S02.E02: Italian Dream

[peachmangosteen]

Airs November 6th.

[txhorns79]

Now I feel a little bad for Tanya.  She's mostly clueless, but she deserves better than a jerk husband abandoning her in Italy.    

[chocolatine]

Albie and Portia were so cute together. Knowing this show, something will happen soon to ruin their budding romance.

Ethan seems to be sexually passive-aggressive with Harper. When he was horny in the morning he didn't want to have sex with her even when she said she wanted to, and at night he was "beat" - from what exactly? Lounging by the beach all day? I wonder if their relationship has always been like that, or if it's changed recently due to the money.

I have the feeling Dominic is going to be one of the dead bodies at the end. He seems to have a self-destructive streak. 

I thought Valentina's reaction to Tanya and Greg on the Vespa was hilarious, but come on, a manager of a five-star resort would know better than to compare a guest to Peppa Pig. Greg's phone call at the end of the episode seemed too obvious to be about him cheating, especially this early in the season; it has to be a misdirection. Either way, I don't see a happy ending for him and Tanya.

[SoWindsor]

This show is amazing! The way they were able to film on location really makes you feel like you’re there with them at this five star resort in Sicily. Really enjoying this season and I wasn’t sure if anything could top season one.

Edited November 7, 2022 by SoWindsor
Added mire

[MerBearStare]

54 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Ethan seems to be sexually passive-aggressive with Harper.

They seem like a less extreme version of Tanya and Greg. With both couples I'm like "Do you guys even like each other?" But with Tanya and Greg, the answer is obviously no.

With the conversation between Ethan, Harper, Cameron, and Daphne about the aristocrats who have no money (there's a term for that I'm blanking on, it's "<something> rich, cash poor"), I wonder (putting this in spoilers because it's based on next week's preview)

Spoiler

if Cameron and Daphne are cash poor and next week when Ethan and Cameron are at the hotel without Daphne and Harper and they're hanging out with Mia and Lucia, Cameron is going to try to set up something with Ethan and one of the girls so he can blackmail Ethan. 

Edited November 7, 2022 by MerBearStare

[Irlandesa]

While watching this episode, it hit me that The White Lotus is the modern day The Love Boat. Or at least the equivalent of the 2-hour The Love Boat episodes that took them around the world.  It's more cynical (naturally).  The characters' cultural insensitivity is intentional instead of the kind given a pass back in the '80s but causes so much cringe upon rewatch (seriously, watch the Japanese voyage if you'd like to see one constant poor choice after another.) 

But oh nothing quite beats it for pure travel porn.  The excursions depicted in this episode--the Di Grassos at the ruins, Tanya & Greg on the Vespa, Albie running through town and the marrieds at the beach--felt so much like the ports of call in The Love Boat.  Anyway, that's my crazy thought for the night.

48 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

I thought Valentina's reaction to Tanya and Greg on the Vespa was hilarious, but come on, a manager of a five-star resort would know better than to compare a guest to Peppa Pig.

I had similar thoughts when Dominic was asking Valentina to allow his two guests into the hotel as if hotel managers don't learn to look the other way when catering to their high end clients who bring in escorts. I'm guessing she'd ask Dominic to escort them around when they come to visit him instead of giving him a hard time about putting their names to his room.

3 minutes ago, MerBearStare said:

there's a term for that I'm blanking on, it's "<something> rich, cash poor"

House rich cash poor? 

[thuganomics85]

While I continue to be amazed that Valentina hasn't been chewed out by her superiors over all of the complaints she has no doubt received throughout her career (no way this is the first time she's acted like this), I am starting to kind of a get a kick out of her clear distain and annoyance for almost everyone she interacts with.  In her defense, these guests surely are something!

Cue obvious remarks/jokes about how Ethan is married to someone like Aubrey Plaza but still apparently won't have sex with her.  Not sure if there is an actual porn addiction going on here or they are just that out of sync in general.  I don't think they are close to the point of no return (unlike a certain other couple here) and I do think there is some true love/fondness there still, but they clearly seem to be having a lot of issues that neither is capable of addressing (or want to.)  Meanwhile, Cameron and Daphne continue to be so on point with one another that I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Or maybe the other shoe will be that they actually are truly in love with one another.  You never know!

