S02.E05: That's Amore

[izabella]

1 hour ago, Blackie said:

Why would you keep returning to a hotel chain that always has dead bodies at the end of your stay 😆

I guess as long as it's not her dead body, she might not even notice!

[jeansheridan]

54 minutes ago, izabella said:

I guess as long as it's not her dead body, she might not even notice!

I don't think she knew someone died in Season 1. Plus I imagine most older hotels have dozens of deaths in their histories.

[JD5166]

3 hours ago, Blackie said:

When Tanya checked in at this White Lotus resort , she was at some kind of level of guest, I forget the term. But sounds like she is a freuquent flyer at the White Lotus. If she goes back again for a third season, my question would be: Why would you keep returning to a hotel chain that always has dead bodies at the end of your stay 😆

I don’t think Tanya notices anyone who isn’t doing something for her? Did she and Armand even interact in Hawaii? As long as it doesn’t interfere with her stuff she doesn’t give AF which is why she is so brilliant, IMO! (And someone I’d hate in real life.) we all know someone like that! 

[ShannaB]

I totally agree about the income money.  Greg may have a way in so the prenup may be an avenue.

[Avabelle]

I knew the minute the nephew said he had to do something for his uncle before meeting Portia where it was headed. I found Portia very smug and condescending in her treatment of Albie so I’m enjoying this twist.

Soeaking of Albie - how is someone this stupid? He has acknowledged that his father had used prostitutes so I can’t believe how naive he’s being here. I think Lucia likes him but not in any serious way. I could see her hooking up with the dad again if the opportunity arose.

Ethan is a moron. I’m not totally against him withholding information from Harper in relation to Cameron cheating but his reaction once she found the condom was ridiculous. He’s acting as though she’s been the issue and not his douchebag college roommate who he doesn’t even like. How could you respect him after that. The Cameron/Harper stuff is harder to tell. I think she likes flirting with him to wind wEthan up because it’s an obvious trigger point for him but I’m still hoping she has enough self worth not to actually do anything with him.

I assume the hotel manager is deeply closeted? Her interactions with the front desk girl are way too much.

Does Mia embrace the hooker lifestyle a little more with each episode? She’s like a different character compared to the first episode.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Avabelle

[peachmangosteen]

2 hours ago, Avabelle said:

Does Mia embrace the hooker lifestyle a little more with each episode? She’s like a different character compared to the first episode.

For sure. As Lucia said, she created a monster.

[JD5166]

Did we ever see Greg leave the hotel? I can’t remember. 

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, JD5166 said:

Did we ever see Greg leave the hotel? I can’t remember. 

Yes.  They showed him getting into a taxi with Tanya wailing about him leaving.

[slowpoked]

18 hours ago, JD5166 said:

I don’t think Tanya notices anyone who isn’t doing something for her? Did she and Armand even interact in Hawaii? As long as it doesn’t interfere with her stuff she doesn’t give AF which is why she is so brilliant, IMO! (And someone I’d hate in real life.) we all know someone like that! 

This is why Tanya is the perfect anchor character for this series. I know a lot of people don’t have fond feelings for her and Jennifer Coolidge, but it’s because she’s so oblivious about everything else that’s happening around her, as long as it’s not TO her, she’ll keep coming back to White Lotus and work her way up to the hotel’s highest level. 

[Blackie]

20 hours ago, jeansheridan said:

I don't think she knew someone died in Season 1. Plus I imagine most older hotels have dozens of deaths in their histories.

Didn't they all leave together on the same boat with the body bag, I can't really remember,

19 hours ago, JD5166 said:

As long as it doesn’t interfere with her stuff she doesn’t give AF

22 hours ago, slowpoked said:

She's at the Blossom level now, up from Petal!

21 hours ago, izabella said:

I guess as long as it's not her dead body, she might not even notice!

OR because she was the White Lotus in Hawaii when someone died they upgraded her status for her to sign an NDA, which she was willing to do, So after this trip she should be upgraded to the whole Bouquet Level!!!

[JD5166]

9 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Yes.  They showed him getting into a taxi with Tanya wailing about him leaving.

I noticed on second watch that when they were dragging her things into Quentin’s someone asked if she had a dead body in there! 😳 but I do recollect seeing him pull away.....a new theory, that goes nowhere. Lol I am dying to know who dies haha 

I didn’t love Mia and the flirt with Valentina, not buying it. Less than a week for so many personality quirks to change really bothers me, but it would also bother me if it took several seasons. As watchers we are never happy.

