The White Lotus season 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so Ethan's gay right? I mean, he seems to be really focused on his friend and battling his feelings for / about him.

And Tanya's husband is going to commit suicide. That's what the psychic was trying to say. That's why she was so urgent about communicating with Tanya. His daughter was going to help him with assisted suicide because he's definitely going to die and doesn't want Tanya to have to watch him go through that.

And Cameron's broke and trying to get Ethan involved in his fraudulent investment firm. His wife doesn't know he's broke or else is in on the swindle. But I don't think she's in on it because if she was she wouldn't have told Audrey Plaza's character that his business partners are Bernie Madoff types.

No, here are my theories:

Cameron and Daphne set up the whole boys night/girls night thing in advance. They have an open marriage and Daphne doesn’t care if Cam has sex with someone else. But they are bored rich people and they want to mess with Ethan and Harper by splitting them up for the night, seeing if they can get Ethan to cheat on Harper and planting a bunch of suspicious ideas in Harper’s head. When you have as much money as they do, where can you find a challenge? Screwing with people’s heads. I think it’s going to go wrong and some combo of Ethan, Harper, Lucia and/or Mia will wind up dead.

I think Tanya’s husband is lying about his illness and he has used this con before with other wealthy women. He does not work for BLM and he’s going to swindle her out of her money somehow. Maybe she ends the season broke.

I think Tanya's husband has cancer again and is not telling her. I believe he isn't conning her but she is driving him mad. Is she a narcissist?

Tanya is absolutely a narcissist, basically a classic case of vulnerable narcissism. Her childhood, abuse and neglect left her with an undeveloped sense of self, profound insecurity, and intense fear of abandonment. It also gave her a permanent grievance she can use as a trump card to justify the way she uses other people and to excuse any and all negative behavior. Anytime she might be held responsible for the way she treats people, she begins crying, talks obliquely about the challenges of her background, and immediately becomes the victim. And it’s insidious in part because she has real power over everyone in her life due to her money and the way she uses it. So they are trapped by her vulnerability. If she couldn’t hold her financial power over them, they could just go, they could say “you know what, I’m sorry for what happened to you but this is too much for you and I’m not your therapist.” But because she does this to people who work for her or who feel they owe her, they are stuck serving her ego and trying to comfort her and fill the hole left by her childhood trauma, which of course they never can because they are not her parents and can’t give her what those people failed to provide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the Aubrey four-ple going to do some wife swapping or something? The rooms connect and the "happy" couple seemed open to the idea of connecting them. Then the whole getting naked in front of Aubrey and the "I want you to like me, it's important" speech.

The other thing I thought would come back was the "happy" couple's wife saying she could cut off her husband's balls if she wanted to. If they don't all swap together and just the husband does it, maybe she will kill her husband? Or kill Aubrey's husband if the swap and she is mad that he still loves his wife Aubrey? Her character seems ineffectual but I think there is a hint of something underneath there that could cause problems. (Though she finds the bodies and is horrified so maybe not.)

It felt to me like Daphne purposefully reached out and talked to the two women at the start of episode 1. They did not engage with her first. Like she wanted to create and alibi or story where all was well on the morning of xyz date. She does a quick side glance as she goes into the water that doesn’t look as carefree as the rest of those seconds as she jumps into the water.

The women she is talking to were on Survivor. I don't think we were meant to take anything from that interaction.

Oh I didn't realize they were from Survivor -- guessing from Mike White's season or people he met through Survivor contacts? That's kind of fun -- I love that he's so obsessed with Survivor that he went and got cast on the show, I thought that was hilarious.

Anyway, the fact that it was a bit of a stunt casting doesn't mean that scene doesn't have importance in the show. In Season One, the very first scene is also a flash forward, to the Jake Lacey character at the airport waiting to leave Hawaii, and mention of the plane waiting on a dead body that we're supposed to think is his wife because he seems so upset and he is playing with his wedding ring. Of course the truth was that the dead body was the hotel concierge, who Jake's character killed, and he's worrying over his wedding ring because he's unsure if his wife, who has just discovered (somehow) that he's an entitled a$$hole who can literally get away with murder, will come back to him and they'll stay married. But at the end of the flash forward teaser, they cut to the main cast on the boat just arriving at the resort.

This season started the exact same way, so it makes sense that what appears to be happening in that first scene with Daphne is not actually what is going on, and that we'll get some big revelations over the course of the season that will reveal how we got it wrong. The presence of some Survivor alums in the scene might just serve as further distraction from what is actually going on. I like PP's theory.

Agree 100%. I do think that Cameron is involved - either he's dead or he is responsible - because that scene is the only time so far (and granted we're only on episode 2) that we see Daphne alone. She is connected to Cameron by the hip in every other scene.

