Plot: From Mike White, the second installment of the Emmy®-winning series, is a social satire set at an exclusive Sicilian resort and follows the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week.
Review: The White Lotus was easily one of the best series of 2021. Mike White’s limited series became a breakout hit for HBO and elevated stars Murray Barlett and Jennifer Coolidge to new levels of success and also convinced the cable network to convert the series into an ongoing anthology. The new installment of The White Lotus changes everything aside from the titular hotel setting and the presence of Coolidge as Tanya McQuoid. Shifting the locale to Sicily, The White Lotus brings a whole new ensemble of guests with their own quirks and complications in a series that is equally as engaging and darkly humorous as last year but with some slight changes to the dynamic of the storytelling.
Just like the first season, the second installment of The White Lotus opens with a guest of the hotel and the corpse of a character from the show. Then, flashing back to the week before, this season recounts the seven days leading up to the demise of at least one person we meet over the course of this season. Replacing Armand (Murray Bartlett) as the leader of this White Lotus facility is Valentina, played by Sabrina Impacciatore. Not quite as comic as Armand, Valentina is another layered character with a biting attitude and an adversarial relationship with her staff. As she greets the new batch of guests, there is an immediate sense that while she will be connective to the season, she may not be quite as central as Armand was. Still an intriguing character, Valentina greets the ensemble this year which includes the Di Grasso clan including Dominic (Michael Imperioli), a Hollywood producer struggling with infidelity, his father Bert (F. Murray Abraham) who is visiting his grandmother’s ancestral village, and Dominic’s son Albie (Adam DiMarco), a college grad helping bridge the divide between his father and grandfather.
The three DiGrasso’s range from Bert’s flatulent joie de vivre to Dominic’s sexual predelictions and their paths cross with other guests including Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), the assistant to Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) who meets her husband, Greg (Jon Gries) at the hotel. Tanya and Greg’s relationship has change significantly since last season but they remain every bit as engaging as they did before, just in a very different way. We also meet two couples: Cameron and Daphne (Theo James and Meghann Fahy) and Ethan and Harper (Will Sharpe and Aubrey Plaza). Cameron and Ethan were college roommates and now both live wealthy lives but have vastly different marriages. This vacation brings both couples to new realizations about themselves and each other which raises multiple conflicts as the season progresses. There are other guests, including Quentin (Tom Hollander) as well as a pair of local girls, Mia (Beatrice Granno) and Lucia (Simona Tabasco), all of whom factor into the individual and overall arcs this season.
The first five episodes of this season of The White Lotus were made available for this review, leaving the final two unseen by the writing of this and I can say I am deeply invested in where this story goes. All of the narratives this season are great and had me glued to each episode as I tried to determine where this story was headed. Billed as a social satire, The White Lotus is a really good story that injects just enough humor into situations both familiar to many viewers and unsettlingly bizarre. There are references to shooting locations of The Godfather, beautiful scenic shots of the Sicilian coast, travelogue-worthy jaunts around the island, and so many vacation cliches given a wonderful sense of humor thanks to the talented cast. Standouts include the always phenomenal Aubrey Plaza who may have the biggest arc this season as well as Haley Lu Richardson who must contend with the whims of Tanya’s wild moods. Of course, Jennifer Coolidge is once again brilliant and should remain in every subsequent season of this series.
Writer and director Mike White, who scripted and helmed all seven episodes this season, has managed to make this spin on The White Lotus both a fitting companion to the first season as well as a completely distinct story itself. Aside from Jennifer Coolidge, this season stands completely on its own and works without having seen the first volume of the story. White has managed to find the perfect balance between mockery and satire that paints the guests of the hotel as both stereotype and cliche of American travelers while never painting them as two-dimensional. Whether they are visiting as broken people and discovering a way to heal themselves emotionally or the breakdown in the veneer of their seemingly perfect lives happens while at the idyllic resort, The White Lotus seems to be a nexus for people to find insight into themselves.
The White Lotus has now turned in its second consecutive year of being one of the best series on the air and it is wholly due to the storytelling and direction of Mike White. Starting with characters that tread the line between realistic and surreal, The White Lotus tells stories that echo real-life situations. With a blend of dark humor, brilliant insight, and a biting worldview, no one is safe from falling prey to the charms and illusions of paradise. This volume of The White Lotus trades Hawaiian tropics for Mediterranean charms but none of the vitriol or baggage these guests carry with them is safe. Wherever this series heads for season three and beyond, it will be required viewing for anyone who appreciates great stories and great television.
The White Lotus returns on October 30th on HBO.