Can we all agree that Jennifer Coolidge is getting many awards for her work on The White Lotus Season 2?
The White Lotus Season 2 Episode 6 was a perfect hour of this HBO drama because it continued to peel away at these individuals on their vacation in Italy.
Tanya is in way over her head, and there’s no telling how her journey will end.
Series creator Mike White has been vocal about wanting Coolidge to stick around for future seasons, but what if that’s just a smoke screen to lure us into a false sense of security that Tanya will survive this time around?
Tanya doesn’t make the best decisions, as evidenced by taking drugs and partying with someone she knew she couldn’t trust.
Quentin is tricky to read, but he wants to isolate Tanya, get her under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and get her to have sex with Nicolo.
Nicolo was easy on the eyes, and you could tell Tanya was smitten with him, even if she did find a photo of her husband with Quentin, cowboy hats and all.
It’s hard not to question whether Tanya will look at that photo the morning after and find out she imagined Greg’s face and it’s someone else entirely.
Then again, we needed the dots to begin connecting sooner rather than later, with “Abductions” being the penultimate episode of the season.
Greg leaving the hotel was perfectly timed for Quentin and his entourage to take an interest in Tanya.
I’ve had plenty of theories about what these men plan to do to Tanya, but I’m now convinced there will be footage of Tanya’s night of passion with Nicolo that will be used to trigger a clause in the prenup that will get Greg a hefty payout.
I was concerned they would want to kill her, but what if Tanya figures it out and outmaneuvers these men when they least expect it?
There was an emphasis on Nicolo having a gun, and I don’t think that was only to show how dangerous these men are.
Quentin’s yacht was present on The White Lotus Season 2 Episode 1, not far from the shore where the dead bodies were probably floating in the water, so there’s a good chance Tanya will take control of the narrative and things will turn deadly.
It’s hard to believe how pro-Jack Portia was at the beginning of the episode, only for her to realize he’s a far more nefarious figure than she’s been led to believe.
Portia was ready to call Tanya out at breakfast when she tried to make her assistant aware that things didn’t add up about Quentin and Jack.
Now that Portia knows Quentin has no money and stands to get a windfall, she should be able to put the puzzle pieces together.
But there’s no telling what will happen with this show, and I’m afraid that no matter how much Portia tries to tell Jack he said nothing, he might take measures to silence her for good.
We don’t know what these men are capable of. They’re a rotten crowd, and with so much money at stake, they won’t want their scam to go sideways at the last hurdle.
Jack was warned to keep Portia away from the house because they wanted to get to Tanya.
Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised if Portia was killed in the crossfire, but I’d prefer the two women working together to ruin the scam.
We also need to see Greg again before the season is over. Tanya deserves a scene calling him out for everything he’s done.
This man has been scamming her since day one, and it makes you wonder about all the times he acted like he was about to die in Hawaii.
Then there’s Harper, Ethan, and Cameron, and the complicated dynamic that’s getting worse by the minute.
It was about time Harper confronted Ethan about his lack of attraction to her. She doesn’t strike me as the type of person to stay in a loveless relationship.
I don’t think anything happened with Harper and Cameron in the hotel room. My theory is that Harper is messing with Ethan after his reactions to everything that’s transpired on vacation.
He didn’t bat an eye when his wife told him his friend stripped in front of her. If Harper is trying to make Ethan jealous, then she’s played the part very well.
There has to be trust and communication for a relationship to function, and, unfortunately, these two can’t seem to find the same level, which is a shame.
Ethan also has this pent-up rage about Cameron that will surely come out to play sooner rather than later.
The show makes us think one of their group dies on this vacation, but we’ll need to tune into The White Lotus Season 2 Episode 7 to answer that question.
Daphne is the most enigmatic of the group because she’s such a small part of the story, but her reactions are very telling about what she believes.
We know Daphne is on the beach in the season finale — after the bodies pop up. What if she played a part in these deaths and rushed to the sun loungers to make it look like she didn’t do anything wrong?
Oh, the possibilities.
The Di Grasso boys finally going to trace their roots gave us some of the most intense and hilarious scenes to date. Arriving at someone’s house and telling them you’re their family, but not speaking their language is a bit much.
What did they hope to achieve? Maybe Lucia would have given them some pointers.
It’s also possible there’s discord between the Di Grasso family, and maybe someone is paid to take the trio out while they’re at the hotel. It would be left-field, for sure, but it would be a shocking way to tie this story up.
Lucia was understandably shaken up by Alesso, but I’m not buying what she’s selling. If she’s hanging around the hotel with aspirations of marrying a rich man and running off to the U.S., how would she get out of the country?
Surely, Alesso — or whatever his real name is — would have her travel documents and some leverage. Something doesn’t add up with her story, but I appreciated how the Di Grasso family tried to defend her.
Dominic couldn’t wait to see the back of her, but he wanted to save her when she was seemingly in danger. That says a lot about who he is as a person.
Sure, he’s done some terrible things, but at least shades of goodness are inside him.
Valentina’s pursuit of Isabella was pretty sad. Clearly, she doesn’t open up to anyone and is a bit of a loner. I can’t even begin to imagine how she must have felt having no one to spend her birthday with.
The tricky part of that is how she approached Isabella. If she had been straight up with Isabella, she wouldn’t have set herself up for so much disappointment.
Her night of passion with Mia will probably lead to some regret the following day, which could mean Valentina will take away her career in the hotel.
Valentina is very sad at her core, but I don’t think she’s ready to let someone into her life.
There’s a lot we don’t know about her past, and I don’t see us getting much information on that with one episode remaining.
The stage is set for a thrilling finale, but I wish we had more clarity on how many bodies there are when this is over.
What are your theories for the season finale?
Hit the comments below.
Catch the final episode on Sunday at 9 p.m., only on HBO.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.