Is that her husband Cameron who hugs her when she rushes out of the sea? Watch it again.

yes

I don't think it is Cameron. If you watch that whole scene there's a guy in the chairs to the right of the two women Daphne is talking to. I am pretty sure it's that guy that runs to help her. If you slow it down/pause it you see him getting out of his chair.

Anyway.

Ethan obviously has some issue around sex. He's very hard to read, IMO. I'm not as convinced as Harper that he wouldn't cheat, but maybe that he couldn't cheat. The way he blows Harper off after his run and she barely reacts? That just screamed "this is how our therapist told me I should react" to me. Your husband turns down your sexual overture for the third time in a couple of days and you pop up like it's no big deal?

I'm not convinced that Daphne and Cameron are scheming together, but he's definitely scheming - either in a Madoff type situation or a real investment situation. I feel like Ethan only realized why Cameron actually invited him and Harper on the trip at the moment we did. He looked genuinely disappointed to realize that Cameron wasn't just being a buddy. Cameron may or may not be out of money, but the lack of cash to give to Mia and Lucia is/was a definite mistake.

I think assistant Portia ends up sleeping with Dominic. In the credits there's a Leda and the Swan type scene, but Leda is not pushing the Swan away. Dominic's main concern is not to upset Albie and Portia's main concern is also about to be not upsetting Albie, thus...

I don't have much of an idea with Tanya and Greg except that Tanya may have hit the nail on the head when she said - you're going to live but you realized that you are stuck living with me. I think he's trying to figure out if he can do that or does he half to walk away from this lifestyle? I think the Tom Hollander character is likely to be the swindler.

I feel like we are going to get more character development re: the staff - why bother to give them names or stories at all if they are not going to figure in the story?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the Aubrey four-ple going to do some wife swapping or something? The rooms connect and the "happy" couple seemed open to the idea of connecting them. Then the whole getting naked in front of Aubrey and the "I want you to like me, it's important" speech.

The other thing I thought would come back was the "happy" couple's wife saying she could cut off her husband's balls if she wanted to. If they don't all swap together and just the husband does it, maybe she will kill her husband? Or kill Aubrey's husband if the swap and she is mad that he still loves his wife Aubrey? Her character seems ineffectual but I think there is a hint of something underneath there that could cause problems. (Though she finds the bodies and is horrified so maybe not.)

It felt to me like Daphne purposefully reached out and talked to the two women at the start of episode 1. They did not engage with her first. Like she wanted to create and alibi or story where all was well on the morning of xyz date. She does a quick side glance as she goes into the water that doesn’t look as carefree as the rest of those seconds as she jumps into the water.

The women she is talking to were on Survivor. I don't think we were meant to take anything from that interaction.

Oh I didn't realize they were from Survivor -- guessing from Mike White's season or people he met through Survivor contacts? That's kind of fun -- I love that he's so obsessed with Survivor that he went and got cast on the show, I thought that was hilarious.

Anyway, the fact that it was a bit of a stunt casting doesn't mean that scene doesn't have importance in the show. In Season One, the very first scene is also a flash forward, to the Jake Lacey character at the airport waiting to leave Hawaii, and mention of the plane waiting on a dead body that we're supposed to think is his wife because he seems so upset and he is playing with his wedding ring. Of course the truth was that the dead body was the hotel concierge, who Jake's character killed, and he's worrying over his wedding ring because he's unsure if his wife, who has just discovered (somehow) that he's an entitled a$$hole who can literally get away with murder, will come back to him and they'll stay married. But at the end of the flash forward teaser, they cut to the main cast on the boat just arriving at the resort.

This season started the exact same way, so it makes sense that what appears to be happening in that first scene with Daphne is not actually what is going on, and that we'll get some big revelations over the course of the season that will reveal how we got it wrong. The presence of some Survivor alums in the scene might just serve as further distraction from what is actually going on. I like PP's theory.

Agree 100%. I do think that Cameron is involved - either he's dead or he is responsible - because that scene is the only time so far (and granted we're only on episode 2) that we see Daphne alone. She is connected to Cameron by the hip in every other scene.

Is that her husband Cameron who hugs her when she rushes out of the sea? Watch it again.

yes

I didn't think it was him -- he was definitely wearing different swim trunks than the ones he borrowed from Aubrey's husband in the first or second episode. I didn't notice what he was wearing on the water scooter, maybe he bought new trunks?

Is Aubrey's character's name Aubrey in the story? Because Cameron called her Aubrey in this latest episode while they were sitting at the breakfast table. ha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the Aubrey four-ple going to do some wife swapping or something? The rooms connect and the "happy" couple seemed open to the idea of connecting them. Then the whole getting naked in front of Aubrey and the "I want you to like me, it's important" speech.

