Let the speculation begin—who’s going to die on The White Lotus this season?
Season 2 ups the ante with not one but several potential deaths at the scenic Italian resort, and we’re taking bets on who it might be
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For a minute there, at the beginning of season two, you might have forgotten you were watching The White Lotus. After a new opening credits scene that replaces last season’s tropical wallpaper with images from an Italian fresco, we meet Daphne Sullivan (Meghann Fahy) as she strikes up a conversation with a couple of new arrivals (played by Survivor alumni Kara Kay and Angelina Keeley, who competed alongside White Lotus creator Mike White in the “David vs. Goliath” season back in 2018).
Daphne’s vacation is coming to an end in a few hours, and she promises they’ll love it there. “We had the best time,” she gushes. “The hotel’s perfect and the staff’s excellent. The food is amazing.” Before leaving them to take one last dip in the Ionian sea, she adds without a hint of irony, “You’re going to die. They’re going to have to drag you out of here.” Soon after that, Daphne’s last swim is ruined when a dead body comes floating up to the surface, right in front of her. Oh, right. It’s that show.
Raising the stakes—and the body count
Before the requisite rewind to the beginning of the week we get a conversation in Italian between resort manager Valentina and her subordinate Rocco. He breaks the news that one of the guests has drowned, but she shrugs it off, noting “the ocean is not hotel property.” But then comes the real bombshell: this isn’t the only body found recently at the resort. The exact words he uses are: “Other guests have been killed.” So now we know to be on the lookout for more than one death by the end of the season.
Is The White Lotus a particularly deadly hotel chain or does this kind of thing happen all the time and we don’t hear about it? Except maybe on Daphne’s favorite show Dateline (another link between Daphne and death, hmm). She specifically mentions that a lot of husbands murder their wives on vacation. Is this foreshadowing? Should we be paying close attention to Daphne? Sure, but also everyone else too. We’ve only had one episode to meet these characters, but why not start tracking them now?
There may be some clues to be found in the setting itself. First, there’s the legend of the “teste di moro,” a Moor who was beheaded by his lover when she found out he was married with children. Then there’s the island’s famous volcano Mt. Etna, always rumbling in the background. In between scenes we get images of the rocky coastline and shots that dive under the surface of the water, accompanied by an eerie musical score. Relationships will be tossed against those rocks this season, tested by the island’s seductive yet dangerous waters. Some are bound to shatter.
Who’s in danger?
Since we’ve been told that the victims were hotel guests, we can rule out the locals among the dead. Bert Di Grasso is a reasonable candidate for a natural exit—considering he’s 80 years old and took a pretty bad spill—but Rocco used the term “killed,” so it’s more likely foul play than not.
We also have to consider Portia as a potential casualty. She’s effectively traveling alone now that Tanya has exiled her to her room for the trip. We’ve already seen her on her own at the pool and at dinner, so she’s not one for following orders. You can’t blame her, but it would be ironic if that’s what puts her in jeopardy.
With the clues we’ve been given about infidelity and revenge, though, the ones most at risk have to be the male characters. This includes Dominic, but also Cameron and Ethan. We know Daphne makes it all the way to the end of the trip, but why was she on the beach alone without the rest of her party?
Emerging suspects
Last season, we took Shane for a rich, entitled mama’s boy, but we didn’t immediately take him for a killer. The culprit may come out of nowhere this time too. After all, it wouldn’t be much fun if we guessed it easily after episode one. So we can’t rule anyone out, but there are a few suspects who are starting to stand out.
Going back to the legend of the “moro” and the rage of a scorned woman, we have to keep an eye on the married characters affected by infidelity. Dominic’s wife was pretty pissed with him over the phone, and she was originally supposed to be on the trip, so it’s not out of the question that she could hop a plane and surprise him. After what he’s gotten up to with Lucia, it wouldn’t be the good kind of surprise. We’re also not ruling out Mia or Lucia as the perpetrators, either. Not that they seem like they’re capable of such a thing, but when you’re in a rough trade things happen, and sometimes those things look intentional when they aren’t.
We’ll be keeping tabs on all of this as the season goes on. It’s easy to get caught up in the drama and the characters and forget that we’re basically watching a subtle murder mystery disguised as a social satire. Or maybe the other way around. Either way, we can’t wait to see what Sicily has in store for these characters this season.
24 Comments
One thing we know is that its not Tanya that died at sea, as that leg did not match hers.
Rocco DID say there was more than one death.
why I preferenced it as died at sea and that specific set of legs.
The couple of small details I found interesting in this episode were:Daphne is alone at the beach at the beginning and almost seems to be intentionally putting on a show for the newcomers about how happy she is and how perfect everything has been. She seems to apply sun tan lotion as she starts the convo and then immediately jumps into the water as well – which is an odd thing for anyone with experience using sun tan lotion to do.Daphne talks about watching a true crime documentary where a husband kills their wife by turning off their oxygen tank during a scuba diving excurison.
