV Series
Disney+
Back in 2020 I listened to a podcast titled Dying for Sex, and it has remained one of my favourite series I’ve ever listened to since. This week, FX released the 8-episode TV series based on the podcast and real life experience of Molly Kochan, who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in 2015. After receiving her diagnosis, she left her husband and embarked on a sexual exploration. The show stars Michelle Williams as the lead and Jenny Slate, as Molly’s best friend and primary carer over her final years through chemo and palliative care. The show explores how Molly owned the body that fell apart around her, the life affirming nature of sex contrasting the truth of facing a terminal diagnosis. There’s plenty of comedy and dark humour as Molly uses a kink-focused dating app to navigate the world of BDSM, encountering a series of men with whom she can explore her desire to take control. Maybe this is a way to face her mortality, or her childhood trauma, but the show does not seek to oversimplify the way our desires form nor shame their existence.
The sex gets the headlines but just like the podcast, the most striking thing about the show is the female friendship at its heart and the unyielding love that the two women had for each other right until Molly’s last breath.
Thanks for being here, appreciate you and feel free to share this.
Welcome to womanhood,
Linley x
The Studio looks like a sick recommendation, gonna check it out 🙏🏽