Welcome, welcome. The White Lotus has finally returned for its third season, and it's already off to an amazingly messy start. This third installment in the Emmy Award-winning series by Mike White follows several groups of people vacationing at a White Lotus resort in Thailand. And just like every previous season, the drama is already starting.

Between Sunday and Monday, the premiere episode pulled in 4.6 million viewers total across all platforms in the U.S., up 90% from the Season 2 premiere in the same time frame, per HBO. The premium cabler also claims that Season 2 of the hit series went on to average 15.5 million viewers, while Season 1 averaged 9.3 million.

"It's immediately clear what you're dealing with," says Michelle Monaghan, as The Hollywood Reporter explains the darker premiere mystery — and one other surprise from creator Mike White.