With the memory of the Hawaii-set first season in the rearview mirror,White has taken his travelling circus of romance and mystery to the south of Italy. This is the kingdom of hotel manager Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore),slightly neurotic and armed with a not-quite-lost-in-translation bluntness.
As the replacement for season one’s Armond (Murray Bartlett),she steps smoothly into his shoes. Armond was an almost alchemical creation. White’s fire starter who,when tossed into the garbage bin of eccentric,unbearable and even toxic guests,turned the lot into a mesmerising dumpster fire.
With almostFantasy Island flair,the hotel guests file into reception in the opening scenes,alternately smiling and balking at Valentina’s unwitting (maybe?) insults. Meanwhile,two local girls,aspiring singer Mia (Beatrice Granno) and her working girl friend Lucia (Simona Tabasco),prowl the hotel’s grounds looking for a client for Lucia.
You have a slightly awkward group of four:Daphne,her husband Cameron (Theo James),Cameron’s college roommate Ethan (Will Sharpe) and his wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza). Then there are the three generations of the Di Grasso family:relentlessly farting grandfather Bert (F. Murray Abraham),son Dominic (Michael Imperioli) and grandson Albie (Adam DiMarco). And of course,the returning Tanya McQuoid-Hunt (Jennifer Coolidge),her now-husband Greg (Jon Gries),and her assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson).
The dramatic engine ofThe White Lotus is deconstructing the wealthy. Everyone here is exceptionally attractive (or at least meticulously groomed) and deeply dysfunctional. The only noticeable gear change from season one is a subtle transition for Coolidge’s Tanya,as selfish as she was anxiety-ridden when we first met her,who has shifted into a slightly more nuanced,more sympathetic character. A necessary note change,to be sure,as she emerges as the link between the two seasons.