by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Sophomore slumps are always a possibility for television shows. If Season One is excellent, it’s tough to top or exceed expectations in Season Two. It’s unfair, but that’s just the way it goes. That’s why television shows only get a finite amount of chances to be good. A lot of shows only last one or two seasons, because they couldn’t capture audiences for one season, or couldn’t keep them for two seasons. I was bummed out that certain shows only lasted two seasons, because I thought there was more story to tell. Shows like Carnivàle, Castle Rock, Mindhunter, Enlightened, PEN15, The Knick, Pushing Daisies, and Terminator: The Sarah Chronicles all had more stories to tell and were cancelled prematurely. But all of this is less of a problem with an anthology show. If Season One doesn’t work, just try something new with Season Two.
Thankfully, The White Lotus takes what worked in Season One and makes Season Two somehow even better.
The White Lotus’ sophomore season finds various groups of people vacationing in beautiful Sicily, Italy, instead of the tropical paradise of Hawaii. We follow three groups: college friends Ethan (Will Sharpe) and Cameron (Theo James), and their spouses Harper (Aubrey Plaza) and Daphne (Meghann Fahy) respectively; three generations of the Di Grasso family men, with Bert (F. Murray Abraham), his son, Dominic (Michael Imperioli), and Dominic’s son, Albie (Adam DiMarco); and married couple Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) and Greg (Jon Gries), with Tanya’s assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), tagging along.
It’s hard not to compare this season to Season One, which I loved. I thought the performances, the story, and the messages were all outstanding. Season One isn’t perfect, though; there are a few storylines left sputtering, and it offers themes that needed a little more time to bake for the impact to be genuinely had. This season, though, there are two changes that I believe were smart decisions.
The first is slightly less emphasis on the staff members. Season Two focuses almost exclusively on Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore), the Sicily White Lotus manager. She’s a strict manager who’s hard on her employees, but also great at her job. Valentina is there for the guests and has a small, intimate, and personal story that doesn’t require a lot of our time. The only other staff member that has any emphasis is Giuseppe (Federico Scribani), the singer in the restaurant at the resort. He also has a small story. This way, there is more of a focus on the people within the hotel.
The second decision is incorporating locals from the surrounding town. The two locals that are the focus are sex worker, Lucia (Simona Tabasco), and her friend, Mia (Beatrice Grannò). Both are highlights of Season Two. Not only were their performances fantastic, but they both are sending significant messages when it comes to women and how they’re treated. Lucia is dealing with an overly aggressive pimp, who is constantly hovering over her, and Mia is struggling to find her place in a sea of men who only want one thing from her. Both are ultimately exploited in unfortunate ways. A lot of Season Two focuses on women and how they are treated.
Of the guest storylines, I was most interested in Ethan and Harper, and Cameron and Daphne. Their dynamic and friendship are fascinating, and there’s a lot to say about them because both groups are rich. They each represent two different viewpoints on what it means to be wealthy: Ethan and Harper are looking to use their wealth for the benefit of others, and Cameron and Daphne mainly focus on themselves. It’s also an interesting story between Cameron and Ethan. They’re college friends who have grown apart, only to come back together on this vacation. All the performances are fantastic, with props going to Plaza and Fahy for strong performances that will get some awards attention. Harper and Daphne are both put in weird situations because they also represent two different types of marriages. Harper and Ethan tell each other everything, and are almost honest to one another to a fault, and Daphne and Cameron tend not to talk about anything of depth, and let each other do almost whatever they want when the other isn’t around.
The Di Grassos represent three different generations of men, while offering three different outlooks when it comes to women. Bert, and by extension Dominic, come from an era where women had a specific role. Albie, who goes to Stanford, talks about the patriarchy and has an understanding of the pain that Dominic has caused their family. They often come into conflict with their views, and it’s a great story about the generational gaps within families on hot topics. Their original intent was for Bert to rediscover local blood relatives, but they become entangled with some locals, including Mia and Lucia. Abraham, Imperioli, and DiMarco all give great performances, and their dynamic together is top-notch.
I had conflicting feelings about Tanya and Greg’s inclusion in this season until I saw the story play out in the finale episode. On one hand, it’s nice to have something that directly connects with season, besides being set at the same chain of resorts. Coolidge and Gries are still doing strong work, but the real standout from this group is Richardson. Portia is an interesting character because she works for someone demanding like Tanya, but she struggles a lot with how to handle everything. She’s looking for an adventure, but when the opportunity comes up to have one, she bites off way more than she can chew. Up until the final episode, I wrote off Tanya’s story as a B plot way to connect the two seasons. What I ultimately got was a gut-wrenching ending to her story, which I’m going to have trouble shaking off.
Let’s talk about that finale for a second. 2022 has been a great year for season finales, and The White Lotus season finale is one of the best episodes of the year so far. The final episode in Sicily is a masterclass in tension, and it offers some riveting ways to wrap up the season’s storylines. I didn’t see some of the endings coming, and it’s oddly a little more hopeful than Season One. Props to the writing team for weaving these storylines together effectively, while also managing to offer complex endings to all the vacations.
Sicily is a beautiful location, and a nice contrast to Hawaii. It is classic, and there’s a great deal of weight put into the statues and art. From a technical standpoint, The White Lotus continues to offer plenty of beautiful shots of the location everyone is staying at. Season Two also incorporates lovely music in the mix, with special props going to Grannò for showcasing her beautiful singing voice.
The White Lotus is one of HBO’s best shows right now, slightly behind shows like Succession and Barry. It offers a lot of amazing stories and sets up all its performers for career-best work. It will be in the awards conversation again for Season Two, and it has the potential to be a strong addition to HBO’s stacked catalog for years to come. If they continue to offer us spirited locations, a stacked cast, and a fascinating story, I’ll be first in line to check out The White Lotus for years to come. Mike White has created one for the ages, and Season Two is a triumph of television.
Score: 9/10
The White Lotus is currently streaming on HBO Max.
You can follow Mike Hilty on Twitter, Letterboxd, and Serializd