Part of what made the first season of HBO’s The White Lotus so compelling is that, while the series itself gave us compelling characters and a complex narrative, the first episode teased that one of these characters would meet their demise by the end of the season. The sophomore season might have changed locations from Hawaii to Sicily, but the premise of a vacationer discovering a dead body, only for the season to then chronicle the interwoven journey of guests leading up to that reveal, marked another successful storytelling structure. With the Season 2 finale having aired on HBO, now we know who didn’t survive the seemingly relaxing excursion.
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WARNING: Spoilers below for Season 2 of The White Lotus
Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya, the only main character from Season 1 of the series who returned to play an integral role of Season 2, was the body that was discovered in the ocean in the Season 2 premiere. As confirmed in the Season 2 premiere, however, she wasn’t the only person to meet their demise this season.
The season started with Tanya and her new husband Greg (Jon Gries) going to Sicily, though it was clear from early on that they had moved out of the honeymoon phase of their relationship, with Greg even abandoning Tanya at the resort in order to take care of “business” back in the United States. The big point of contention between them was that Tanya was the sole financial provider, and with the pair having signed a pre-nuptial agreement, Greg would struggle financially if they separated.
Shortly after Greg’s departure, Tanya met Quentin (Tom Hollander), who swept her up into his adventures while Greg was away. Tanya grew curious when coming across a photo of Quentin with a man who appeared to be a very young Greg, only for Quentin to dismiss the photo as him with a relative stranger. When Tanya’s assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) alerted her to weird behavior from Quentin’s “nephew” Jack (Leo Woodall), the pair believed Quentin wasn’t who he said he was and that Greg could have potentially orchestrated the whole thing to kill Tanya to collect her fortune, with her death negating the pre-nup.
Sadly, these suspicions proved correct, as Tanya discovered a gun on Quentin’s yacht, but rather than become a victim of the situation, she fought back against Quentin and his accomplices, scoring a high body count. After the bloodbath, Tanya attempted to exit the yacht onto a smaller boat floating alongside it, only for her to slip and knock herself unconscious as she fell into the water and ultimately died. It was her body that was discovered by Daphne (Meghann Fahy) in the season premiere.
Despite these deaths, most of the other characters made it out of the resort relatively unscathed physically, though some suffered a complicated emotional fallout. One of the biggest points of tension came from Cameron (Theo James) having a tryst with a sex worker while his wife Daphne was on a getaway with Harper (Aubrey Plaza). Harper doubted her husband Ethan (Will Sharpe) remained faithful while Cameron had the affair, even after Ethan admitted what Cameron did. When Harper revealed that Cameron kissed her in the wake of the confession, claiming that’s as far as it went, Ethan physically confronted Cameron, though the ordeal only made Harper and Ethan’s connection stronger.
While the series is said to be an anthology, the connection tissue of Tanya allowed for some overlap this season, with creator Mike White teasing in a post-show featurette that Season 3 could shed more light into Greg’s motivations and the fallout from Tanya’s death.
HBO has confirmed that the series was renewed for a Season 3 though when it will head into production is unknown.
What did you think of the finale? Let us know in the comments!