I am most vested in the couples and how it plays out. Another new theory...does Harper’s new found aggressive sexiness play into something? The entirely wrong idea that speaking like a sexually aggressive woman make it okay for a man to take advantage of you? (NO) considering Harper’s job, it’s something else I’ve been thinking about. I love that it moves so quickly and hate that it moves so quickly...anxiously awaiting the final two episodes!! 

Before anyone goes all in on me about sexual assault and what constitutes it, I was a young woman once and a lot of not fun things happened in those years that might not be okay in today’s world. But I was young in a different time, and may have different ideas about these things. I think maybe that is why I am so bothered by Porshe’s Conquest, I find him repulsive because he reminds me of so many men I met at her age. 

[shapeshifter]

9 minutes ago, JD5166 said:

. . . I think maybe that is why I am so bothered by Porshe’s Conquest, I find him repulsive because he reminds me of so many men I met at her age. 

Maybe that's why I find the nephew so repulsive, but I think he's just supposed to be repulsive. 😉
For me, it's his dialog. Everything he says is crude.

Edited December 4, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Joimiaroxeu]

Portia cleaned up nicely. I liked her sundress, though not with the sneakers. It seems to me like she tries to look like she got dressed in the dark.

Escorts? Nah, those two are straight up hoes. I feel like escorts would be better at their jobs. 😏

The Queen of Sicily. Surely Tanya's not that stupid.

Mia put a move on Valentina. Have to admire her resourcefulness. And Valentina was a bit unnerved by it, like she didn't realize how much she wanted some intimacy, just not from a young hooker.

Albie has a nice butt.

Quote

i've noticed a trend of this in tv posters in general, not just this show.. People hearing hoofbeats and instead of thinking of horse, jumping past zebras to miniature unicorn ponies.         

Not sure I understand why this is considered a problem. People engage with fiction in different ways, and some people enjoy varying degrees of speculation and fantasizing. What's the harm?

[Bluesky]

On 11/28/2022 at 4:40 PM, aghst said:

Most men don't care about what Portia's wearing.

She's cute and their objective is to get her out of her clothes.

They may not recognize good fashion, they can generally tell a woman is stylish or not.  But committing a fashion crime is not a showstopper if she's attractive.

I think she’s kind of dumpy.  In good shape but not great proportions and the clothes department doesn’t even try to flatter what she has.  Maybe it’s to show she’s one of the few without money.   But yeah, guys don’t care about clothes.  Albie truly liked her and the nephew is just passing time with her in between work duties.  

[Bluesky]

On 11/29/2022 at 12:06 AM, RedDelicious said:

Daphne’s teeth bug me. It’s like her upper veneers are tilted and I can’t unsee it.

Are Portia’s teeth veneers?   They seem too big like veneers sometimes do.  

[PurpleTentacle]

Poor Albie. He's so getting scammed. "My pimp will kill me if I just leave. You'll have to buy me out with a 100k."

On 11/28/2022 at 5:14 PM, iMonrey said:

Uncle Fucker!

https://youtu.be/pDhAqQ42bYY?t=50

I assume they lied about the older guy being his uncle. If they didn't that would be really ballsy. I think even too ballsy for HBO.

On 11/28/2022 at 3:57 AM, dmc said:

Daphne definitely showed Harper her kids on purpose.  The kids flash is the universal “stay away from my man”.  Get a trainer, in other words, stay away from my husband and find a boy toy.  Also those are her trainer’s kids…

She showed her her kids, because they look exactly how she described her trainer "blonde hair, blue eyes" and nothing like her husband. It was a very clear "See what I get away with. I have the upper hand in this relationship."

On 11/28/2022 at 5:57 AM, shapeshifter said:

Cameron/Theo James does have brown eyes, but Daphne/Meghann Fahy has blue eyes, so Cameron could have contributed a recessive blue-eye gene, but TV writers screw up the science of eye color more often than not.
But, yeah, Daphne telling Harper that her trainer has blue eyes, and then offering to show Harper a picture of the trainer, but then showing Harper the blue-eyed son seems to be Daphne telling Harper that Cameron is willing to be father to Daphne's lover's child. 

