Some were definitely addressed on Sunday evening, others less so. But the biggest question about the future of the series – Will there be another episode? – already responded last month, when HBO announced its renewal.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the questions Sunday’s finale answered, the mysteries left unanswered by the Sicilian getaway, and what we already know about Season 3:
Who died in the season 2 finale?
Several people, it turned out, after scatterbrained socialite Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) finally figured out a plan hatched by her husband, Greg (Jon Gries), and co-conspirator Quentin (Tom Hollander) to kill her on a boat in the Ionian Sea and shares its billions. Sensing danger aboard Quentin’s yacht, as she drank and dined with her gang of accomplices off Taormina, Tanya grabbed a bag meant to cause his death – filled with rope, duct tape and a gun – and shot Quentin, Didier (Bruno Gouery) and Niccoló (Stefano Gianino) in a tear-eyed rampage.
But the body we see in the season opener — a flash-forward in which White Lotus guest Daphne (Meghann Fahy) bumps into a corpse while wading in the ocean — is none other than Tanya. Having apparently escaped the assassination attempt, she is frightened by the fleeing captain of the yacht, then slips while trying to jump onto a smaller boat below, banging her head against the railing and drowning in the moonlight. sicilian.
Speaking on HBO’s post-episode recap, White explained the decision to bring back Coolidge – who won an Emmy for the show First season on Maui – and kills his character.
“I love her as a character, and obviously I love Jennifer,” said White, who wrote and directed all seven episodes. “But I just felt like, you know, we’re going to Italy, she’s such a diva, a larger-than-life female archetype — it felt like we could craft our own lyrical conclusion to Tanya’s life. and its history.”
Regarding how she died, he added: ‘I just think her death at the hands of someone else was too tragic. It was as if she needed to fight her best and somehow had some sort of victory over whoever was conspiring to get rid of her. So it just made me laugh to think that she would wipe out this whole cabal of killers, and after she pulls that off, she’ll die this derpy death. It was just like, ‘That’s so Tanya.’
Will Greg get away with his plan?
Greg didn’t appear in the finale after leaving Sicily for a supposed work obligation earlier this season, but he would appear to be the big winner from the episode’s events, given that he’s in line to inherit Tanya’s fortune and no longer has to share it with the late Quentin.
But Tanya’s assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), made it out alive, after being dropped off near the airport by Quentin’s so-called nephew, Jack (Leo Woodall) – who may or may not have was instructed to hit her before catching her. cold feet. Even though Portia is shaken enough to keep quiet, Italian police soon came across the blood-soaked yacht, and White hinted that the fallout from that investigation could find its way into a future season.
“It’s possible that, I think, Portia was just scared enough to leave her alone,” White said. “But the fact that all these guys are dying on the boat feels like there has to be someone who’s going to trace it back to Greg. But maybe you’ll have to wait to find out what’s going on.
Cameron and Harper have they met?
The finale leaves this question intentionally unclear. Eventually giving in to her husband’s suspicions, Harper (Aubrey Plaza) confesses to Ethan (Will Sharpe) that she kissed her college roommate Cameron (Theo James) after taking pictures at the hotel bar and dating in their rooms. Still, Ethan remains skeptical, accusing his wife of telling a half-truth and speculating that they did more than kiss.
“I think that’s probably all that happened,” White said. “At the same time, there’s time that’s not fully accounted for, and I think that’s why it eats at Ethan.”
Did Daphne and Ethan meet?
Not clear, but probably. In his anger, Ethan finds Cameron’s wife, Daphne, sunbathing on the beach and tells her about their respective spouses’ indiscretions together. After a devastating moment of soul-searching from Daphne, in which she processes the betrayal in real time and quickly calculates her retribution, she leads Ethan to the remote island of Isola Bella before the scene cuts.
When Harper confronts Ethan about their future together later that night, her husband surprisingly caresses her face and kisses her, causing the couple to rip their clothes off and get intimate for the first time on the entire trip.
“Did they have some kind of banter on the island?” White said of Ethan and Daphne. “Whatever happened allows him to let go of the jealousy that was simmering inside him and it kind of brings back that first sexual charge that happens at the start of a relationship that sometimes fades over time.”
Is Cameron the father of Daphne’s children?
This question remains unanswered, although the finale hints at an answer. In episode 5, Daphne confesses to Harper that she had an affair with her trainer at home. After dwelling on her “blonde hair and big blue eyes,” she shares a photo of her two kids in which her eldest sports, you guessed it, blonde hair and blue eyes that don’t look much like the darker features of her husband.
Although Cameron and Daphne seem to be on solid ground by the end of the finale, we get a brief scene in which Daphne calls for her husband to talk to his kids and Cameron doesn’t seem too enthusiastic – implying, perhaps, that he knows they are not. t actually his children.
“Some of the unsaid things between them, you wonder if it’s ever going to catch up with them,” White said. “It’s a bit of a happy ending, even though there are also dark clouds on the horizon.”
Does Valentina have a happy ending?
More or less. Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore), the temperamental manager of White Lotus awkwardly exploring her middle-aged sexuality, wakes up in bed with sex worker and aspiring musician Mia (Beatrice Grannò) at the start of the episode. Although Mia gently resists his advances, she promises to help Valentina find a “real lesbian lover” before offering to spend one more night together.
Lucia was running a scam on the Di Grassos?
Yeah! After starting the show as an escort hired by sex-addicted Hollywood producer Dominic Di Grasso (Michael Imperioli), Lucia (Simona Tabasco) successfully wins the heart of her naïve son, Albie (Adam DiMarco), convinces him that she is in danger from a controlling pimp and convinces him to ask her father to pay her 50,000 euros.
Although Dominic sees the scheme for what it is – even calling his son “a mark” – he still transfers the money as a “karmic payment” for his own infidelity. Albie finally realizes he’s been played, as Lucia quietly slips away from her room in the morning, but he still thanks his father and says a good word to Abby, his mother and Dominic’s ex-wife. But when we last see the sexually frustrated De Grasso clan – Dominic, Albie and Grandpa Bert (F. Murray Abraham) – the three men gape at the young woman who passes them at the airport.
“I hope Dominic changes,” White said. “But there’s a bit in the texture that their relationship with women is always going to be loaded with that sexual desire.”
Lucia, meanwhile, strolls triumphantly through the streets of Taormina with Mia at the end of the episode and shares a hug with the man who posed as her pimp – confirming that there was never a threat at all.
What do we know about season 3?
After placing season 1 in Hawaii and season 2 in Italy, White suggested he was planning a third season in Asia in an October interview with Deadline.
“[Coolidge] is my friend and everyone loved her in the first season, and I was like, ‘I can’t go to Italy without Jennifer,'” White said. “And maybe still is. Like, maybe you can’t go to Japan without Jennifer either. There’s so many fun actors we’ve worked with so far, so it’s just kind of, like, who’s available.
Though the promise of Coolidge’s continued involvement may have been misdirection — or a hint of a prequel story — White doubled down on taking “The White Lotus” to Asia in the post-finale breakdown of HBO and indicated that a third season would focus on Mortality.
“The first season was all about the money, then the second season was about the sex,” White said. “I think the third season, maybe it would be kind of a satirical, funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. I feel like it could be a rich tapestry to take another round at White Lotus.