While still better than the majority of them, Albie did step into some "uh oh!" territory with him lamenting about how girls don't want "nice guys."  Hope we aren't getting into "nice guy"/incel territory with him.  Even then, I have a feeling he and Portia won't work out when this is all said and done.

Definitely think something is going to come out of Dominic actually giving the local girls access to his room and therefore, the hotel itself.  Especially with Bert figuring out that something is going on there.

Even without the likely affair reveal, Tanya just needs to end things with Greg stat.  Those two are just so uncomfortable together.

I'll be down to just watch a show where its just F. Murray Abraham telling viewers stories about the Greek gods: completely uncensored and uncut!

The cast continues to deliver, but Sicily by far is the scene-stealer here.  Such beautiful locations and scenery.  Glad they decided to pick this place!

[shapeshifter]

Thank goodness Tanya got a prenup. But if she dies, does Greg inherit? 😦

Are Albie and Portia both gay? If so, maybe they can be literal BFFs.

When Daphne was talking about getting drunk and spending money online on needy causes, Cameron pointedly said she spent "a lot," or was it even "all of it"? Maybe Daphne got scammed and their fortune was syphoned off to an untraceable account? Probably not everything, but it could be a ruinous amount. Maybe when Cameron was talking about the house-poor Italians in their ancient family villas, he was also describing their own current state? If one of them dies, is there a hefty insurance policy?

I felt a tiny bit sorry for Dominic trying to say no to the prostitute and her friend, but maybe he habitually "tries to say no" to salve his conscience or even as a turn-on, or maybe so he can blame the temptresses? Albie does tell Portia that Dominic has been unfaithful "a lot." Dominic admits he has a sex addiction problem, but I don't know if admitting that is as significant as, say, someone openly acknowledging they have an alcohol problem.

If I didn't happen to have HBO access right now, I would not seek out this show. I think maybe I'm almost past wanting to see these well-executed but heavy series, and I need lighter fare.

[aghst]

I don't see a budding romance between Albie and Portia.

She told her friend over the phone that she wanted some Italian guy to throw her around and then told Albie she wanted a cave man.

Albie said she can aim higher than a caveman but it doesn't seem like she wants to, at this point in her life at least.

Albie is trying to be good, the antithesis of Dominic, his philandering father who hurt his wife and daughter enough that they didn't want to come on the trip.

He asks for permission to kiss her goodnight and if they want to hang out tomorrow -- she has nothing better to do, otherwise she has to hide in her hotel room from her boss.

He could either be like that throughout the season and get nowhere or he might flip and be the asshole that Portia says she wants.

Yeah something is off with Harper and Ethan and it's not their daily rhythms.  They're doing the good thing with their windfall wealth, helping family and others.  Instead of Harper offering to do porny stuff, she may want to be thrown around -- she may want a caveman, at least for awhile.

Cameron and Daphne did reveal some depth, about the difficult birth of one of their children, how they survived the ordeal together.  Everyone seems to be anticipating that Cameron has some ulterior motives.  Sounds like they spent a lot on new clothes for Cameron so maybe they're not so cash poor.

Dominic is suppose to be out of control, he's in the doghouse so he doubles down?  Bert is just inappropriate, first episode he was flirting with every female he came across, this episode he's talking about rape in mythology, can't stop saying how Hades raped Persephone.

I don't recall how Tanya came to meet Greg in season 1.  So he has a girlfriend on the side and he came to this trip to what, put in enough time with Tanya to get some more money from her?  He may be a grifter but he's right that she discards people, like the concierge from season 1.

BTW, this season is suppose to feature more sex.  They brought back the jungle sounds with echoes of monkeys screeching from season 1.  The opening credits do show a fair amount of sexually graphic imagery.  I wonder if they're from actual works or they were designed for the opening sequence.  There's a swan having sex with a woman, the myth about Leda and the Swan, who was Zeus, who took the form of a swan so that his wife Hera wouldn't catch him.  The swan seems to be going to town.  There have been many paintings over the centuries but if you Google Leda and the swan, there isn't a well-known paining quite like the one in the credits.