It wasn't just the blue eyes, it was also the blonde hair. Though that can be deceptive with young children. As a baby I had black hair like my mother, as a toddler blonde hair, like nobody else in the family and then as a bit older kid till now brown hair like my father.

So hopefully nobody tries to determine fatherhood by hair colour in young children.

Edited December 13, 2022 by PurpleTentacle

[PurpleTentacle]

On 11/28/2022 at 8:59 PM, MrWhyt said:

i've noticed a trend of this in tv posters in general, not just this show.. People hearing hoofbeats and instead of thinking of horse, jumping past zebras to miniature unicorn ponies.

That's because in TV these days it's usually at least unicorns. Don't blame the posters, blame the writers.

On 11/28/2022 at 11:17 PM, MrWhyt said:

A. Greg wants Tanya dead

Well he probably does. He is extremely annoyed by her and stands to inherit half a billion, when he would get nothing in a divorce.

He also gave her one last perfect day. Just because he had to fly home for two days? Or because he knew she wouldn't be alive much longer?

On 11/28/2022 at 11:17 PM, MrWhyt said:

2. Instead of pushing her off a cliff or arranging some other "accident" on their Vespa ride he decides to contract it out to his gay not lover from 30-40 years ago

Do we know that they haven't seen each other for that long? He told somebody on the phone that he loved them. Maybe that relationship never quite stoped and never was quite as unrequited as implied.

He wouldn't push her off a cliff or arrange an accident on their Vespa ride, because then he'd most likely go down for murder. At the moment he is half a world away. The perfect alibi.

On 11/28/2022 at 11:17 PM, MrWhyt said:

iii. Once Quentin accepts the offer he decides the best course of action is to hang out with his target and a gaggle of witnesses. Take her out on a yacht, treat her to the opera, have her stay over and then at some point dispatch her?

I mean gain her trust to get her alone to a secluded spot at some point?

Look, this theory is a bit far fetched and I myself wouldn't have postulated it, but in these kinds of shows it's far from impossible.

[AstridM]

On 11/28/2022 at 11:04 AM, DoubleUTeeEff said:

As to one couple raising kids and the other child-free, I've got to violently disagree that is a metric for a successful relationship. Some people want kids and some people don't. Either is fine.

[AstridM]

On 12/1/2022 at 1:12 PM, RedDelicious said:

He's so pointy boots-sweat pants-oversized scarf now. I loved skinny scarf Jude Law.

I have no idea what this means 🤣.

[RedDelicious]

6 hours ago, AstridM said:

I have no idea what this means 🤣.

this general aesthetic..

as opposed to this one..

[SlovakPrincess]

Ethan is manipulative and awful, really.  "You know I never lie to you" he says, right after lying to her for 24 hours straight.  He's basically the Daphne in his marriage ... without being at all fun to be around.  

The Harper / Ethan marriage is like the passive aggressive Olympics.  

Lucia has an unlimited amount of clothing and shoes in that bag.  It's the Mary Poppins tote, but for hookers.

I loved Tanya's lilac dress -- first outfit of hers I've coveted!

"Have a nice life!"  Ugh, Portia ... but my annoyance with her is tempered by the fact that I was probably just as aggravating as a slightly depressed twenty something, and unsure of how to let a guy down easy.

I felt bad for Dominic when he walked on the beach.  He knows he's lost companionship and his once-happy family because of his compulsions.  The Bert / Dominic conversation at dinner was one of the best scenes in this series.

The Valentina plot is not working for me at all.  

Edited December 14, 2022 by SlovakPrincess

[Anela]

On 11/27/2022 at 10:33 PM, AzureOwl said:

Am I the only one reading too much into the hetero cowboy story? I'm overthinking things and wondering if it isn't Greg, and the thing Quentin would do for him even after 30 years is killing Tanya while Greg has a cast iron alibi.

I wondered if he was referring to her husband, too. His "nephew" looks like he's a prostitute, too, and he mentioned this guy always bringing older women home. Like he's picking out lonely women.

I was also worried that something was going to happen, when the young guy told Portia to leave her door unlocked. It feels like they're setting them up for something. Tanya's money, at the very least. When he asked her if she would die for beauty. 

I liked Portia's outfit on their date. 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Anela

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 11/28/2022 at 12:52 AM, chocolatine said:

Funny how Albie and Portia both unknowingly ended up with prostitutes. I hope they're all practicing safe sex.

Yes.

