Airing/streaming on: Sky Atlantic/NOW
Episodes viewed: 5 of 7
The White Lotus is a hotel-set satire whose first season didn’t obviously invite a second stay. Not because it wasn’t compelling – the series, from Enlightened showrunner Mike White, was an in-turns hilarious and horrifying skewering of vacationing American elites that deservedly became a phenomenon on release last summer. Jennifer Coolidge was a sensation as the tragic Tanya; the show’s themes felt like a grenade lobbed into the growing discourse around the divides between rich and poor; and how often in prestige dramas do you see a moustachioed man shitting in a suitcase? Not often at all, is the answer to that question.
The Hawaiian resort at the heart of that story instantly entered the pantheon of memorable film and TV hotels – the Overlook for income inequality, a Grand Budapest for petty hedge fund managers. But that season wrapped up its story succinctly, leaving few loose threads and questions over what a follow-up might look like: who from its impressive ensemble cast could return? Plus, would checking in for a second time would hit the mark as completely?
Well, we needn’t have worried. The White Lotus Season 2 is just as sharp in its social commentary and even more resplendent to look at, this time around. White wisely has moved the show on from the Hawaiian setting of Season 1, with an almost entirely new ensemble. This time, we’re in Sicily, at another branch of the White Lotus resort chain with a view of the country’s Mount Etna volcano (fitting, given how White’s scripts are constantly building towards eruption). Coolidge is now married, and oblivious as ever – she’s taken her personal assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) on holiday, but commands her to stay in her room when her husband rankles at her presence. Portia defies this order, and instead spends the season’s early episodes skulking around the resort, avoiding her employer while criss-crossing with the resort’s other guests.
The White Lotus's second run is a surprisingly profound story, one that speaks to our time.
These include three generations of American men who are trying to connect with their Italian heritage, led by Sopranos star Michael Imperioli. There are also two local sex workers among the fray named Mia (Beatrice Grannò) and Lucia (Simona Tabasco), who slip in and out of the resort by night. Aubrey Plaza, meanwhile, is captivating as Harper, the partner of a workaholic with the world’s slimiest boss. It’s a role that continues her recent winning streak of performances that show she’s more than sardonic Parks And Recreation character April Ludgate, nudging her talents into increasingly dark, dramatic territory.
Some beats feel like echoes of ones we saw in Season 1: again, the show begins with the reveal that a dead body has been discovered, and again the mystery surrounding it never feels like White’s primary concern. But there’s enough difference in both the writing and in the surroundings to make this second season feel well earned. Scenes in which Daphne (Meghann Fahy) and Cameron (Theo James) lock horns with Plaza’s Harper over everything from voting to Ted Lasso push the series’ debates into new places, and the vistas make this outing feel even more cinematic than the last. (Season 1 was shot in lockdown, and felt slightly muted visually as a result; this time, expect bustling beaches complete with yachts bobbing in the bay, and throngs of shoppers navigating busy Sicilian streets.)
The White Lotus's second run is a surprisingly profound story, one that speaks to our time. It doesn’t shy away from the most unlikeable traits of its complex characters – many of whom are willing to ruin the planet to accrue and protect their wealth, but still haven’t quite seemed to realise that money doesn’t make them happy.