If there's one thing we've learned from both seasons of "The White Lotus" so far, it's that vacations are stressful. They're supposed to be fun, but then you end up learning some painful truths about yourself or your loved ones, or you find yourself betrayed by the friendly people you've met at the resort. By this point, the thought has probably occurred to most of these characters that they probably should've just stayed home.
But for the viewers, some of the driving tension behind this season of "The White Lotus" is wrapped up in the question of whose body it was that washed up on the shore in the season-opening flash forward. And it's not just one death we have to worry about: In the cold open, Rocco tells Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) that "a few" people have died, and all of them are guests of the hotel. None of these characters we've been following throughout seem to know it, but at least a few of them are in grave danger. Not only that, but perhaps one or two of them have murderous intentions.
Shortly after the premiere aired, /Film's own Valerie Ettenhofer gave her own predictions on who could bite it by the end of the season. While her general impressions of all the characters still basically hold up, there've been so many twists and turns over these first five episodes that the question is worth revisiting. Which of these characters is most likely to die, and which of them (if any) is most likely to be a murderer?
Who We Know Are Safe
We know for certain that Valentina, Daphne (Meghann Fahy), and Rocco are all going to survive the week, because we saw each of them alive and well in the flash forward. Rather, the real question is: Do any of these three know more than they let on?
Valentina and Rocco, at least, seem perfectly innocent. Valentina may be having a series of increasingly uncomfortable, controlling interactions with her front desk worker Isabella, but she hasn't done anything yet to suggest she'd be down to kill anyone. She seems genuinely surprised when she gets news of what happened, and her big concern is that this event might hurt the resort's business. Why would Valentina, who cares so much about the resort's reputation, want to murder multiple guests?
Daphne, meanwhile, seems less innocent. With episode 5's reveal that her personal trainer is the real father of her children, and with her ominous episode 3 declaration that she's not a victim, it's clear there's a lot going on beneath Daphne's chipper façade. And as Valerie pointed out after the premiere, Daphne has a suspicious love of true crime. It makes you wonder if, in that opening scene, Daphne's friendly talk with the guests next to her was just her way of making sure she looks like an innocent victim.
Who Is Probably Safe
Of all the main characters of season 2, Bert (F. Murray Abraham) seems the least likely be full-on murdered. He's way too aggressive with the female staff members, but for the most part, he's just been staying out of everyone's business. If he ends up being one of the bodies in the water, it'll simply be because he tripped and hit his head again. (In that case, it'd seem like an awful coincidence that he tripped on the same day that the other guests were killed.)
Dominic (Michael Imperioli) seems like he's in a little more trouble. His marriage is on the rocks, he's filled with regret over his life decisions, and it's clearly taking a toll on him. The latest episode sees Dominic walking alone down the beach, glancing at all the happy couples and realizing just how badly he's messed up. He wants his wife to forgive him, but considering his son Albie (Adam Di Marco) is almost certainly going to find out about his interactions with Lucia (Simona Tobasco), it doesn't seem like that will happen any time soon.
Much like Bert, it seems like if Dominic's death happens, it's gonna be by Dominic's own hands. There's also the possibility that he has a dark side that's far more severe than just cheating on his wife, in which case it's probably not Dominic's death we need to worry about.
Less Safe: Ethan, Harper, Cameron
We don't know where these couples' stories will end, just that none of it seems good. With Harper (Aubrey Plaza) realizing that Ethan (Will Sharpe) is no longer a completely trustworthy husband, it feels like the trust in their relationship's been irreversibly broken. Then, of course, there's the weird flirting between Harper and Cameron (Theo James), the weird flirting between Cameron and Ethan, and Daphne's coldblooded reveal to Harper that her kids actually belong to her trainer.
Then there's the fact that we still don't know for sure Cameron and Daphne's full motivations. Does Cameron only want to sleep with Ethan's wife, or is he trying to take advantage of Ethan financially? There was also a lot of tension in the season premiere when the couples talked about Harper's job as a lawyer for workplace sexual harassment cases; maybe her firm is representing a case involving someone Cameron's close with.
The dynamic between the four characters is constantly shifting, and rarely does it shift in a positive direction. However, I'd say there's a good chance their storyline doesn't end in death. Whereas dark omens are all over the other characters' storylines, the stakes in the Harper-Ethan-Cameron-Daphne storyline feel mostly confined to questions around their respective marriages. "Are Ethan and Harper actually happy together?" seems like the big question behind all of their scenes, and it'll feel a little out-of-step for the show to resolve their storyline by killing any of them off.
