Review: The White Lotus, "Ciao" | Season 2, Episode 1
Episodic Medium's coverage of the HBO anthology-turned-ongoing series begins
Welcome to Episodic Medium’s coverage of the second season of HBO’s The White Lotus, which brings new contributor Ben Rosenstock into the regular rotation. If this is your first time at the site, future reviews will only be available for paid subscribers, but for $5 a month you’ll be onboard for the rest of the run. For more, check out our About Page.
We barely see the staff. That’s the first thing I notice when watching “Ciao,” an episode all about introducing us to the ensemble and themes we’ll be exploring for seven episodes. Compared to the cast from season one of The White Lotus, this is a main group made up of many more guests than staff members—many more rich people than working-class people, really. And that slight shift in focus is emblematic of this reconfiguration as a whole. The White Lotus is no longer a series about class first and sex second; this time, it’s the other way around.
The second season announces its interest in sex right away, in that opening sequence of Italian frescoes gradually depicting more and more debauchery and violence. And much of “Ciao” revolves around introducing this new cast of characters through their relationships to sex rather than their relationships to class. It lends the premiere a relatively loose feel; there’s no instant staff-versus-guests hook here, and no point-of-view character as instantly watchable as Armond (Murray Bartlett) from season one.
But while season two may turn out to be less acidic and a tad less darkly funny than season one, this still feels like The White Lotus. And many of the ingredients here are the same, including the opening one-week-later flashforward teasing a death at the resort. In fact, while we only see one body in the water—discovered by Daphne (Meghann Fahy), who otherwise seems totally pleased with how her vacation went—one staffer tells White Lotus manager Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) that “a few” have been found.
Valentina is this season’s Armond, though it’s unclear whether she’ll play as central a role. Her first reaction to news of a drowning is to cynically remind Rocco (Federico Ferrante) that they’re not liable for what happens in the ocean; she may be even more high-strung than Armond when it comes to maintaining the resort’s flawless image. But she’s also more outwardly aggressive and blunt with her guests, and very strict about non-guests hanging out at the resort—especially if they’re sex workers, who apparently put the White Lotus’s reputation at risk just by hanging out in the lounge.
The other major holdover from season one is Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), in Sicily on vacation with her now-husband Greg (Jon Gries). But their corner of the story is my biggest source of skepticism for season two so far, even though Coolidge remains totally committed. To be sure, it’s hard not to laugh at Tanya’s achingly sincere “He’s always thinking of me” in reference to Greg’s unromantic journey to the bathroom to remedy his swamp crotch before sex. But I worry that Coolidge’s perfect embodiment of the role isn’t enough to fully justify a follow-up for Tanya, especially when her scenes with Greg lack the surprising warmth of their season-one love story. He projects a vague irritation with his wife for most of “Ciao,” and his late-night whispered phone calls hint at something serious.
It’s not totally clear yet how Tanya and Greg got to this place, though Tanya must be a difficult person to be with; she brought her assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) with her on a romantic trip. Not wanting to set off Greg, Tanya asks Portia to lay low but stay close by, essentially confining her to her room for the week. It’s deeply upsetting to Portia, who’s in the middle of a quarter-life crisis and questioning why she’s even working for this woman. She doesn’t even get to fuck around with a hot Italian guy on vacation!
She might have to settle for a cute Stanford grad from Los Angeles, not far from her San Francisco upbringing. That proximity is one of the funniest details of the episode; you go on vacation to another hemisphere, and then you only talk to people from your same home state. It immediately establishes Albie (Adam DiMarco) as a safe, unexciting choice for Portia, who’s craving a real adventure.
Albie is probably so polite as a reaction to growing up with his father Dominic (Michael Imperioli) and his grandfather Bert (F. Murray Abraham), who are each lecherous in different ways. The three of them are in Sicily to get in touch with their Sicilian heritage; Bert is obsessed with mentioning that they’re Sicilian to everyone, though his parents came to the States as children and none of the three can speak Italian themselves. But his primary goal seems to be hitting on every young woman he meets, from the resort staff to Portia.
Dom repeatedly steps in, accusing Bert of harassing the women, but you get the sense that he’s only playing the noble guy because he thinks his brand of lechery is more socially acceptable. After all, Dom has seemingly been unfaithful to his wife for a long time, as evidenced by her violent, expletive-laden response to his attempt to reconnect over the phone. She’s done with his shit, and she’s done hiding his indiscretions from the kids; their daughter won’t answer his calls, and Albie is only hiding his own anger to keep the peace. In any case, it doesn’t seem like Dom has any real intention of following through and changing his ways; he meets with a sex worker named Lucia (Simona Tabasco) later that night, someone with whom he connected online before the boat even arrived.
Lucia’s friend Mia (Beatrice Grannò) is curious about sex work, too, but she’s timid about dipping her toes in the pool. When she gets to talking to the lounge pianist Giuseppe about her own musical ambitions, he quickly cuts to the chase and asks her how much he’ll have to pay; she splashes a drink in his face, horrified by his assumption about her.
So much of The White Lotus is about people trying in vain to project certain images of themselves. Cameron (Theo James) and his wife Daphne, on vacation with Cam’s college roommate Ethan (Will Sharpe) and his labor lawyer wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza), are certainly trying to show off how perfect their marriage is. While Ethan and Harper seem to have little interest in sex, Cam and Daphne’s sex life is thriving more than ever. While Ethan and Harper can’t agree on what to order to share at dinner, Cam and Daphne are in total alignment. Harper may be right that it’s all for show, but her over-the-top reaction to them—and inability to hide her irritation—shows she has something to prove.
