MANILA, PHILIPPINES — When The White Lotus first aired on HBO in 2021, many were surprised by the show’s writing, acting, and the premise of rich people vacationing in an exotic location while being generally unpleasant. It was this combination that led to a second season, but with almost an entirely new cast and set in another location of the now infamous resort.
Following the tumultuous events of the first season in Hawaii, Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) takes a vacation in another branch of The White Lotus, this time in Sicily. A brief flashback shows several bodies floating face down at the nearby beach, immediately making the audience wonder what led to these events.
A group of guests arrive at the White Lotus and are welcomed by the staff led by manager Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore). Tanya is now married to Greg (Jon Gries) but they’ve been having issues even as she brings her assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) with her.
Three generations of Di Grasso men arrive together as Bert (F. Murray Abraham) wants to reconnect with their family’s roots. His Hollywood producer son Dominic (Michael Imperioli) brings his own estranged son Albie (Adam DiMarco) with him to try and salvage what’s left of his marriage.
Meanwhile, cocky investments manager Cameron Sullivan (Theo James) arrives with his wife Daphne (Meghann Fahey), college friend Ethan Spiller (Will Sharpe), and the latter’s wife, Harper (Aubrey Plaza). Though the men are supposed to be old friends, tension can be immediately seen between the two couples.
The main reason why Albie doesn’t trust Dominic is because his father is a sex addict and womanizer. Even as Dominic says he wants to mend fences with Albie’s mother, he also hires a couple of prostitutes in Lucia (Simona Tabasco) and Mia (Beatrice Granno) to entertain him.
As with the show’s first season, the brilliance of The White Lotus remains in the writing of creator and director Mike White. Interweaving the divergent storylines between the characters and keeping them engaging is not an easy task, but Mike does so with aplomb.
The majority of the characters are wealthy and seem reprehensible in their decadence and attitude toward anyone beneath their social status. While it would be easy to hate everyone who does so, it’s the interaction between people and the often over-the-top scenarios Mike places them in that makes the show even more fun to watch.
Even with only Tanya returning and a completely new setting, the interplay between the personalities and the humor are in the same vein as what Mike presented in the first season. It thus doesn’t feel forced when new people are introduced instead of digging for more dirt about those we previously met in Hawaii.
Mike gives interesting insights into different power dynamics this time around. Bossy Tanya orders Portia to stay in her room for the duration of the trip in an attempt to appease Greg (who she doesn’t trust). Portia eventually meets and bonds with Albie, who is also socially awkward.
The three Di Grasso men are flawed individually, which makes their own attempts at bonding painful to watch. The family ties are there, but the mistakes each has made and continue to make sometimes threaten to sever them from each other.
It would be easy to define Cameron and Ethan as “frenemies” who seemingly can’t stop trying to outdo the other, but their relationship is actually more complex than that. While Cameron’s wife Daphne comes across as sweet and flirtatious, she knows more than she lets on about her husband and she can actually be manipulative.
On the other hand, Harper’s frustration with not having any sexual chemistry with Ethan is magnified when Cameron keeps putting her in uncomfortable situations. Since Ethan only recently found financial success, there’s a bit of one-upmanship between him and Cameron. It eventually extends to their wives even as the women try to enjoy some time away from the men.
Even the sex workers in Lucia and Mia are more than just pretty faces and sexy bodies. The latter dreams of being a professional singer and jumps at the opportunity to replace the regular crooner at The White Lotus’ lounge. Lucia may seem perfectly comfortable with her work, but she’s playing a long con. She won’t hesitate to use either Dominic or Albie to get what she wants.
While Valentina is not quite the brazen personality that Murray Bartlett’s Armond was in the first season, she too has her own issues. Still in the closet and infatuated with concierge Isabella (Eleonora Romandini), Valentina lashes out at everyone who is happy instead.
Tanya wants to repair her marriage with Greg but keeps feeling that he’s hiding something from her. Using her own wealth, she explores Sicily and eventually hangs out with some gay socialites. What Tanya doesn’t know is that there’s something sinister simmering right under the surface concerning this group, something Portia slowly begins to be aware of.
It would be easy to get lost in these intricate plots and many characters but White somehow manages to tell each story, present each group as a unit, then bring them all back together. Already picked up for a third season, there’s no shortage of speculation about which branch of The White Lotus we’ll next see on HBO Go.
And with the absolute shocker at the conclusion of this second season, we the audience want to see if any characters will be there the next time The White Lotus drops.
Both seasons of The White Lotus are currently streaming on HBO Go.
