HBO’s The White Lotus season 2: Some excellent full-body cringe

The White Lotus thinks we’re all going to fall for the same trick twice. Much like its first season, HBO’s acclaimed comedy-drama begins with a corpse on the grounds of an idyllic resort property before flashing back to show us the week leading up to this mystery person’s demise. Also like its first season, it’s all a ruse: Sure, you will find out who died, but if you’re expecting a thriller, or a mystery, you would be mistaken. Instead, it’s mostly focused on the foibles and self-destructive behaviors of a group of wealthy vacationers at the eponymous White Lotus luxury hotel as they drink, spend, game, and fuck their way toward some kind of oblivion. While someone will eventually die, the victim who is first is you. The White LotusAlways murders the viewer first. Cringe.

The White LotusEach episode focuses on a unique location or cast. This series is an anthology. While the first season took place in Hawaii, this season takes place in Sicily. While the characters may overlap, they are linked by the hotel chain, which allows each season to be enjoyed without the need for the other. They are both wildly uncomfortably uncomfortable.

Take a look at some of these people and other incidents introduced into the season. The White Lotus:

• Dominic is one of the Di Grasso guys:The Sopranos’Albie, his Stanford graduate son (Adam DiMarco), with Bert (F. Murray Abraham), Michael Imperioli. The trio appear to arrive for some cross-generational father-son bonding, but their vacation seems to be papering over the collapse of Dom’s family — his wife bailed on the trip and seems to hate him, and Dom has hired Lucia (Simona Tabasco), a local sex worker, to discreetly spend the night with him — a secret The White Lotus hotel is simply too small to keep.
• Cameron (Theo James), Daphne Fahy (Meghann Fahy) Babcock, along with Ethan and Harper (Will Sharpe), Spiller. Cam and Ethan were college roommates who have little in common but decided to travel together. Immediately the two become entangled in a tug-of-war of performative masculinity, as the newly rich Ethan tries to pretend he’s comfortable with Cameron’s alpha-bro rich boy mindset, and as Harper struggles to understand why they’re there and Cameron casually harasses her, stripping naked when they have a moment alone.

Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO

• Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), and Greg (Jon Gries), are the only characters returning from season 1. Their happy relationship from the last season is over. In their suite, a perpetual cycle of discontent fueled by Tanya’s narcissism and Greg’s neglect claims a third victim in Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), Tanya’s assistant who is forced to remain out of sight during their stay.

This can sound exhausting, and it would be, if it wasn’t so damn funny. Mike White, the creator of this book is well-known for his personal history and humor. Survivor Contestant. Two of his contestants, Angelina Keeley and Kara Kay, appeared in the premiere). His extraordinarily empathic storytelling (his previous HBO series) was a highlight. Enlightened, is a beautifully contemplative work) and his withering sense of humor (“It’s a penis, not a sunset!” one character exclaims when decrying the appearance of his genitals).

Each of these three elements are present in The White Lotus Even at their most detestable, when they’re dragging down everyone around them, the characters never seem to be written from a place of disdain, deserving as they may be. This makes their tragedies more satisfying, tragic and damning. There is happiness everywhere: in their partner, in their families, in the wonderful place they live in, and in the people they love. We cringe when they look away.

The White LotusIt’s a surprising act to vacation. It’s what happens when people set out to consume a place, and that place ends up consuming them. This is why it’s important that it’s a story centered on extremely wealthy people: The money is an accelerant, like kerosene on tinder. Through this perfect vacation, they find themselves, as that one Stars song goes, setting themselves ablaze simply because there’s nothing left to burn.