Based on the premiere alone, this is the storyline I’m most intrigued and entertained by; the game of subtle (and not-so-subtle) one-upmanship makes for some of the funniest and also tensest scenes. And there’s an element of mystery about these dynamics: how they originated, and where they’ll go from here. Ethan recently sold his company and got rich, and Harper is convinced Cam invited him to Sicily for some moneymaking scheme. Ethan repeatedly insists Harper has nothing to worry about, but his adherence to the bro code is covering up a secret need to prove himself to his uber-masculine friend.
It’s too early to tell whether Cam’s finance-bro douchiness can match Shane’s unique loathsomeness from season one, but he makes a good case in “Ciao”: ranting about the “time suck” of dealing with bogus harassment and discrimination claims; getting naked to change into his swim trunks right in front of Harper, perhaps some kind of power move; jokingly calling Ethan “the original incel,” which clearly wounds him. But Daphne might be the real highlight of this premiere, with every line reading from Fahy a delight.
“Ciao” might not be as immediately captivating as the beginning of season one, but it’s a very solid setup. Mike White’s writing is as sharp as ever, even though he’s a tad more conservative with the biting witticisms this time around. And he takes full advantage of this setting, dissolving from one gorgeous Italian vista to another with ease. He’s built a dreamy paradise filled with the promise of romance and adventure, but it’s unclear whether anybody here can allow themselves to experience it. There’s always a price.
Stray observations
The two new guests Daphne gushes to in the opening scene are played by White’s fellow contestants on Survivor: David vs. Goliath (one of the best later seasons), Angelina Keeley and Kara Kay. Alec Merlino had a minor role last season.
The hotel was originally a convent, which is a perfectly ironic detail given the theme of this season.
Some of the funniest dialogue of “Ciao” happens during the Di Grasso dinner, where Albie suggests people should naturally stop getting horny after 50 years old. (“50’s not that old,” Dom says, which is true but also comes from a personal place.) “No girl should have to be exposed to an old guy’s junk,” Albie says, to which Bert replies, “It’s not like it was ever so beautiful to look at anyway. I mean, it’s a penis. It’s not a sunset.”
But perhaps the best exchange comes when Harper says she can’t sleep because of “everything that’s going on in the world.” “What do you mean? What’s going on?” Daphne asks. “I don’t know, just, like, the end of the world.” “Oh no, Harper! The world’s not ending, it’s not that bad.”
Cam: “Honey, the people on Dateline aren’t exactly attractive, either.” Daphne: “At least they’re murdering each other.”
I bet Portia re-watched The Lizzie McGuire Movie in anticipation of this trip. Albie is definitely more of a Gordo than a Paolo.
Hi Ben, welcome to EM! So glad y’all are covering S2 of The White Lotus.
Completely agree with you assessment of this first episode, in particular the flatness of the return of Tanya and Greg and his blatant fat shaming of her. I loved the askew nature of their relationship in S1 and how it works because, not despite of that manic tilt. This is kind of crushing if it plays out as we are to assume (but I kind of fear most that he’s plotting her murder, not having an affair).
The actor playing Lucia (surname TABASCO, incredible) is so magnetic; she’s my favorite new character. I do hope we have some opportunity for the upstairs downstairs of it all this season. Aubrey Plaza is genius, she’s always so good and I anticipate this will be a showcase for her.
In contrast, the male characters are mostly forgettable, so far (yes, despite the CEO of Dicks and Butts being on the job) but I do think the quasi Sicilian trio have promise.
The writing is good, but I miss the lunatic edge of Season 1. I am also missing the original theme song, though I get why it was changed--the adaptation for this season feels like Weird Al doing a cover of a legit banger that’s impossible to improve upon.
Looking forward to these reviews! Haven't had a chance to catch the episode yet, but I missed the boat on live season 1 discussions so was hoping to get a bit of discussion here. I'll start: I thought season 1's value as satire was overrated. There's a line from an NPR early review of season 2 that captures the issue well: "...whether it was satirizing its rich and white characters' lack of interest in the people around them or just reproducing it". For me, it's the latter. If the show's not interested in exploring the staff's POV, or how they experience their respective fallouts, what satirical value are they adding really? Reproduction doesn't really amount to satire in my book.
The most successful of the season 1 threads IMO was Belinda and Tanya - both for having Jennifer Coolidge (who was wonderful) and for actually giving us some quality time with Belinda (and the brilliant way her aftermath intersected with Rachel's ending). I go back and forth on Armond as the main staff POV character - Murray Bartlett was great, but that particular story felt less like a setup to explore the working-class worries of a hotel manager (and are hotel managers actually working-class?), and more to function as receptacle for the overarching murder mystery and Shane's entitlement. I get that Covid restrictions also put constraints on the story, but it struck me as really egregious for example that Kai's life likely gets ruined yet we're made to sit with Paula's ultimately consequence-free guilt.
But what really threw me off and made me question how self-aware the writing was was Quinn's arc. Unless I seriously misread it, his whole 'leaving behind material trappings, appreciating nature, running off with the extremely welcoming locals' thing is played 100% straight, and not as a knock on privileged woo-woo gap year types.
To circle back to the review - it's a bit disappointing to hear that season 2 dials back the staff presence even more, and that the Tanya bits may be falling a bit flat. Despite my problems with season 1, it was a pretty great production, and was hoping that a season 2 freed from Covid shackles would give us more staff POVs, not less.