Questions from 'White Lotus' Season 2 and what's in store for Season 3 - The Washington Post

Some were addressed definitively Sunday night, immoderate not truthful much. But the biggest question astir the show’s aboriginal — Will determination beryllium different installment? — was already answered past month, erstwhile HBO announced its renewal.

With that successful mind, here’s a rundown of the questions answered successful Sunday’s finale, the mysteries near lingering from the Sicilian escapade and what we already cognize astir Season 3:

Several people, it turned out, aft scatterbrained socialite Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) yet picked up connected a program hatched by her husband, Greg (Jon Gries), and his co-conspirator Quentin (Tom Hollander) to termination her connected a vessel successful the Ionian Sea and divvy up her billions. Sensing the information aboard Quentin’s yacht, arsenic she wined and dined with his set of accomplices disconnected the seashore of Taormina, Tanya grabbed a container meant to bring astir her demise — filled with rope, duct portion and a pistol — and changeable Quentin, Didier (Bruno Gouery) and Niccoló (Stefano Gianino) successful a teary-eyed rampage.

But the assemblage we spot successful the season’s opening country — a flash-forward successful which White Lotus impermanent Daphne (Meghann Fahy) bumps into a corpse portion wading into the water — is nary different than Tanya. Having seemingly escaped the assassination attempt, she gets spooked by the yacht’s fleeing captain, past slips portion trying to leap to a smaller vessel below, knocking her caput connected the railing and drowning nether the Sicilian moonlight.

Speaking connected HBO’s post-episode recap, White explained the determination to bring backmost Coolidge — who won an Emmy for the show’s Maui-set archetypal season — and termination disconnected her character.

“I emotion her arsenic a character, and evidently I emotion Jennifer,” said White, who wrote and directed each 7 episodes. “But I conscionable felt like, you know, we’re going to Italy, she’s specified a diva, larger-than-life pistillate archetype — it conscionable felt similar we could devise our ain operatic decision to Tanya’s beingness and her story.”

When it came to the mode of her demise, helium added: “I conscionable deliberation her dying astatine the hands of idiosyncratic other felt excessively tragic. It felt similar she needed to springiness her champion combat backmost and that she, successful a way, had immoderate benignant of triumph implicit whoever was conspiring to get escaped of her. So it conscionable made maine laughter to deliberation she would instrumentality retired each of these cabal of killers, and that aft she successfully does that, past she conscionable dies this derpy death. It conscionable felt like, ‘That’s truthful Tanya.’”

Greg didn’t look successful the finale aft leaving Sicily for a purported enactment work earlier this season, but helium would look to beryllium the large victor of the episode’s events, considering he’s successful enactment to inherit Tanya’s luck and nary longer has to divided it with the deceased Quentin.

But Tanya’s assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), did marque it retired alive, aft being dropped disconnected adjacent the airdrome by Quentin’s alleged nephew, Jack (Leo Woodall) — who whitethorn oregon whitethorn not person been assigned to whack her earlier getting acold feet. Even if Portia is rattled capable to enactment quiet, Italian constabulary rapidly came crossed the blood-soaked yacht, and White hinted that the fallout of that probe could find its mode into a aboriginal season.

“It’s imaginable that, I think, Portia is conscionable frightened capable to permission it alone,” White said. “But the information that each of those guys dice connected the vessel feels similar there’s got to beryllium idiosyncratic who’s going to way it backmost down to Greg. But possibly you’ll person to hold to find retired what happens.”

The finale leaves this substance intentionally hazy. Finally giving successful to her husband’s suspicions, Harper (Aubrey Plaza) admits to Ethan (Will Sharpe) that she kissed his assemblage roommate Cameron (Theo James) aft doing shots astatine the edifice barroom and rendezvousing to their rooms. Yet Ethan remains unconvinced, accusing his woman of telling a half-truth and speculating they did much than conscionable kiss.

“I deliberation astir apt that’s conscionable each that happened,” White said. “At the aforesaid time, there’s immoderate clip that isn’t wholly accounted for, and I deliberation that’s wherefore it’s eating astatine Ethan.”

Unclear, but probably. In his anger, Ethan finds Cameron’s wife, Daphne, sunbathing connected the formation and tells her astir their respective spouses’ indiscretions together. After a devastating infinitesimal of introspection from Daphne, successful which she processes the betrayal successful existent clip and promptly calculates her retribution, she leads Ethan to the isolated land of Isola Bella earlier the country cuts away.

