Winner of 10 Primetime Emmys, the six-episode mini-series from writer-director Mike White (School of Rock) The White Lotus was initially billed as a one-off. HBO has since renewed it for as an anthology series with a new cast of characters and a different location. Season one focuses on a week of interactions between staff and guests at a posh Hawaiian resort. A social satire, the biting humor and depressing musings on wealth and privilege are enlightening. The opening scene reveals someone will die and then flashes back to a week earlier. Among the vacationers are the Mossbacher family encompassing tech CEO Nicole (Connie Britton), husband Mark (Steve Zahn), their daughter Olivia (Sydney Sweeney), her friend Paula (Brittany O’Grady) and teenage son Quinn (Fred Hechinger). Also, among the vacationers are newlyweds Shane (Jake Lacy) and Rachel Patton (Alexandra Daddario). The scattered Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) who has brought her mother place in the ocean. These three sets of people aren’t acquaintances, but they feel comfortable with one another in passing, knowing that their kind of people can afford this kind of luxury.

Despite their efforts to get away from it all, its soon clear they’ve brought their emotional baggage with them. It’s the hotel staff who must deal with the emotional insecurity and jealousies of the people their expected to serve. The annoyance of it all is barely hidden by the smile of the resort manager (Murray Bartlett) and sympathetic spa manager (Natasha Rothwell). While they want to do their jobs well, it’s impossible not to cringe at the sense of entitlement that drives their guests. To Mike White’s credit, he doesn’t shy away from showing the hotel staff’s frailties. Maybe, the wealthy and the working class aren’t so different after all.

One of HBO’s best offerings in recent years, White delves into the upstairs-downstairs dynamic with realism and humor. Though certainly a comedy, The White Lotus isn’t without it subtly serious moments. The lead acting is strong across the board. Emmy winner Jennifer Coolidge is a standout here. In a part written specifically for her, Coolidge successfully portrays Tanya as the emotional rollercoaster she is, a constant source of humor on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Connie Britton’s Nicole is equal parts helicopter mom and belittling wife. Her mask of success exposed as the story progresses. Emmy winner Murray Bartlett steals every scene he’s in as Armond, the resort manager with a sordid past.

Unfortunately, while the main characters are written with depth, Mike White gives some of the supporting characters short shrift. Several members of the hotel staff pop in as devices to move the story along—particularly native Hawaiian Kai (Kekoa Scott Kekumano), whose family once owned the stolen land the resort is built on. An interesting point that is never resolved and could have been handled differently. Despite some loose ends in the story, The White Lotus remains one of the best shows to come out last year.

Only available on DVD, the set consists of the six episodes spread over two discs. Presented in the 1.78.1 aspect ratio, the limits of the format mean that the colors and scenery of Hawaii don’t pop like they would on Blu-ray. Nonetheless, the image is clean and its always a positive to have television content available on physical media.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track offers a solid sound design. Vocals are clean and clear throughout. The music cues are clean and never interfere with dialogue. The mix does a good job of “taking you to Hawaii” throughout the series runtime.

English SDH subtitles are included.

The special features are two short featurettes:

  • Invitation to the Set
  • Cast Snap Judgements