Maybe it was some imagery from antiquity or just made to look like something out of a paining or maybe something from an urn or some other artifact.

[Johnny Dollar]

I find this season to be incredibly boring, filled with unlikeable characters and absolutely no plot development. At least you could root for the staff last season. At this point, I don’t really care whose body was found floating in the sea. 

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, aghst said:

I don't recall how Tanya came to meet Greg in season 1.

His hotel room door was near hers.
Why do I remember that???

[DoubleUTeeEff]

I can't wait to find out what Greg's deal is. Has he been fired from BLM (Bureau of Land Management)? Is he using Tanya for her money in order to help someone he loves? Does he really have another woman?

When Albie described the type of women he's attracted to as "pretty wounded birds," I thought, oh Portia. He's talking about you. I can't tell if she's self-aware enough to know that. It seemed like there might have been a flicker of recognition in her expression. In lighter news, Portia spilling all the tea on Tanya was pretty funny, even if it was dark.

I wonder if there will be a switcheroo type situation with the couples. Is the fact that Harper and Ethan don't have sex just a symptom of a problem that can be fixed? And is the fact that Daphne and Cameron do have sex just a way for them to paper over their problems that can't be fixed?

Dominic is an idiot. He probably will get what he deserves.

[Chaos Theory]

This season is just not hitting with me like the first season.   I do like the “nice guy” kid with the father who is sleeping with the prostitutes and the creepy grandfather storyline.   You are a guy who doesn’t want to be like your father but then this girl you meet doesn’t seem that into you.   You are everything girls say they want but it’s not what they are actually into.    It must be confusing.   

Harper and Ethan seem like that couple that married because they liked each other well enough but don’t exactly have much passion and then Ethan struck it rich so now they are in a world that Ethan is kinda enjoying but because of the work Harper does she thinks she needs to hate. 

Cameron and Daphne put on a happy face even when tragedy hits but there is only so much you can do that before the cracks start.    Harper and Ethan are all talk while Cameron and Daphne use sex as a way to not talk.  

[SoTheresThat]

I was kind of bummed when I saw that this season wouldn't be in tropical location.  But my goodness Sicily is absolutely gorgeous.

The two wealthy couples don't seem to know each other very well to be travelling together.  The posters who have theorized that Cameron is possibly trying to get money out of them might be on to something.

7 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Thank goodness Tanya got a prenup. But if she dies, does Greg inherit? 😦

Maybe, maybe not.  It depends on how her will is written.

Edited November 7, 2022 by SoTheresThat

[overtherainbow]

So far I'm actually finding this season to be a lot funnier than the first, if nothing else. Valentina's "peppa pig" comment  and that entire Vespa ride was hilarious. It seems like Valentina is a lot less willing to wait on the guests hand and foot, that's for sure. 

We've got two couples hanging on by what seems like a thread and another one desperate to keep appearances. 

It's also hard not to feel a little bad for Tanya. Her husband is definitely using her for the money. A high level BLM job may pay a lot, but even then there are a lot of constraints and he's definitely not worth millions like Tanya.

I doubt Aubrey and Ethan will last, calling it now. 

I find Portia and Albie to very boring, sorry.

I see with Dominic's character they are playing up to the (very real) stereotype of a sex addicted hollywood guy. Letting the two local girls in isn't going to end well at all though.

[iMonrey]

Quote

This season is just not hitting with me like the first season.  

Weird, I thought last season was terrible but I'm enjoying this season so far. 

I don't see anything nefarious about Cameron and Daphne - so far. We've had plenty of scenes with just the two of them, if they were plotting something I'd think we'd have heard them talking about it by now.

For a five-star hotel the walls in that place are paper thin.

[Racj82]

9 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

While still better than the majority of them, Albie did step into some "uh oh!" territory with him lamenting about how girls don't want "nice guys."  Hope we aren't getting into "nice guy"/incel territory with him.  Even then, I have a feeling he and Portia won't work out when this is all said and done.

I mean...most of them don't. At the very least, the physical package that nice guy comes in is more important than women tend to say.

