Wow, Bethenny. Wowwwwww.
When season 2 of “The White Lotus” was announced, I had my reservations. Of course, I was going to watch regardless—but season 1 was designated as a “miniseries” and its literal entire plot centered around a weeklong stay at a resort in Maui. How could season 2—complete with an entire new cast of characters we’d have to get to know, set in an entirely new location—even stack up?
Well, baby, not only does it “stack up”—it surpasses season 1. And it’s literally all I can think about. Thanks a lot, Mike White!
Although, of course, I’m a tad sad I can’t binge the entire season in one sitting, the weekly episode drops make sense. I’m left obsessing between every episode, predicting what will happen, salivating for more. (It has been proven that weekly episodes drop, naturally, promote the show more effectively via an insatiable audience tweeting and Redditing theories week after week. I like to call it “the ‘Yellowjackets’ effect.”)
Thank God for Reddit. r/thewhitelotusHBO has been rife with theories and discussions. And with a show as rich with symbolism and quiet nuance as “The White Lotus,” I’m happy I have someone (aka, a subreddit with nearly 50,000 members) pointing them out to little ol’ me, aka someone with an untrained and unsophisticated eye who doesn’t pick up on things.
Here are some things I missed in the episode that aired this past Sunday:
When Daphne is discussing her trainer with Harper and “mistakenly” shows her a picture of her children, she’s insinuating that the kids are the trainer’s—not Cameron’s. (Although the actress who plays Daphee, Meghann Fahy, has said show creator Mike White has never confirmed this and left the moment up to interpretation.)
Quentin’s “straight cowboy” is none other than Tanya’s husband, Greg, and the two appear to be in cahoots. (Redditors point to the fact that Greg is the one who convinced Greg to go to Sicily, was there before her while leaving her messages unanswered, and, of course, was shadily saying “ILY” to someone on the phone while he was there.)
Lucia’s “pimp” isn’t a pimp at all. He appears at the beginning of the season as a love interest or ex-boyfriend of Lucia’s, and Italian translations of the conversation Albie witnesses have no mention of money. It’s pretty clear—she said it herself, after all—that Albie is easy to manipulate and rich. Which, of course, leads the audience to believe she’s simply manipulating Albie for sympathy cash.
Jack obviously isn’t Quentin’s actual nephew. (Okay, that one I figured out on my own.)
In an earlier episode, Cameron references aristocrats who have no liquid wealth—just gorgeous palazzos. Was this foreshadowing regarding the high-end gays?
What we can also infer so far is that Cam probably isn’t as wealthy as he’s led us to believe, per the fact that he’s avoiding paying Lucia and Mia the rest of what they’re owed.
One more question mark: What exactly are Lucia’s intentions with Albie? Yes, she views him as easy to manipulate. But could she be genuinely interested in him, or does she possibly view him as her ticket to Hollywood? What if she ends up flying home with Albie, Dom, and Bert?!
In terms of predictions for the rest of the season, I asked my Instagram followers for their theories. Here are some of my faves:
“Coolidge will end up ‘dying for beauty.’”
“Albie is dead or will kill Alesso.”
“Quentin is going to end up killing Tanya or vice versa.”
“Rocco could lash out at Valentina.”
“Albie kills Alesso thinking he’s protecting Lucia and when he realizes he’s been duped he kills her too.”
“The ‘big event’ will include Mia, Lucia, and Cameron.”
“Leg in the water in the first episode looks female. I think it’s either Mia or Lucia.”
“Mia gets the pianist job and the old pianist kills her because he lost his job and was drugged.”
“Cameron and Harper are gonna bang.” (Agreed, and I do not blame her.)
For the record, I believe Tanya will live, and will continue to appear in future seasons. Also, Valentina appears in the first episode when they find her body (and reference other bodies): She will live also, but it’s still possible there’s something serious brewing in the hostile workplace she’s created.
Otherwise, I think any of these theories are fair game—and I can’t f*cking wait to watch it pan out.
Side note: I wasn’t sure if Cameron had planted the condom wrapper on purpose in order to get Ethan in trouble, but based on his reaction in the vineyard, it appears to have actually been an accident, and he’s genuinely concerned about Harper finding out the details of their wild night.
Another side note: Jack “forgetting his wallet” at the rice-ball place is supposed to give us insight into the fact that the high-end gays are definitely scammers, right?
A third side note: I loved learning what “mimetic desire” is via this episode. (“When someone with higher status wants something, it means it’s more likely that you want it too.”)
One last side note: I haven’t been able to get the words “tappy tappy tay…” out of my head since Mia’s rendition of “That’s Amoré.” I unfortunately can’t find it on Spotify. Please help if you have any leads.
This Affair Is Just What We Needed—Nay, Deserved—As a Country
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