The HBO series The White Lotus wrapped up its second season on Sunday night with the finale in episode 7. Created by Mike White (no, not the New York Jets QB), White Lotus became a hit with the first season, winning plenty of awards, including six Primetime Emmys. What was on everyone’s mind heading into the finale was simple: Who was the dead body they showed at the beginning of the season? The build up was intense and there were definitely a few twists. Let’s recap the episode and reveal who was killed.
The White Lotus, Season 2 finale
WARNING: SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT
With all the intertwining stories, season 2 did a fantastic job leaving us in suspense for most of the episode. Was Albie (Adam DiMarco) going to end up dead, killed by Lucia’s pimp for not getting his money? Was Ethan (Will Sharpe) going to kill Cameron (Theo James) or his wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza) out of a pit of jealousy and rage? Or even Daphne (Meghann Fahy) to get back at Cam. Was it going to be Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) or Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) washed up on the beach after being killed by the shady Quentin (Tom Hollander), Jack (Leo Woodall) and his crew after leaving Taormina for Palermo?
The first altercation happens between Ethan and Cam when Ethan finds out something happened between Cam and Harper when they went back up to their room after drinks in the previous episode. Cam and Ethan get into a spat in the ocean but it’s broken up and oddly nothing really happens from there.
That may have been the least satisfying of the storylines ending in the season. Harper and Ethan seem to resolve some issues with their marriage somehow, but the four act like nothing happened in the end and part ways. Plus, what happened with Ethan and Daphne when they take that walk to the island? Bit of a cliffhanger there.
Albie gets played by Lucia (Simona Tabasco), essentially extorting 50,000 euros from Albie’s dad Dominic (Michael Imperioli) before taking off toward the end of the episode. Cam also pays Lucia and Mia steals Giuseppe’s job at The White Lotus as singer/piano player. Mia (Beatrice Granno) and Lucia make out like bandits (which is literally what they show at the end of the episode). So in that storyline, nobody is dead.
This basically brings us back to Tanya and Portia with Quentin and Jack in Palermo. Tanya knows something is up despite appearing aloof for most of the series. She sees an old picture that looks like her husband Greg (played by Jon Gries) with Quentin. Tanya connects the dots and realizes that this was all a setup by Greg to have her killed so he can take all her money.
Portia is getting suspicious of Jack, who claims he’s going to take her back to Taormina and the hotel after the day of exploring Palermo. Portia loses her phone and suspects Jack had something to do with it. She’s right. Portia ends up confronting Jack and he says he’s taking her back. Instead, he takes her to an airport to go back home, telling her Quentin and his gang are very powerful people and dangerous. They do a nice job making us believe Jack may kill Portia as his job.
So back to Tanya and Quentin. They take her on the yacht back to Taormina and dock close by, saying Niccolo is going to take her back to the hotel. Niccolo has a bag that Tanya grabs and runs into the bedroom with. Tanya ends up finding a gun and shoots all of them on the yacht. The captain goes to call the authorities and Tanya tries to get away. In true Jennifer Coolidge fashion, we get her hilariously trying to escape on the yacht, jumping over the railing, missing the docked boat and hitting her head before falling into the ocean.
Tanya is the one who is found washed up on the beach at the hotel. While she was able to get some revenge on the people who set out to kill her and steal her money, we don’t know if Greg got away with all of this. Will Gries be back for Season 3 in some capacity? Tanya and Greg were the only carryover characters from Season 1. We may see a character from Season 2 in Season 3 whenever that comes out. Who might it be?