[absnow54]

9 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

While still better than the majority of them, Albie did step into some "uh oh!" territory with him lamenting about how girls don't want "nice guys."  Hope we aren't getting into "nice guy"/incel territory with him.  Even then, I have a feeling he and Portia won't work out when this is all said and done.

7 hours ago, aghst said:

I don't see a budding romance between Albie and Portia.

She told her friend over the phone that she wanted some Italian guy to throw her around and then told Albie she wanted a cave man.

Albie said she can aim higher than a caveman but it doesn't seem like she wants to, at this point in her life at least.

Albie is trying to be good, the antithesis of Dominic, his philandering father who hurt his wife and daughter enough that they didn't want to come on the trip.

He asks for permission to kiss her goodnight and if they want to hang out tomorrow -- she has nothing better to do, otherwise she has to hide in her hotel room from her boss.

He could either be like that throughout the season and get nowhere or he might flip and be the asshole that Portia says she wants.

Yeah, I thought Albie was sweet in the first episode, but now I'm pretty nervous about him. He's a "nice guy" looking for a "manic pixie dream girl" to save. I have a feeling that Portia's wishes to have an Italian guy throw her around will come true, but it probably won't end well for either of them. Especially with the ominous recalling of Hades claiming Persephone.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, overtherainbow said:

It's also hard not to feel a little bad for Tanya. Her husband is definitely using her for the money. A high level BLM job may pay a lot, but even then there are a lot of constraints and he's definitely not worth millions like Tanya.

I don't know that I feel bad for her because her husband had a very accurate assessment of her.  She collects people by giving them what they think they want and discards them when she gets distracted or they don't fill whatever hole she was trying to fill. I can see how it sucks for her that it's pretty clear Greg is growing tired of the dynamics of their marriage but it's also kind of inevitable for both of them.  They probably got married before they knew what being together day in and day out was actually like.

[meep.meep]

Sitting down and singing The Best Things in Life are Free at the piano of someone who tried to pay you for sex, has to be the biggest fuck you in the universe.

Ethan sure was quick with the mind games on Harper.  And his porn all featured women with big breasts.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

For a five-star hotel the walls in that place are paper thin.

Right?!

16 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

Sitting down and singing The Best Things in Life are Free at the piano of someone who tried to pay you for sex, has to be the biggest fuck you in the universe.

I might prefer to watch a show where Gia (the doesn't-wannabe-pross) and Giuseppe (the hotel dining room piano player) are the main characters. Like he could be her Yoda.

[Chaos Theory]

3 hours ago, absnow54 said:

Yeah, I thought Albie was sweet in the first episode, but now I'm pretty nervous about him. He's a "nice guy" looking for a "manic pixie dream girl" to save. I have a feeling that Portia's wishes to have an Italian guy throw her around will come true, but it probably won't end well for either of them. Especially with the ominous recalling of Hades claiming Persephone.

I think that might be the point.  I know we debate this all the time on the perspective of what the girl wants and deserves but when did it become a sin/crime to ask the guy what he wants in a woman or why he is so confused by what a woman wants in him?  I have sat with women who complain about the jerk that dumped them and wish  they could meet a nice guy while sitting next to the nice guy they cheated on or friend zoned and get upset when the guy has feelings on the situation.  That is what it looks like Portia and Albie are doing.  A girl who finds a guy to be her “girlfriend” and then feels used when he decides he doesn’t want to do that anymore.    

[anniebird]

I think our fondness for Jennifer Coolidge has made us automatically like Tanya whether she deserves it or not.

[tennisgurl]

My favorite character is absolutely Sicily, its a gorgeous backdrop for all of this rich people drama. The ruins, the gorgeous beaches, the Vespas, moving the destination this year was a great idea. 

Albie and Portia seem sweet, but they seem to be looking for different things. He wants to prove that he's a reliable guy who can be faithful and caring to a girl who he settles down with, unlike his father or grandfather, while Portia wants to have a sexy fling with a hot caveman who doesn't want to engage so much as throw her over his shoulder so that she can decompress while dealing with her crappy job. They are coming in wanting different things so while they seem like the token likable characters of the season, I don't see this ending well. 

The White Lotus might want to start hiring slightly less bizarre people to run their resorts. Valentina is hilarious but I cant imagine that someone running a super fancy five star resort would insult guests right to their faces so often or act so offended at the idea of a rich guy bringing in some possible sex workers. 

