When the first season of The White Lotus ended last year, the question on everyone’s mind was ‘can this be topped’? Now, after the Limited Series was extended into an anthology series and its second season came out, looks like Mike Judge has done the unthinkable. The White Lotus is not only back, but it’s even shadier and more enjoyable than ever before.
The story now takes place at the White Lotus resort in Sicily. We see three generations of Di Grassos, an Italian American family looking to reconnect with their roots. Then there are the two couples, Ethan and Harper (Will Sharpe and Aubrey Plaza) and Cameron and Daphne (Theo James and Meghann Fahy), looking to reconnect after Ethan recently came into money. We also see the stories of Lucia and Mia (Simona Tabasco and Beatrice Grannò) two escorts trying to work the guests and even the hotel staff into giving them better fortunes and stations in life. Lastly, we have only one returning character from the first season, Tanya (Jenifer Coolidge), who’s vacationing in Sicily with her new husband, Greg (Jon Gries) with also her assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) in tow.
Like the first season, we also follow one person from the hotel staff. This time it’s Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore), an irritable but lonely hotel manager.
The core of this season is centered around the conflicts between the Babcocks (Cameron and Daphne) and the Spillers (Ethan and Harper).
We mostly get acquainted with them through Harper’s eyes, who’s both disgusted and attracted by how surface-level yet fun Cameron and Daphne’s relationship seems to be. Harper puts in just the right amount of effort in being nice with the Babcocks that the audience doesn’t automatically see her as the party pooper. It’s glad to see Aubrey Plaza in a role that’s against her type of witty, sardonic ‘cool girls’. Harper knows she’s not a cool girl, and in many ways, she’s insecure about it.
Each character in The White Lotus’ second season is inherently watchable, despite being immersed in various kinds of excess and vices.
These people are not only flawed, and in some cases, conceited, they are also hopeful, to the point that some of them are easily duped. Albie Di Grasso (Adam Di Marco) seems determined to not turn out like his father, Dominic (Michael Imperioli), who spots that Albie is being played like a fiddle near the tail end of the season, but indulges in his son’s whims anyways in the hopes that his own sins of infidelity might be absolved. Valentina is stern, but inside she’s as soft as a marshmallow. She’s not even played, as much as offered some companionship and comfort by Mia, and we see how Valentina is willing to lie and give favors in order to hold on to that morsel of hope in her life.
Like its predecessor, the second season finale also promised death- multiple deaths this time- and it delivered. Each conflict, and each confrontation has the audience at the edge of their seats, and by the time you see the final death happen, you feel a sigh of relief that your favorite characters survived to tell the tale. (Sorry, dead characters, but you won’t be missed that much.)
The White Lotus has quickly established itself as a prized possession in HBO’s arsenal in the last two years. Let’s hope writer-director Mike White continues to create fascinating characters and explore delicious drama in future seasons.