Unfortunate that next season we won’t be getting any more Jennifer Coolidge. But on the other hand, maybe Portia will be back with a new terrible boss?
I kind of hope no one comes back for S3. Although I wouldn’t mind Greg getting some just desserts after that shit.
Also, a meme is born: “These gays are trying to kill me!!”
Loved season 2 overall but one part really confused me:
So they were planning to kill Jennifer coolidge all along? But instead of killing her in palermo, or out on the open ocean, they wait until they are almost at the shore and they have this weird sequence of events set up where niccolo takes her out on the dinghy and then tapes/ties her up and shoots her. Why not push her overboard in open ocean? Why not poison her in palermo and then discreetly remove the body? Why have Niccolo have sex with her?
The storyline would have made much more sense if the cheating was recorded and used to nullify the prenup. Have the gays (her words not mine) drop the curtain on her as she is about to leave for the hotel, and she goes into a rage that somehow leads to everyone’s deaths. It just seems very B-grade TV drama to have the rope/tape/gun in that little black bag. Although I loved the direction of the shootings, very tense scene. Her hitting her head on the boat is the kind of absurdist resolution of events that I enjoy. Reminded me of Barry.
I don’t think they were planning to kill her at all, all those points support that theory. It was just her paranoia.
I loved the way this season locked information from different viewpoints, you just don’t know everything.
So you think the rope and duct tape were imagined? The gun was certainly real enough.
Dude is a mafioso, probably had another 3 or 4 people he had to go kidnap that night.
I don’t understand, how exactly is it paranoia then? Do you mean that they are generally bad dudes that kill anyone with impunity, but weren’t specifically trying to kill her that evening? I don’t think it’s paranoia to fear for your life in that situation. The fact that they rammed through the locked bedroom door is also an indication of looming aggression.
So, Ethan and Daphne totally banged on that tiny island, right?
Who knows? A little mystery is sexy.
In retrospect, “Is he having an affair?” must be one of the greatest final lines in recent memory.
Not to mention Jack’s warning to Portia. IMO it’s tough to see it all as not a murder plot, although I agree that the execution(heh) of said plot seemed pretty convoluted when you lay it out like that.
Speaking of Jack, I think it’s a little more nebulous as to what his original instructions were with Portia. I’ve seen some theories that she was supposed to be killed by him as well, but I don’t think I’m buying that.
Totally.
Prediction is Daphne gives birth in 9 months to a black-haired baby (keeping in line with her very blonde kids and “blonde trainer”), and Harper gives birth to a baby that looks like Cameron.
It’s a little bizarre, but there seems to be some sort of give-her-a-great-final meal aspect to the plan before killing her. Greg gave her one perfect day in Italy before leaving. She got a night of drugs and sex and generally had a good time right before they were planning to kill her, all of which was totally unnecessary. (The sex could have been filmed, but that’s never explicitly referenced.) The show leaves a lot unsaid that we are left to fill in the gaps (who actually had sex on the show?), but the gay mafia behavior makes sense from this perspective if Greg asked them to give her a good last week.
That’s a really good point. Greg probably thought he was doing it in a noble fashion, despite how villainous his plan really was.
In the “Unpacking Episode 7” thing with Mike White after the episode, he commented that the stuff involving Cameron+Harper and Ethan+Daphne was left intentionally vague. I basically alternate between “are people terrible or are they okay” when it comes to “did they or didn’t they?” depending on my mood.
It’s considerably worse if you ask me.
I rewatched season 1 before the season 2 finale, and I think both seasons have their charms with different sets of strengths and weaknesses. I think I do prefer the way that season 1 resolved its loose ends in the final episode, but season 2 had its share of great moments.
“Is Greg having an affair? I know you know so just tell me” was indeed a great moment. Imagine being shot and the last words you hear while fading out are these kinds of questions lol.
I really enjoyed S2. It helps that Sicily looks amazing. The creators of The White Lotus have built a solid platform for delivering classic “road trip” style stories (i.e. a friend/family group hits the open road, secrets are revealed, relationships are betrayed/redeemed, etc.) with exotic twists. They can keep going for a while just changing up the location and characters as long as they can maintain the high quality of the cast and writing (or until HBO Max cancels it to cut costs).
I also appreciate that they trust the viewers enough to find that balance between farce and melodrama mixed with subtlety or uncertainty. Life is messy and painful and often absurd, even at a seemingly perfect five star resort. When I first saw the promos for this show, I was expecting something very different – more like a straight comedy satire a la the Christopher Guest-verse (due to Coolidge, I guess).