The other thing I thought would come back was the "happy" couple's wife saying she could cut off her husband's balls if she wanted to. If they don't all swap together and just the husband does it, maybe she will kill her husband? Or kill Aubrey's husband if the swap and she is mad that he still loves his wife Aubrey? Her character seems ineffectual but I think there is a hint of something underneath there that could cause problems. (Though she finds the bodies and is horrified so maybe not.)

It felt to me like Daphne purposefully reached out and talked to the two women at the start of episode 1. They did not engage with her first. Like she wanted to create and alibi or story where all was well on the morning of xyz date. She does a quick side glance as she goes into the water that doesn’t look as carefree as the rest of those seconds as she jumps into the water.

The women she is talking to were on Survivor. I don't think we were meant to take anything from that interaction.

Oh I didn't realize they were from Survivor -- guessing from Mike White's season or people he met through Survivor contacts? That's kind of fun -- I love that he's so obsessed with Survivor that he went and got cast on the show, I thought that was hilarious.

Anyway, the fact that it was a bit of a stunt casting doesn't mean that scene doesn't have importance in the show. In Season One, the very first scene is also a flash forward, to the Jake Lacey character at the airport waiting to leave Hawaii, and mention of the plane waiting on a dead body that we're supposed to think is his wife because he seems so upset and he is playing with his wedding ring. Of course the truth was that the dead body was the hotel concierge, who Jake's character killed, and he's worrying over his wedding ring because he's unsure if his wife, who has just discovered (somehow) that he's an entitled a$$hole who can literally get away with murder, will come back to him and they'll stay married. But at the end of the flash forward teaser, they cut to the main cast on the boat just arriving at the resort.

This season started the exact same way, so it makes sense that what appears to be happening in that first scene with Daphne is not actually what is going on, and that we'll get some big revelations over the course of the season that will reveal how we got it wrong. The presence of some Survivor alums in the scene might just serve as further distraction from what is actually going on. I like PP's theory.

Agree 100%. I do think that Cameron is involved - either he's dead or he is responsible - because that scene is the only time so far (and granted we're only on episode 2) that we see Daphne alone. She is connected to Cameron by the hip in every other scene.

Is that her husband Cameron who hugs her when she rushes out of the sea? Watch it again.

yes

I didn't think it was him -- he was definitely wearing different swim trunks than the ones he borrowed from Aubrey's husband in the first or second episode. I didn't notice what he was wearing on the water scooter, maybe he bought new trunks?

Is Aubrey's character's name Aubrey in the story? Because Cameron called her Aubrey in this latest episode while they were sitting at the breakfast table. ha.

Good catch on the names!

Her name is “Harper” on the show. But we’ve been watching / listening to interviews with her over the past couple of weeks (my husband is a fan), and she told a story somewhere about how the part was written with her in mind and the character was even named “Aubrey” but she still had to try out for the part. I noticed the name change with the on-air version but not the slip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Daphne and Cameron are trying out different relationship scenarios to see what will click with the other two so they will relate/trust them. First they were super, lovey-dovey, that didn't mesh. Next time they played up being parents & having children, that didn't take. Next time they bickered & picked on each other. That, in their eyes, seemed to do the trick because the other wife decided she was going to be fun & easy to get along with. Continuing along the not-perfect marriage route they cranked it up with the cheating.


It is a shame the hotel staff are so bland and unlikeable. The first season has great characters with the staff.

Today I read an interview with Megan Fahey (don’t know if I spelled that right, the actress who plays Daphne) that suggests her character is exactly what it seems on the surface. She’s more complicated than people might assume from appearances, is open-eyed about at least some of her husband’s flaws, but not involved in any complicated scheming except whatever relationship dynamics she’s got going on with her husband.

Can you link?

https://www.vulture.com/article/the-white-lotus-meghann-fahy-daphne.html

I see I butchered her name earlier, oops!

The bits that made me think she’s not complicit are toward the end, where she says that she believes Daphne has a “genuine want to connect” as a friend to Harper and that “Harper is sort of an accessory in the game that [Daphne’s] playing with Cameron.” Technically those could go either way if they’re being cagey about spoilers, but I’m inclined to take them at face value.

Side note: I really liked the actress in The Bold Type and find her very well suited for this part so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Daphne and Cameron are trying out different relationship scenarios to see what will click with the other two so they will relate/trust them. First they were super, lovey-dovey, that didn't mesh. Next time they played up being parents & having children, that didn't take. Next time they bickered & picked on each other. That, in their eyes, seemed to do the trick because the other wife decided she was going to be fun & easy to get along with. Continuing along the not-perfect marriage route they cranked it up with the cheating.


It is a shame the hotel staff are so bland and unlikeable. The first season has great characters with the staff.

Today I read an interview with Megan Fahey (don’t know if I spelled that right, the actress who plays Daphne) that suggests her character is exactly what it seems on the surface. She’s more complicated than people might assume from appearances, is open-eyed about at least some of her husband’s flaws, but not involved in any complicated scheming except whatever relationship dynamics she’s got going on with her husband.

