The White Lotus
(Picture: HBO)This article contains spoilers for The White Lotus season one and season two, episodes one to six
On Monday it’s the final of The White Lotus, and the second series of the award-winning show has been every bit as thrilling as its first. In fact, season two has arguably been darker and more tension-filled as jealousy and lust have raged in scorching Sicily over the past six weeks.
And, as if the increasingly strained relationships between hotel guests weren’t enough to tune in for, remember that the series is going to conclude with a death. Rocco (Federico Ferrante) ran out to greet Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) in episode one, declaring not only that a guest had died but that, “other bodies have been found... other guests have been killed.”
Of course, it could all be a big red herring – in the subsequent scenes, viewers are only shown one body bag. All the same, it’s really upped the ante on what’s promising to be a hugely explosive conclusion.
Now, as the passions of the luxury hotel chain guests reach fever pitch, we break down three possible endings (and you’ll have to forgive us slightly, we have occasionally let our imaginations run wild).
1. Cameron
It’s pretty obvious that Cameron (Theo James) is going to go, isn’t it? Firstly, in the trailer released in anticipation of episode seven, he is shown being punched and then held underwater by Ethan (Will Sharpe).
Admittedly, this is likely to be a ploy to delude viewers (it’s too straightforward), but Cameron is still the closest thing the series has to an all-out baddie (except, perhaps, Tom Hollander’s oleaginous Quentin). Plus, he still owes the sex workers Lucia (Simona Tabasco) and Mia (Beatrice Grannò) some money. Perhaps he will get embroiled in the drama that is going on between Lucia and her pimp?
It wouldn’t be his wife who would kill him – firstly she has become accustomed to their look-the-other-way arrangement, so his recent transgressions shouldn’t have whipped up too much jealousy. But secondly, she’s the one that finds the body. From what we’ve seen from Daphne (Meghann Fahy) so far, despite her devious nature, she’s not a killer nor an actress good enough to give the performance we saw on the beach in episode one – she was terrified.
We have two suggestions. The first is that Cameron is bumped off by Lucia’ s pimp. Very boring though. In season one we had Armond pooing in a suitcase before being accidentally stabbed to death, so we have to remember this is where creator Mike White’s imagination can go.
With this in mind, what about a storyline where Harper (Aubrey Plaza) continues to flirt with Cameron to tease Ethan – but it all goes too far? He gets too excited, she pushes him away, he slips in the bathroom (on his empty condom wrapper?), bangs his head and is a goner. Of course, for this plotline to make sense the body in the water would have to be someone else.
We are intrigued by the idea, too, of a plot where Harper and Cameron start having sex and she kills him to protect her relationship with Ethan (and on behalf of Ethan for that matter – he’s felt the brunt of Cameron’s disreputable behaviour for years), but it’s extremely unlikely – Harper is way too self-regarding and principled for that sort of passion-fuelled murder.
2. Lucia
It’s not a particularly fun conclusion for either of the sex workers to die, but they’ve both become so intrinsic to the second season – they are connected to almost every single character – that it would be a mistake not to list them. So will Lucia – who is more central to the plot, less sweet and more entangled than Mia – get done in?
Honestly, it doesn’t seem likely. After all, Ethan isn’t going to kill her – Harper is already furious at him, so even if Lucia was to put more pressure on him, he’s unlikely to crack and do something weird like murdering the sex worker. Plus we’re in the camp that thinks he didn’t really do anything wrong that hedonistic night. Then Cameron and Daphne have their arrangement and the Italian-American family (who all have had their own experience with Lucia) are all far too gentle, and don’t care enough for that matter, to hurt her.
We think it’s more likely, in fact, that it’s Albie who is in the water, simply because the show is obsessed with showing viewers the Sicilian vase heads. We know it may sound a little implausible, so bear with us.
In episode one, Ethan asks Rocco about the history of the “teste di moro” vases that are in the hotel’s rooms. The myth says that a merchant from out of town fell in love with a local girl. But when she found out that he had a wife and family in his homeland she chopped off his head so he could stay with her forever. In episode six, cameras cut to the heads several times. It’s pretty clear that creator Mike White trying to tell us something, so are the vases prophetic?
If so, Lucia must be the local girl and Albie is likely to be the out-of-towner who falls for her – so what if he has a girlfriend back at home?
The next bit could go two ways: it could be an accident – maybe the young pair try to have sex in the sea and Albie accidentally drowns – or it could be that Lucia is upset when Albie says he’s leaving and they have a fight because she feels abandoned (particularly after he left her to be taken off by the pimp in episode six). We agree that the second option is a little far-fetched – they’ve only known each other for half a week or so. It’s much more likely he gulps in too much water mid-Ocean-coital.
3. Jack
The Jack (Leo Woodall) and Quentin story is the least joyful plotline of the series. Jack is obviously deeply traumatised by his past, and Quentin, who also seems to be dealing with his demons by partying, is clearly taking advantage of the young man’s precarious situation.
We wish we could write that we believe that Quentin is somehow bumped off, but other than Jack, who would do it, and why? And Jack relies so heavily on Quentin he’s unlikely to push back against his employer.
We’ve been trying to imagine a scene where a furious Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) orders her new hunky drug-dealer boyfriend to “sort matters out” and “free Jack”, and in a Thomas Becket-style misunderstanding, Quentin gets chucked off a luxury boat. But, when Tanya wakes from her drug-fuelled slumber, it’s likely she’s going to be preoccupied with the fact that she cheated on her husband Greg (Jon Gries) who will now, if he finds out, have grounds to divorce her and take half of her money.
We have also cast our mind back to the conversation between Jack and Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) where he talks about living every day like it’s his last. What if this wasn’t just a drunk man’s philosophical ramblings and what if it is White, once again, pointing viewers towards the denouement? In the preview for the episode, viewers are also shown a scene where Portia and Jack look like they’ve got themselves into some hot water.
We think a possible ending is that Jack opens up to Portia about the trouble he is in and Quentin (and his cronies) feel exposed – by the looks of it, they are embroiled in way more than partying and party favours – and decide it’s time for Jack to leave Sicily once and for all.
