The internet reacts to White Lotus finale
***This article contains spoilers about the season 2 finale of The White Lotus
The long-awaited finale for White Lotus season 2 came and went last night and fans are still processing the explosive events of what is being hailed by some as “the best episode of television on one of the best series ever made”. Naturally, Twitter is all abuzz.
Created, written and directed by the openly bisexual Mike White, the show continued its tradition of shock and intrigue layered into a ‘slice of life’ look at how American wealth and privilege clashes with people of lower socio-economic class and status within luxurious surroundings. We also finally found out whose body washed ashore in the season’s premiere episode, and it was that of fan favorite Tanya McQuoid, portrayed by beloved gay icon Jennifer Coolidge.
It turns out Tanya was at the center of a murderous scheme conspired by her husband Greg (John Gries) with an old gay friend of his named Quentin (Tom Hollander) who still held a flame for his unrequited love. Apparently, the duo hatched a scheme to kill Tanya so Greg could inherit her fortune. Divorce was not an option for Greg on account of an ironclad prenuptial that Tanya had set up prior to their wedding.
Piecing together the plot with the help of her assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) over the phone, who was being held captive by Jack (Leo Woodall), Tanya managed to kill her would be assassin Niccoló (Stefano Gianino) along with Quentin and Didier (Bruno Gouery) before accidentally killing herself by hitting her head on a dinghy when leaping from the yacht she was being held on in an attempt to escape the scene.
As for our other vacationers and cast of characters at the White Lotus: Ethan (Will Sharpe) finally came to blows with Cameron (Theo James) over his imagined tryst between him and his wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza); Daphne (Maghann Fahy) reiterates her philosophy on life: to do whatever makes you feel better; Albie (Adam DiMarco) convinces his dad Dominic (Michael Imperioli) to give him 50,000 euro to secure Lucia’s (Simona Tabasco) freedom from her ‘pimp’; and Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) has her first lesbian experience with Mia (Beatrice Grannó) and finally relents on giving her the singing job at the hotel’s bar and restaurant.
The big ‘winners’ this season, if you can call them that, are the duplicitous lovers that manipulated their partners for some sort of gain—Greg got Tanya’s fortune, Lucia swindled a naïve rich boy out of a hefty chunk of change and Mia got her dream job by sleeping with the boss. A fitful end to a wonderful season, positively oozing with sexuality and betrayal- just as we like it!
Mike White is already looking towards season 3 of The White Lotus, hinting that it will explore death in Eastern religion and spirituality- whatever that means! All we really want to know is….just how will he top that sex scene between Quentin and his ‘nephew’?!
Stay up to date with news about season 3 with HBO MAX.