Can you link?

https://www.vulture.com/article/the-white-lotus-meghann-fahy-daphne.html

I see I butchered her name earlier, oops!

The bits that made me think she’s not complicit are toward the end, where she says that she believes Daphne has a “genuine want to connect” as a friend to Harper and that “Harper is sort of an accessory in the game that [Daphne’s] playing with Cameron.” Technically those could go either way if they’re being cagey about spoilers, but I’m inclined to take them at face value.

Side note: I really liked the actress in The Bold Type and find her very well suited for this part so far.

Interesting. Like you said, it could sort of go both ways. Daphne could be complicit with her husband in seeing if Ethan is corruptable -- that could be why she asks, because she has done this before and as a result has seen so many newly rich bros sleep around. Maybe she has seen it because her husband takes them on vacation with her and corrupts them. Then maybe blackmails them to invest with him, if he needs to use that to get them to send money his way.

Even if this is true, she may still feel kinda sorry for Harper and want to befriend her, because she sees what dogs men are and wants to "help" show her so that Harper doesn't get hurt when she finds out what a dog Ethan will turn into. This all fits to me in light of Daphne's speech at the beginning, which seemed a little forcibly bright and positive, as though she wasn't really feeling that great about the vacation.

Remember, she tells Harper that she found something to do. She's not a victim. She could be helping her husband make money and cheat on her at the same time by absconding with Harper for the night so Cameron can do his thing. Not a victim. If she's not playing along with her husband, than it's harder to see what exactly she was doing to not be a victim.

[Anonymous]

I am glad so many people like the show like I do. I don't overanalyze it though. I just don't gives enough of a shit.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious about the guy in the pool that portia was watching when she left with albie. Are we supposed to know who that is? If so I missed it.

Also, the piano player. I feel like there's something going on with him too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am glad so many people like the show like I do. I don't overanalyze it though. I just don't gives enough of a shit.

Thanks for stopping by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about the guy in the pool that portia was watching when she left with albie. Are we supposed to know who that is? If so I missed it.

Also, the piano player. I feel like there's something going on with him too.

I think one of them kills the other during an attempted sexual assault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about the guy in the pool that portia was watching when she left with albie. Are we supposed to know who that is? If so I missed it.

Also, the piano player. I feel like there's something going on with him too.

I think one of them kills the other during an attempted sexual assault.

Referring to piano player.

Portia was just trying to get lucky. The guy was doing his mating dance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about the guy in the pool that portia was watching when she left with albie. Are we supposed to know who that is? If so I missed it.

Also, the piano player. I feel like there's something going on with him too.

I think in the next episode or two, we’re going to get a lot more of the piano player and Tom Hollander, who has barely appeared so far but was seen in the last episode trying to catch Tanya’s attention at the bar when she was falling apart. He’s described in promotional materials as “an American expat vacationing in Sicily with his nephew” but he’s a fairly well known actor and they must have something big planned for him.

Also, Laura Dern (who starred in the Mike White show Enlightened and knows him well) voiced Domenico’s wife in the first episode, on the phone. I’d say there are strong odds that she shows up in the next few episodes because it’s weird to pull out such a big gun for a tiny voice over Easter egg like that. My guess is that Don’s dad is going to die and they are going to decide to bury him in Sicily, and Dern and Alvie’s sister come for the funeral.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about the guy in the pool that portia was watching when she left with albie. Are we supposed to know who that is? If so I missed it.

Also, the piano player. I feel like there's something going on with him too.

I think in the next episode or two, we’re going to get a lot more of the piano player and Tom Hollander, who has barely appeared so far but was seen in the last episode trying to catch Tanya’s attention at the bar when she was falling apart. He’s described in promotional materials as “an American expat vacationing in Sicily with his nephew” but he’s a fairly well known actor and they must have something big planned for him.

Also, Laura Dern (who starred in the Mike White show Enlightened and knows him well) voiced Domenico’s wife in the first episode, on the phone. I’d say there are strong odds that she shows up in the next few episodes because it’s weird to pull out such a big gun for a tiny voice over Easter egg like that. My guess is that Don’s dad is going to die and they are going to decide to bury him in Sicily, and Dern and Alvie’s sister come for the funeral.

Maybe. Mike White and Laura Dern are good friends, though, I think. He could have just called in a favor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about the guy in the pool that portia was watching when she left with albie. Are we supposed to know who that is? If so I missed it.

Also, the piano player. I feel like there's something going on with him too.

I think one of them kills the other during an attempted sexual assault.

Referring to piano player.

Portia was just trying to get lucky. The guy was doing his mating dance.

Portia is such a loser. Just throw your phone away and stop whining!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am glad so many people like the show like I do. I don't overanalyze it though. I just don't gives enough of a shit.

People are bored here obviously