When Harper confronts Ethan astir their aboriginal unneurotic aboriginal that night, her hubby amazingly caresses her look and kisses her, starring the mates to rip disconnected their apparel and get intimate for the archetypal clip each trip.

“Did they person immoderate benignant of dalliance connected the island?” White said of Ethan and Daphne. “Whatever happened, it allows him to fto spell of the jealousy that’s benignant of been brewing successful him and it benignant of brings backmost that archetypal intersexual complaint that happens successful the opening of a narration that sometimes fades distant implicit time.”

This question goes unaddressed, though the finale hints astatine an answer. In Episode 5, Daphne each but admits to Harper that she had an matter with her trainer backmost home. After dwelling connected his “blond hairsbreadth and large bluish eyes,” she shares a photograph of her 2 kids successful which her older kid sports, you guessed it, blond hairsbreadth and bluish eyes that precise overmuch bash not lucifer her husband’s darker features.

Although Cameron and Daphne look to beryllium connected coagulated crushed erstwhile the finale ends, we bash get a little country successful which Daphne calls for her hubby to speech to his kids and Cameron seems nary excessively enthused — implying, perhaps, that helium knows they aren’t really his children.

“Some of the unspoken things betwixt them, you wonderment if that’s going to yet drawback up with them,” White said. “It is somewhat of a blessed ending, though there’s acheronian clouds connected the horizon, too.”

More oregon less. Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore), the temperamental White Lotus manager clumsily exploring her sexuality successful mediate age, wakes up successful furniture with enactment idiosyncratic and aspiring instrumentalist Mia (Beatrice Grannò) aboriginal successful the episode. Although Mia mildly resists her advances, she promises to assistance Valentina find a “real lesbian for a lover” earlier suggesting that they walk 1 much nighttime together.

Yep! After opening the amusement arsenic an escort hired by sex-addicted Hollywood shaper Dominic Di Grasso (Michael Imperioli), Lucia (Simona Tabasco) successfully wins the bosom of his naive son, Albie (Adam DiMarco), convinces him she’s endangered by a controlling pimp and cons him into asking his begetter to springiness her 50,000 euros.

Although Dominic sees the strategy for what it is — adjacent calling his lad “a mark” — helium wires the wealth anyhow arsenic a “karmic payment” for his ain infidelity. Albie yet realizes helium got played, arsenic Lucia silently slips distant from his country successful the morning, but helium inactive acknowledgment his begetter and puts successful a bully connection to Abby, his parent and Dominic’s estranged wife. But erstwhile we past spot the sexually frustrated De Grasso clan — Dominic, Albie and gramps Bert (F. Murray Abraham) — each 3 men inactive gawk astatine the young pistillate who strides past them astatine the airport.

“My anticipation is that Dominic does change,” White said. “But determination is simply a small spot successful the texture of it that their narration with women is going to ever beryllium fraught with this intersexual desire.”

Lucia, meanwhile, triumphantly strolls done the streets of Taormina with Mia astatine episode’s extremity and shares a hug with the antheral who had been posing arsenic her pimp — confirming determination was ne'er a menace astatine all.

After placing Season 1 successful Hawaii and Season 2 successful Italy, White suggested he’s readying an Asia-set 3rd play successful an October interrogation with Deadline.

“[Coolidge] is my person and everybody loved her successful the archetypal season, and I was like, ‘I can’t spell to Italy without Jennifer,’” White said. “And possibly that’s inactive the case. Like, possibly you can’t spell to Japan without Jennifer, either. There are truthful galore amusive actors we’ve worked with truthful far, truthful it’s conscionable benignant of, like, who’s available.”

Although the committedness of Coolidge’s continued engagement whitethorn person been a misdirection — oregon a hint astatine a prequel communicative — White doubled down connected the thought of taking “The White Lotus” to Asia successful HBO’s post-finale breakdown and indicated a 3rd play volition beryllium focused connected mortality.

“The archetypal play benignant of highlighted money, and past the 2nd play is sex,” White said. “I deliberation the 3rd season, it would beryllium possibly a benignant of satirical and comic look astatine decease and eastbound religion and spirituality. It feels similar it could beryllium a affluent tapestry to bash different circular astatine White Lotus.”