In Legit Danger: Albie And Portia
Poor Albie and Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) are both just looking for a real experience, but they aren't getting it from each other. Their communication issues (and their general timidity) has led to them both getting easily swept off their feet by romantic partners who are more exciting and assertive, but who probably aren't good for them overall. As of the latest episode, the overly trusting Albie is getting swindled by Lucia, a sex worker who's already slept with his father, and who seems to be playing Albie for more and more money.
Portia, meanwhile, is having the time of her life with Jack, who's turned out to not be Quentin's nephew at all. One wonders just how much Jack knows about Quentin's schemes, and how much Portia is going to be affected by it. So far, at least, we can take solace in the fact that Jack doesn't seem to be trying to squeeze as much money out of Portia as he can.
Of the two, Portia seems to currently be in the most mortal danger, but my money's on both of them surviving. These two characters spent so much of the early episodes of the season together; I wouldn't be surprised if they met back up in the finale, both realizing that their first choice in romantic partners was the right one after all.
On The Chopping Block: Tanya
On one hand, the fact that Tanya's back at all this season seems like a promising sign for her. It implies that she's going to be the one recurring character in the show, someone who cluelessly jumps around from vacation to vacation as those around her have their lives upended.
On the other hand, everything about Tanya's storyline lately has screamed death. A fortune teller has told her that her marriage with Greg is doomed, and her new friend Quentin is not someone to be trusted. The scene at the opera where Quentin tells her that the woman in the other box is the Queen of Sicily make things abundantly clear: He thinks of Tanya as a gullible idiot. Whatever he's planning on doing, he's got her right where he wants her.
Things seemed to snap into focus during that drunken, late-night conversation between the two. Quentin tells her about how he fell in love with a straight American man many years ago, and how he would still do anything for that man even today. As many fans were quick to speculate, what if Greg is the cowboy? We know Greg's up to something, and we know Quentin's popped into Tanya's life almost immediately after Greg left. Maybe Greg's planning Tanya's death, so that he could get her money and be free to marry other women?
This would also explain why Greg was so annoyed by Portia's presence in the beginning of the season. If he does have some evil scheme planned, it's clear that he didn't factor Portia into it. I'm not sure what this means for Portia's survival odds, except that it's probably not good.
Almost Certainly: Lucia And Mia
If there's one thing season 1 of "The White Lotus" has taught us, it's that the stakes tend to be much higher for the characters who aren't filthy rich. Almost everyone else has lots of safety nets in place to protect them from the worst consequences of their bad decisions. But for Lucia and Mia? They're on their own, and they're constantly stirring up trouble.
Within just a week, Lucia has gotten messily involved with the lives of Cameron, Ethan, Dominic, and Albie, putting them all into uncomfortable, potentially dangerous positions. If Albie finds out Lucia was hired by Dominic, that could destroy any lingering hopes Dominic has of saving his marriage. And while I don't buy into the popular theory that Albie's nice guy façade will break and his inner psychopath will be unleashed, this development would have plenty of foreshadowing behind it.
At this point, it seems like the biggest threat to Lucia's life is Cameron. The guy somehow doesn't have the money to pay her, and he's also desperate to make sure his wife never finds out about his involvement with her and Mia. Considering how well we know at this point that Cameron doesn't have a moral compass, it's easy to see this heading south for both girls.
The most damning piece of evidence, however, is Lucia's line in the fourth episode about how "All whores are punished in the end." The latest episode features a more optimistic Lucia (she tells Mia how maybe they won't get punished after all), which only makes things worse. It's like a cop character saying he's got one day left until retirement.
Almost Hoping For An Anti-Climax
Call me crazy, but over the course of season 2, I have come to care for all these spoiled, miserable rich people, and I do not want any of them harmed. (Okay, I would like for Cameron to be harmed, but not if it means other people have to die with him.) Much like season 1, maybe things here will end on a less-dramatic note than the season opener implied.
Maybe it'll even end in a similar manner to season 2 of "Breaking Bad." In one of that show's most controversial choices, "Breaking Bad" spent a lot of its second season hinting that something truly horrible would happen at the White family's house. There were body bags, debris, the feds … it all looked like a nightmare. But in the final minutes of the finale, it all turned out to be the result of a plane crash. People died, sure, but nobody we knew.
The plane crash may have been indirectly caused by Walt, but it was nowhere near as important a development as some sort of cartel shootout in Walt's backyard would've been, which is what the flash-forwards implied. Some fans complained that it was an anti-climax, but for a lot of viewers, it was a relief. We cared about the White family, after all, and didn't want their lives to be ruined so quickly.
With that in mind, maybe season 2 of "The White Lotus" won't end with any of our main characters dying at all. As the sense of dread grows, the idea of a happy ending for any of these characters seems increasingly unlikely, but for now, at least, there's still some hope.
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