This 'The White Lotus' actor also starred in an excellent Jewish show

I'm a 'Kafka' stan.

Season three of “The White Lotus” has ended and I have so many feelings about the finale. I’m, somewhat predictably, mad at Mike White for killing off two of my favorite White Lotus Thailand hotel guests. I have all sorts of feelings about the way the show portrayed the Thai natives (I mostly want justice for the sweet Pornchai.) I agree with the Vulture review that says the girlfriends didn’t earn their moment of redemption and that this season was missing a lot of character development that would’ve made it even more masterful.

But hey, this is Jewish TV Club, so I’d like to say a Jewish goodbye (well, not as long as a typical Jewish goodbye, but you know) to the show.

I could go all deep reflection mode and talk of Jewish values and teachings and how they manifest in this season that’s all about whether we can transcend our baser human instincts and our destructive patterns and find meaning and spirituality. But I unfortunately agree with the aforementioned review — this season failed to transcend for me. And like most “White Lotus” characters, I’m actually really feeling my baser human instincts right now and want to focus on fun pop culture facts and a Jewish game of connect-the-dots that will help you hopefully find your next show to binge instead.

Now, when it comes to Jewish angles for the show, there are quite a few. There’s the Israeli Eurovision winner featured in episode four. There’s Jewish actor Jason Isaacs — who wears yellow ribbons on the red carpet for reasons?? and is the star of my favorite for-now canceled extremely spiritual cult show “The OA,” and yes, also Lucius Malfoy in “Harry Potter” — who plays patriarch Timothy Ratliff, whose unscrupulous business ethics are about to come bite him in the ass and lead him, his wife and his three children from riches to rags. There’s Timothy’s lawyer, Chuck, who gives him that terrible piece of news about his inescapable fate once he comes back from vacation, and is voiced by Jewish professor, podcast host and public speaker Scott Galloway. There’s another father figure, hotel owner Jim Hollinger, who is played by Jewish actor Scott Glenn. (The veteran actor was also in another one of my favorite shows about spirituality and human nature, “The Leftovers.”)

And then, there’s Fabian, the quirky German hotel worker who is extremely protective of hotel co-owner Sritala. I was somewhat obsessed with this minor character who is just so very odd and is played by Christian Friedel.

Now, I think the obvious thing would be to mention that Friedel, who is not Jewish, played Rudolf Hoss in the Holocaust film “The Zone of Interest” — it is, after all, a reflection on the darkest moment of humanity. But I actually want to talk about another show he was in. No, not the dark historical drama “Babylon Berlin,” which is also rife with fascinating Jewish moments.

I want to talk about “Kafka.”

When it comes to quirky and poignant reflections on human nature, who better than the Jewish author of “The Metamorphosis,” “The Castle” and “The Trial” to tackle these issues? And in the 2024 show, Friedel not only has a major role but a Jewish one. He plays Jewish Austrian author and playwright Franz Werfel, who hung out in the same circles as Kafka and his friends in Prague. Friedel is utterly charming in the role of the author whose books were later burned by the Nazis and who had managed to flee Europe through the help of Varian Fry and the IRC. (Fry is the subject of the excellent and very Jewish Netflix show “Transatlantic,” from the makers of "Unorthodox.”) If you also felt like the latest season of “The White Lotus” didn’t deliver on its promises, I do feel like “Kafka” is a quirky transcendent show that won’t disappoint you, and it’s currently streaming on ChaiFlicks.

I hope you enjoyed playing this game of Jewish connect-the-dots with me! I’d love to know what you thought about “The White Lotus” finale, if you watched!!