On 11/28/2022 at 12:52 AM, chocolatine said:

I think Lucia made up the pimp and is playing Albie. It was a little too convenient that she and Albie "accidentally" ran into him while getting gelato. Seems like Lucia hired someone to be in the right place at the right time. Plus, if there had been a pimp, surely he would have been a topic of conversation between her and Mia at some point.

Agreed.  And she wouldn't be blowing (presumably) all her money on clothes.

On 11/28/2022 at 1:42 AM, ZeeEnnui said:

If I were Albie's dad, I would have told Valentina that Lucia and Mia were no longer his guests and to ban them from the hotel. 

And then she tells Albie that her father arranged from America for her to be his date for the week.

On 11/28/2022 at 11:01 AM, CarpeFelis said:

Some of the comments have said Harper is flirting with Cameron and groping him back, but it didn’t come across that way to me. She moved away when he put his hand on her leg.

Yes.

On 11/28/2022 at 11:04 AM, DoubleUTeeEff said:

Interesting, I took it completely differently. I thought Tanya wanted to make sure Portia didn't embarrass her in front of "the gays."

Agreed.  And she expressed skepticism when Portia said she did, because Tanya has seen Portia's wardrobe.

 

[DrSparkles]

On 11/28/2022 at 1:16 PM, DrSpaceman73 said:

That opera house was gorgeous. 

I love opera. I love Madame Butterfly. I would give my left nut to see an opera in a place like that, in seats like those.

[J-Metal Girl]

At this point I wonder if it's going to turn out that Cameron and Daphne aren't even a couple, just partners in running a scam. Probably not (they've had at least one cuddly private moment, as I recall) but it's fun to speculate.

I hope Quentin is paying Jack well - he's good at his job. He knows what Portia wants. When she (barely concealing her contempt) said Albie is "so sweet," maybe that's when he got the idea for the dine and dash. (Ugh, what a trash thing to do. I hope for that poor restaurant worker's sake that he was in on it, or at least that Jack/Quentin will pay up later.) 

At the beginning of the season, when Lucia scolded Mia for catching feelings for a guy, I was led to believe that Mia was the less hardened, so maybe more naive one  - but maybe it's actually Lucia lol. Really, not collecting up front? (Though Mia is also naive for believing the hotel piano player had all those important contacts.) Mia actually scares me a bit. Something about the way she stares so intently at people. I like Lucia. In an earlier episode, when Mia finally got to play the piano and sing, she seemed genuinely happy for her. Such a refreshing change from Olivia and Paula. Of course, since this is Mike White, by the end of the season they'll probably be at each other's throats, but it's nice to have this for now.

People kept saying that Harper's such a drag to be around, but so is Ethan.

So much fun to think about everyone's ulterior motives!

Edited December 25, 2022 by J-Metal Girl

[TVMovieBuff]

On 11/27/2022 at 10:56 PM, AzureOwl said:

Prenups cover divorce.

But I would assume in the event of her predeceasing him, Greg gets all of her money. 

True, prenups expire as a spouse does. But then the Will kicks in. Greg must get a bigger chunk in the Will. It only makes sense you wouldn't reward someone more for divorcing you than you would for them still being married to you when you die. 

In most jurisdictions the surviving spouse must inherit a certain percentage of an estate, But the rest is up to the person dying. 

Edited January 21, 2023 by TVMovieBuff

[KittyQ]

On 11/27/2022 at 7:30 PM, MerBearStare said:

Lucia is so bad at her job. She doesn't get the money up front and she doesn't even tell Albie how much it'll cost until the morning.

My thought exactly! These seem to be the two most inept "escorts" around. Not only did she not clarify with Albie that there's money involved, but Cameron hasn't paid up either. If Lucia ever does get her little shop, she'll be out of business in no time because she has no money sense.

[blackwing]

 

On 11/28/2022 at 3:37 PM, skotnikov said:

It's not whodunnit, it's correct. It's whodied kind of show, like in a soap. MW navigates his plot through basic tropes of a soap opera.   

On 11/30/2022 at 1:12 AM, violetwaves said:

Am I the only one who doesn’t care who is dead? I find the storylines in front of us interesting enough without trying to guess who is dead. Bottom line is all these people are miserable. It doesn’t matter who is dead because the ones who aren’t will go on with their miserable lives despite not being dead.