Ethan and Harper are one of those couples where you wonder if they even like each other. They both seem perpetually annoyed with each other, I wonder if this is a recent thing, and some kind of reaction to the change in their financial situation, or if this has been going on for awhile. Daphne and Cameron might be vapid, shallow, and weirdly intense at times, but at least they seem to like each other. On the other hand, all of their "we never fight" stuff seems like they're just deliberately hiding from any real issues they might have, papering it over with fancy trips, loud sex, and inane chatter. Plus, Daphne continues to be weirdly obsessed with violence at random times, makes you wonder if her reaction at finding those bodies was an act.

I do feel bad for Tanya a lot of the time, its clear that Greg is only interested in her for her money, she's lonely, and she's totally divorced from reality, but he wasn't wrong about how she quickly gets bored with people and discards them. We saw it last season with the lady who worked at the resort who she made think she was going to help finance her new business, and now with her assistant. I don't think she's malicious, just intensely self observed and off in her own world. 

[shapeshifter]

6 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I do feel bad for Tanya a lot of the time, its clear that Greg is only interested in her for her money, she's lonely, and she's totally divorced from reality, but he wasn't wrong about how she quickly gets bored with people and discards them. We saw it last season with the lady who worked at the resort who she made think she was going to help finance her new business, and now with her assistant. I don't think she's malicious, just intensely self observed [absorbed] and off in her own world. 

Maybe we are supposed to see Greg this season as having come to terms with just how self-absorbed his new rich wife is?
Maybe the person Greg said "I love you" to on the phone was a daughter?
Maybe the cough last season was Covid and he's over it now?
Hopefully these things will be addressed in the next episode, or two, at the most.

[badhaggis]

I wondered if Greg got a bad health diagnosis and didn't want to upset Tanya/or did not think she could handle it. The "I love you" really threw me though. I don't remember does he have kids?

[aghst]

He told the other person on the phone that Tanya is clueless and then I love you too.

I don’t think he was talking to a child.

it could be an adult child, someone at least in his or her late teens.

[Hedgehog2022]

Loved Season One...loving Season Two. I enjoy slow roll outs...shows that take time to flesh out characters and then WHAM big surprises at the end. And the Sicily landscape is stunning...as was the Hawaiian landscape. I'm not reading too much into the first two episodes...as  viewers we are getting a sense of who these characters are and what makes them tick. 

[Cheezwiz]

I have a feeling the person Greg was talking to on the phone may not have been a side-dish, but perhaps someone related to him (perhaps a daughter?). His observations on Tanya were correct, but he's still a jerk for marrying her (presumably for $$$) when he barely knew her.

It's interesting that both of the wealthy couples are equally insufferable: one is vapid, the other self-righteous. I'm wondering where that Chekhov's connecting door they keep showing us is going to lead?

Albie and Portia seem nice enough at the moment, but they have more of a buddy vibe rather than a romantic one. I agree with the poster above that Albie was edging into uncomfortable territory with his little "nice guy" speech.

I think something bad is going to happen to Dominic. Not sure yet if it's going to be humiliating sex-farce bad, or dead body bad.

[aghst]

Those beautiful streets Ethan was running in are not typical of Sicily.

Taormina draws a lot of affluence and it's a tiny town so with the money coming in, they keep it pristine.

Go to Palermo and it looks worn out.

[shapeshifter]

55 minutes ago, WatcherUatl10 said:

Personal opinion, but I was hoping Mia's singing would be better than it was.

I think that’s exactly how we were supposed to react to Mia’s singing.
We’ve probably all heard an amazing voice on a street corner or in a subway or in a small church, but I thought Mia’s singing was the perfect amount of “good” for this show, where no one is superb. 

[peachmangosteen]

17 hours ago, MerBearStare said:

... I wonder (putting this in spoilers because it's based on next week's preview)

Previews are not considered spoilers here.

7 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Weird, I thought last season was terrible but I'm enjoying this season so far. 

Same. I don't even know why I kept watching last season. It was boring and I could only manage to really like 1, maybe 2, of the characters. This season is much better to me. It's funnier, more interesting, and the characters are much more likable.

