Shots are fired (literally) in The White Lotus season 3 trailer

Hey, uh, is anyone in the world of The White Lotus looking into the violent death epidemic at these hotels? The FBI or an investigative journalist perhaps? That anyone would book a room after season one and two’s incidents at two separate locations is absurd, but then again, exposing the poor decision-making of the elite is exactly what the show does best.

Maybe someone will finally at least consider investigating after whatever horrible event about to happen at the White Lotus Thailand. The principle of Chekhov’s gun states that if a gun is shown in the first act, it should probably go off by the end. Well this is just the trailer and the series has already shown us multiple guns—but literal and verbal (but no less on-the-nose). 

Let’s start with the literal guns, which seem like they’re going to be a much bigger factor than in previous installments. The trailer features an armed robbery and a shot of Tayme Thapthimthong at a gun range, presumably practicing to protect the resort. (Or take it down from the inside? We’ll see.)

Almost every new character—and there are a lot of them to keep track of—also lobs a one-liner implying they’re definitely going to end this thing in a wooden box. “It means we’re not dead yet,” Michelle Monaghan’s character proclaims to her longtime (not old!) girlfriends, played by Carrie Coon and Leslie Bibb. When Jason Isaacs’ character has a bad break, he asks his wife (Parker Posey) what she’d do if they lost everything. “Honestly I don’t know if I’d want to live; I just don’t have it in me,” she responds. Later, Belinda (a delightful return for Natasha Rothwell) suggests she’ll only go home in a “goddamn body bag.” Oh, and Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins are in an age-gap relationship (someone at the airport thought he was her dad, which she thinks can be fixed with a facial) and we get a snippet of the new theme song! It’s vacation time, baby! 

Grab your bathing suit and maybe a bullet proof vest. Check in starts February 16 on HBO and Max.