I agree, I don't really care who ends up dead.  But I do think this kind of trope, showing a dead body in Episode 1 without identifying who it is, and then doing a "one week earlier" and showing us all the events leading up to it, in an effort to keep us guessing as to who died, is a little overdone.  And if not actual bodies, the whole shock reveal and then the slow peeling of the onion week by week until we get answers, seems pretty common in TV.  This kind of device was used in every or nearly every season of "How to Get Away With Murder" and the first season of "The Afterparty".  It can be entertaining when done right.

However in this instance, I don't think the "whodunnit" or "whodied" works because we aren't given any clues at all.  In the typical show using this trope, each week or each episode we would be given a clue or a reveal which eliminates one person as the killer/body.  We aren't getting that here.  Five episodes in and nobody has even died or been eliminated as the body, except for Daphne.

On 11/27/2022 at 9:49 PM, Samsnee said:

I’ve seen enough movies to know hookers always ask for money up front. 

I think the next morning, Lucia told Albie it was $1,800 for an overnight.  But I thought Dominic gave her $3,000 and hired her for the week?  I remember thinking that didn't seem like that much.  Julia Roberts got $3,000 for a whole week and she thought it was an unheard amount of money, but that was 30 years ago.  I have no idea how Albie was supposed to know she was a hooker.  He didn't see her with his father or in his grandfather's room, so unless she said something, how would he have known?  Cameron knew right away what they were, but he has a lot more life experience than Albie.

On 11/27/2022 at 10:47 PM, aghst said:

What exactly does the pimp do for Lucia?  He should handle collections if Cameran isn't going to pay.  But it's strange they didn't even mention the pimp before this episode.  Seems like she was spending the money as soon as she earned it not putting aside someone else's cut.

Why does she even need a pimp, if that guy is actually her pimp?  Doesn't a pimp usually arrange or direct all encounters for the escort?  She's arranging everything herself and fending for herself. 

How did Mia know that Valentina was gay?  Every time they've interacted, Valentina has been nasty to them, and they insulted her by saying she was old.  We only found out because of her interactions with the clerk.  Mia wouldn't have seen any of that.  So it seemed like it was coming from nowhere, it's not like Valentina has made any indications to her.

On 12/1/2022 at 11:57 PM, chocolatine said:

I sincerely hope her father/parents put the money in an irrevocable trust for her. Tanya doesn't seem to have the skills and level-headedness to successfully manage that kind of money, so even if she doesn't get scammed, I can see her losing the money through impulsive, risky investment decisions.

Tanya has to be at least 60, I would hope for her sake that her parents wouldn't have restricted access to her money perpetually.  She did pull out of the verbal deal with Belinda and then in this episode she mentioned that she thought Belinda was trying to bamboozle her.  So she's at least somewhat aware that people might be after her money.

I don't think she has any relatives, does she?  I don't recall her mentioning any siblings, if she had any I think they would have been in Hawaii with her to scatter mom's ashes.  She has no children and is well past child bearing age.  What does she expect to do with all of her money?  If she's not leaving it to any cousins, where is it going?  

On 12/3/2022 at 10:22 PM, shapeshifter said:

Maybe that's why I find the nephew so repulsive, but I think he's just supposed to be repulsive. 😉
For me, it's his dialog. Everything he says is crude.

He mentioned he was from Essex.  I don't know much about English counties, but isn't Essex where Love Island is filmed?  He seemed to assume she would form a stereotype of him because of the fact he was from Essex.

On 12/25/2022 at 4:34 PM, J-Metal Girl said:

I hope Quentin is paying Jack well - he's good at his job. He knows what Portia wants. When she (barely concealing her contempt) said Albie is "so sweet," maybe that's when he got the idea for the dine and dash. (Ugh, what a trash thing to do. I hope for that poor restaurant worker's sake that he was in on it, or at least that Jack/Quentin will pay up later.) 

I wouldn't be surprised if Quentin isn't paying Jack at all.  Jack gets to travel the world with Quentin and gets to stay in nice place and eat well.  In return, he gets pimped out by Quentin.  I think Jack's services have been helping to fund Quentin's lifestyle.  I suspect that the entourage of "the gays", those guys are all paying Quentin for the privilege of being around him and getting schtupped by Jack.  Quentin acquires and disposes of his collection of "old hags" who somehow provide him with money, but he is in between hags, Jack isn't bringing in enough money, so Quentin is targeting Tonya?