I'm with the people worried about Albie now. I should have known they wouldn't just have a simple, decent man lol. I just hope he doesn't go too dark, but yea the rape convo combined with Albie's 'girls don't want nice guys' speech has me worried.

I like that Ethan is kind of an asshole. I actually think Harper is clearly trying much harder than he is to make their relationship work, which is a bit of a twist.

I almost want Daphne and Cameron to be just as they are, a couple of dummies who really love each other. But I feel like there's gonna be some sinister shit there for sure. 

[Carolina Girl]

6 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

She collects people by giving them what they think they want and discards them when she gets distracted or they don't fill whatever hole she was trying to fill.

There is a part of me that considers Tanya's current situation to be karma for her careless discarding of the spa worker last season.  

[shapeshifter]

12 minutes ago, Carolina Girl said:

There is a part of me that considers Tanya's current situation to be karma for her careless discarding of the spa worker last season.  

Maybe not so much "karma" as just an example of what happens when you continue to make selfish choices?

We've been told by Tanya that she had an abusive childhood, and unless we learn otherwise, I will continue to excuse her bad choices to some degree. 

[divsc]

All speculation....

I think Portia rambling on about her boss to Albie is going to come back and bite her. Albie's whole expression changed and his eyes widened when Portia started going on about Tonya's father owning half of San Francisco. Albie went to college in that area, it's like he suddenly knew who Portia was talking about. I feel like somehow there's a connection and he's going to use this against Portia for violating her NDA. Blackmail?

The whole Testa di Moro, Moor's head ceramic vases, and the warning in the Godfather movie that Grandpa was watching about "Sicilian girls being dangerous" makes me think that the local girls, especially Lucia is going to kill someone. Also when they show her name in the opening credits, it's of a predator animal with a dead bird in its mouth. Then again, Albie said how he was attracted to "wounded birds" so maybe he's tied in somehow. Nice guy maybe isn't so nice.

I think out of everyone, Daphne is not who we think she is. There's much more to her and she may just kill someone.

I feel like the Greg thing is going to turn out to be a red herring and he's got whatever terminal illness and was talking to his kid or someone. But maybe Tanya gets it wrong and pushes him off a balcony. Someone is definitely going off a balcony based on her, "Do you think anyone has ever jumped."

I think dad may have messed around with one of his daughter's friends which may be why she is so mad too. 

And then there's still the whole sexual harassment lawsuits thing that Cam has clearly been accused at work and Harper is in that line of work. He also does keep making sly little plays at her. And he's got that temper. I could see him ending up being a victim. In the opening credits, it zooms in on a dude's nether region right before showing his name. 

I don't know, thats's all I got. As much as I love to binge watch, having to wait for episodes makes it more suspenseful.

Edited November 8, 2022 by divsc

[zenithwit]

On 11/6/2022 at 10:08 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Meanwhile, Cameron and Daphne continue to be so on point with one another that I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Or maybe the other shoe will be that they actually are truly in love with one another.  You never know!

I think there is tension between Cameron and Daphne about their kids, specifically childcare.  While the traumatic birth of their second child clearly bonded them, it's also clear that Cameron does not do much with their kids.  Daphne more or less said that before they went into the child birth story.  Plus, Daphne has been shown multiple times trying to check in with their kids while Cameron could care less and actually diverts Daphne's attention.

Side note: it was kinda creepy how Cameron initially tried to claim Daphne's experience as his own even as a joke.  I feel like something like that would bother the bubbliest person.

[Haleth]

This show mostly makes me sad.  Ironic that they are all super rich and in (arguably) one of the most beautiful sites in the world, yet everyone is miserable.  (Yes, I think even Cameron and Daphne are unhappy underneath their chipper demeanors.)  So why do I feel bad for them?

Yeah, I think Greg is sick and his return to the US is for treatment of some kind.  Still it doesn't seem like he likes Tanya much.  Giving her her Italian dream was sweet though, and Jennifer was hilarious on the Vespa.

Cameron is creepy.  Harper may be weird and judgmental and cold, but his insistence that she like him is stalkerish.  She should avoid both Cameron and Daphne.

