The White Lotus: Burning Questions After Season 2 Premiere – IGN

Written by adrina

This post contains detailed spoilers for The White Lotus. If you’re not up to date, check out our spoiler-free review of the first five episodes!

After season one’s lush, deadly romp in Hawaii, The White Lotus welcomes a (mostly) new cast of characters itching to put their worries behind—this time in Sicily. But as always, a carefree stay at the White Lotus is anything but, and plenty of sex, mystery and death are in the air. After the first episode, here’s what we’re dying to know.

Does the opening credits give a hint of what’s to come?

In Season 1, composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s hauntingly tropical theme played over a resort’s decaying wallpaper scene: rotting fruit, dangerous predators, storm clouds and a dead fish. This time, an amplified version of the music resonates over an equally charged set of Italianate frescoes. An older man courts a potential lover and foreshadows a series of scenes in which Bert (F. Murray Abraham) meets a series of much younger women in the premiere. Next, two birds fight in midair as Aubrey Plaza’s name pops up on screen – potentially signaling the climax of the argument between Harper, her character, and her three traveling companions. And that is just the beginning. We also see a large burning clifftop mansion – one that looks strikingly similar to the White Lotus Hotel itself – two men in flagrante On a beach, a woman with a knife and a man with a stab wound fall down a flight of stairs. We know someone died at the resort. Do the opening titles give us a clue as to who won’t make it out of Sicily alive?

Who’s in the body bag?

Just like Season 1, Season 2 of The White Lotus begins with a dead body. In Sicily, it is Daphne (Meghann Fahy) who discovers a dead body after a swim in the sea. We only see a body bag being carried away, but later find out that “a few” guests have passed away. Exactly how many people were killed and who are they? After flashing back to earlier in the week, Daphne herself offers up a possible spoiler. Chatting poolside with her husband Cameron (Theo James) and traveling companions Harper and Ethan (Will Sharpe), Daphne gushed about how much she loves Dateline. She explains: “Husbands murder their wives. A lot happens on holiday.” Does Daphne offer a preview of what’s to come? Or is it a red herring?

Why did Cameron and Daphne invite Ethan and Harper to Sicily?

Ethan, who has been friends with Cameron since college, has just sold his company for a lot of money. Harper worries that Cameron and Daphne only invited them so they could ask for money or join an investment program. Why invite them if not to meet them for some money now that they are rich? Aside from being exceedingly wealthy (and sharing a love of Ted Lasso), the two couples have little in common. But that doesn’t detract from the sexual tension that emanates from all sides of the foursome.

Ethan and Daphne look at each other as their partners head back to the hotel, suggesting they may have their own story. Once Cameron is in the room, he undresses while putting on a bathing suit, and Harper doesn’t look away. Meanwhile, Daphne showers Harper with praise and compliments on how good she must be at her job, and Cameron says, “I’d take you down” while describing how good Ethan is. It’s easy to see how any two of the four could end up together. The only question is how many pairings will we see before their stay at The White Lotus is over.

Who the hell is Tanya McQuoid?

While Season 2 sees an almost entirely new cast, the breakout character from Season 1 is back. Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid, who has stayed at so many White Lotus resorts that she’s a member of the company’s exclusive “Blossom Circle,” is relocating to Sicily with her now-husband Greg (Jon Gries) in tow. As the only returning main character, we know more about Tanya than anyone else. We see her go from a grieving wreck in Season 1 to an obsessive fondness for her husband in Season 2. In the premiere, we learn from Tanya’s assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), that Tanya is worth half a billion dollars.

We knew you had to be rich to stay at The White Lotus, but this is serious business. How did she get this money? Is she a business mogul? She travels with both an assistant and a family’s expensive luggage. Maybe a wealthy heiress? Did she win the lottery? And why did she marry Greg? Tanya has self-esteem issues stemming from her trip to Hawaii, but Greg treats her badly once she arrives in Sicily. We are excited to spend another week with Tanya at the White Lotus in Season 2. But the more we learn about them, the more questions we have.

What is Greg up to?

Speaking of which, what’s up with Greg? In Season 1, he courted Tanya and treated her (mostly) well. But now the shine seems to have faded. He doesn’t reply to Tanya’s texts, he insists Portia leave after traveling all the way to Italy, and he berates Tanya for eating too many macarons. On holiday! But none of this compares to Greg’s incredibly shady behavior at the end of the episode: he locks himself in the bathroom and whispers on the phone so Tanya can’t hear him. When she gets him to come out, Greg claims to have discussed business with someone named “Bob” and casually dismisses Tanya’s concerns. Something has obviously changed for Greg since Season 1. Did he marry Tanya for her money? Or is he just a workaholic husband looking to spend a nice week with his wife? Either way, there’s definitely something questionable going on.

Will we get more Laura Dern?

One of the biggest surprises of the premiere was a spectacular cameo (audio only) by Laura Dern. After arriving at the resort with his father, Bert, and son, Albie (Adam DiMarco), Dom (Michael Imperioli) retreats to his room to make phone calls. Over the course of an agonizing two-minute conversation, Derns curses Abby, who we assume is Dom’s current or soon-to-be ex-wife, berates Dom for keeping secrets and calls out on his behavior over the past ten years, calls him a bad father, says he’s an asshole and tells him never to talk to her again. What exactly did Dom do? And will we learn more from Abby herself? There are indications that Dern’s scene is a one-off cameo, but it seems doubtful we’ll learn the truth about Abby and Dom’s relationship from Dom himself. Perhaps another call from Dom or Albie to Abby could shed more light on their clearly dysfunctional family.

What is Albie hiding?

It’s clear that Albie speaks against him a lot when it comes to relationships. His grandfather Bert seems to be a serial womanizer. Dom, Albie’s father, did something so terrible to Albie’s mother that she never wants to speak to him again. Not to mention Dom insists that an injured Bert stay in Albie’s room so Dom can invite a prostitute over to the hotel.

On the surface, Albie appears to have broken the cycle of his family’s misbehavior. He graduated from Stanford, works as an intern at an urban planning consultancy, and has a crush on his elderly grandfather. He innocently flirts with Portia by the pool and seems like an all-round nice guy. And while Abby calls Albie a “sweet, sensitive young man,” it’s plausible that the apple won’t fall far from the tree and that Albie will be following in the same footsteps as the other men in his family. Are nice people staying at the White Lotus all they seem? At this point with Albie, it’s a coin toss. Let’s see what the rest of the week has in store.