The Italian call girl who hooks up with Dominic kind of looks like Aubrey Plaza – enough where you could see someone making that mistake.No idea if any of these things are important or not or if I even correctly observed them.
Good spot on the sun-tan lotion immediately before jumping in.My significant other made the point that her make-up was noticeably done aswell, like, “more than just stage-craft make up” done. Which would track with the “going to the beach for alibi reasons” rather than actually preparing to go for one final swim in the Ionian Sea.
Based on the preview for the season after the episode, we know that both Daphne and Aubrey Plaza’s husbands get up to hijinks with the local hookers. I wouldn’t rule out that both women actually form a weird bond while on vacation and then orchestrate their husbands’ demises. After all, AP is a lawyer specializing in defending wronged people (particularly women) and Daphne knows her Dateline murders in and out. Tanya also suspects her husband is cheating.At least it’s not Valentina or Rocco that goes out, and I would bet Tanya doesn’t go out.
The rich a***oles never die, not on this show. So my money is on Portia. As cliche as it is, my next pick would be Mia or Lucia.
I’m going to go with Greg being the floater. I think he’s been on the phone with his real wife concerning a scheme to do away with Tanya. He’s after her money. He really didn’t like Portia around as a potential witness. Tanya’s was being warned about the deception with the visions of those creepy faces, during sex, regarding the Testa di Moro legend. So I think Tanya is being haunted to kill Greg for revenge. Hopefully, I’m completely wrong; I don’t want to figure out a mystery on episode one.
I like this theory. It would make sense that the Dateline story about the husbands who kill their wives on vacation would be foreshadowing. I was just saying to someone else that Greg’s marriage to Tanya may be a long con (since his nice guy personality and terminal illness seem to have both gone away since they got married), and I could see the plan going wrong and him ending up dead instead.
Isn’t Greg already terminally sick? I guess he could have been lying but it would be crazy if his plan was to find and seduce a super rich woman on vacation, marry her, and then kill her while on a second vacation. I think he’s just tired of Tanya as she seems like a constant mess. Like is it really surprising that he would be over her? She is fun to watch from afar but seems like a nightmare to be around.
And then he’d take the money to their little survival place in Wyoming.
That’s almost too perfect. I bet Greg is the floater, but all his scheming is like, him planning a surprise party or something. I’m not sure he’d care about Tanya eating all those macaroons and generally kinda being a dick to her if he was planning on offing her in the next few days.
This is a great theory, but I think it’s almost too obvious and is meant to be a misdirection.
A volcano will kill them all, Pompeii style.Thank you.
F. Murray Abraham. He killed Mozart, you know.
all I know is that halter swimsuit Aubrey was wearing looked fantastic on her.
My money is on the puttanas.
I am hoping for Imperioli to break out a couple of “Chris-tuff-fuh” Soprano slang words in the coming weeks.
Let the speculation begin—who’s going to die on The White Lotus this season?I don’t know, but I give it a 50% chance AVC will put it front and center within an hour of it happening, before most people stream it.
Don’t look at AVClub before you watch. Fixed that for you. Cheers.
We know Daphne makes it all the way to the end of the trip, but why was she on the beach alone without the rest of her party?I think the way the cold open plays out effectively rules out Ethan or Cameron because why would she be happily raving about the place if she had experienced anything traumatic, and then so shocked/panicked when she finds the floater? That tells me the floater is someone who’s more or less out of her orbit (unless she’s a sadistic sociopath, of course, but I don’t get that vibe) or on her periphery. Ethan and Cameron are definitely on their way to a falling out due to Harper’s attitude and/or Cameron’s potential advances, but I don’t think it will end in violence.Greg seems like the most likely candidate to be in some kind of hitch and ditch scheme to get Tanya’s money, but that’s almost too obvious and his shitty treatment of her and secretive phone calls are just a red herring.
One thing to remember thematically from last season is that this show doesn’t have must interest in justice/karma. Spoilers from S1: – Armond was a gay man whose whole life had been subservient to cocky rich bros like Jake who probably bullied him in school and now bully him professionally. He snaps in one act of defiance and gets murdered for it, while Jake walks off scot-free (and with a handshake from the police!) – Kai has been treated as decorative ethic curiosity by guests his whole life, while they party on his stolen land – his one act of defiance and self-assertion turns out to be nothing more than a social justice fantasy wish-fulfillment for another bored rich guest, and lands him in jail. – Add to that Tanya’s thoughtless use, abuse, and casual repercussion-free discarding of Belinda. So, with all that, I doubtful it’s as simple as a jilted woman who kills her no-good cheatin’ husband. My guess is it’s close to the opposite – a cheater kills someone to cover it up and gets away with it.
The broody boy with the baseball cap as formal attire will kill his Bro college roommate and his uptight wife after they do the nasty behind his back.