I'm guessing now that Dominic is the body in episode 1.

Is Mt Etna really erupting or is that a cgi metaphor?

[chediavolo]

The scenery! The music! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
 

On 11/6/2022 at 11:35 PM, txhorns79 said:

Now I feel a little bad for Tanya.  She's mostly clueless, but she deserves better than a jerk husband abandoning her in Italy.    

She needs therapy & even so, I don’t feel bad for her.  They are both revolting. 

On 11/6/2022 at 11:35 PM, chocolatine said:

Albie and Portia were so cute together. Knowing this show, something will happen soon to ruin their budding romance.

Ethan seems to be sexually passive-aggressive with Harper. When he was horny in the morning he didn't want to have sex with her even when she said she wanted to, and at night he was "beat" - from what exactly? Lounging by the beach all day? I wonder if their relationship has always been like that, or if it's changed recently due to the money.

I have the feeling Dominic is going to be one of the dead bodies at the end. He seems to have a self-destructive streak. 

I thought Valentina's reaction to Tanya and Greg on the Vespa was hilarious, but come on, a manager of a five-star resort would know better than to compare a guest to Peppa Pig. Greg's phone call at the end of the episode seemed too obvious to be about him cheating, especially this early in the season; it has to be a misdirection. Either way, I don't see a happy ending for him and Tanya.

Calling her Peppa Pig had me rolling!😂  I think people are missing the point with the actress, who is an Italian comedian. 
I loved this episode. Hope it continues to entertain. 👍 

[jeansheridan]

On 11/6/2022 at 10:08 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Cue obvious remarks/jokes about how Ethan is married to someone like Aubrey Plaza but still apparently won't have sex with her.  Not sure if there is an actual porn addiction going on here or they are just that out of sync in general. 

They just seem out of sync in my opinion. They have direct conversations.  He didn't hide the porn from her. They talk to each other, call each other out on things. She makes an offer for sex (in such a Plaza way) and he directly says no. Nobody should fake their way through sex. They seem functional to me but not performative like other couples.

Will Sharpe is a smokeshow too so that helps me enjoy his scenes.

[jeansheridan]

I like this season for the travel porn honestly.  And F. Abraham Murray's silky voice. Lucia is enjoyable and has such spark. And I love the sharp hotel manager still. So much. Her quiet one upmanship with Dominic was hilarious to me. As was the way he responded. Unlike last season's entitled man-child, he negotiated in a way, trying to save face for everyone. And Valentina's "prego" at Lucia was amusing to me. One point to Lucia.

[jeansheridan]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

Cameron is creepy.  Harper may be weird and judgmental and cold, but his insistence that she like him is stalkerish.

His need to be liked is creepy too but I was bummed she didn't have a drier reaction to his question. More of a "jury's out buddy" reaction. I found it weird she was swimming so alone in the ocean too unless that is really more a bay? 

Theo James is charming however. It's funny two of the male leads are actually British. 

The actress playing Daphne is new to me and I love her. She has a Kelly Preston vibe. She feels like a woman with very little ego (other than she maintains her beauty). She’s charmingly candid about her mainstream interests. Her drunk dial donations are funny. Not being sure if Puerto Rico is a territory (which let's be honest, how many Americans ARE sure?). Cameron's casual "oh you are half Puerto Rican" was cringy. As intended by the script, not the character.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I think our fondness for Jennifer Coolidge has made us automatically like Tanya whether she deserves it or not.

Not me. I feel sorry for her but that's not the same as liking her. I find her pretty tragic. She's using her assistant the same way she used that spa worker last season, but at least the assistant is getting paid. 

Quote

I almost want Daphne and Cameron to be just as they are, a couple of dummies who really love each other. But I feel like there's gonna be some sinister shit there for sure. 

If Cameron has ulterior motives I don't think it has anything to do with money, and I don't get the sense that Daphne is in on it. Like I said, we've had plenty of scenes with just the two of them, they don't appear to be openly plotting anything together.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, jeansheridan said:

weird she was swimming so alone in the ocean 

I swim alone, but I do everything alone, so, yeah, given the first episode’s bodies in the same swim spot, maybe foreshadowing?  
Plus, Cameron swam up to her stealthily under water and pulled her under by a leg. 
That is very scary and can be fatal. 
And note her line to him:   
   “I thought you were a shark.”

[divsc]

2 hours ago, jeansheridan said:

The actress playing Daphne is new to me and I love her. She has a Kelly Preston vibe. She feels like a woman with very little ego (other than she maintains her beauty). She’s charmingly candid about her mainstream interests. Her drunk dial donations are funny. Not being sure if Puerto Rico is a territory (which let's be honest, how many Americans ARE sure?). Cameron's casual "oh you are half Puerto Rican" was cringy. As intended by the script, not the character.

She does have a Kelly Preston vibe! She reminds me of Kelly's character Tish in Space Camp lol. But she seems really kind and that she makes an effort to be inclusive and put people at ease. Even when Harper is unfriendly to her, she still responds graciously or tries to find common ground. She doesn't seem hard to be around on vacation. Just be fake friendly for a few days and go home and bitch to your real friends. There are way more snobby people out there.

That said, I think there's way more to Daphne that will be revealed, especially based on some of things the actress said in interviews.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Jennifer Coolidge got monkey images for her opening credit in both seasons.

Is this supposed to mean something?

13 hours ago, divsc said:

makes me think that the local girls, especially Lucia is going to kill someone. Also when they show her name in the opening credits, it's of a predator animal with a dead bird in its mouth. Then again, Albie said how he was attracted to "wounded birds" so maybe he's tied in somehow. Nice guy maybe isn't so nice.

Lucia is chasing & hunting rich guests for money and she drags Mia along with her. What if she has to kill someone in order to save Mia?

Albie is a sweet-talker, fake persona, may not be a nice person as he is trying to be.

Edited November 8, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, divsc said:

That said, I think there's way more to Daphne that will be revealed, especially based on some of things the actress said in interviews.

In the behind the episode, I think that was the video I watched lol, she said something about Daphne being fun to go on vacation with 'if you aren't her husband.' We've had no indication of this so far so yea something sinister is coming from her, I'd say.

[Johnny Dollar]

Jennifer Coolidge is playing the exact same character for over twenty years and it’s getting very tiresome. How she won an Emmy over Kaitlyn Dever in Dopesick is beyond me. 

[Milburn Stone]

On 11/6/2022 at 10:35 PM, chocolatine said:

I thought Valentina's reaction to Tanya and Greg on the Vespa was hilarious, but come on, a manager of a five-star resort would know better than to compare a guest to Peppa Pig.

I commented similarly about her in last week's episode. I'm starting to think that the corporate culture of the White Lotus hotel group has a tendency to put temperamentally unsuited people into that job. 😂 

(Which is OK by me, because they make great characters.)

[jeansheridan]

50 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

On 11/6/2022 at 8:35 PM, chocolatine said:

I thought Valentina's reaction to Tanya and Greg on the Vespa was hilarious, but come on, a manager of a five-star resort would know better than to compare a guest to Peppa Pig.

I commented similarly about her in last week's episode. I'm starting to think that the corporate culture of the White Lotus hotel group has a tendency to put temperamentally unsuited people into that job. 😂 

(Which is OK by me, because they make great characters.)

Given Mike White's age I wonder if it was Miss Piggy in the script. I felt like that was more of the visual reference. But Peppa Pig is more modern and easier for Jennifer's character to ignore. She might have thought it was a singer or pop culture figure (a human one). I don't have kids and I only know Peppa Pig because I work with books.

[jeansheridan]

How Portia is moving through this world is interesting to me. She's an employee but she's white, pretty, and does have a defined role. The fact that these three presumably very rich men essentially take her along for a walking tour and eat with her and are actually very candid around her is interesting to me. Had she been a POC I don't think this would have happened. Had she been more overtly beautiful (Mia & Lucia) and not girl next door, not sure this would have happened either. And her insistence all the time, "I HAVE to eat," cracks me up a bit. Sure you do, but on the guest buffet in the middle of the space? Or the dining room? The restaurant wasn't her fault clearly. But her insistence on being treated like a paying guest and that she has a right to enjoy herself even though she's on the clock really is so different from the wellness worker last season.