HBO’s The White Lotus took us abruptly final summer time… but it surely shouldn’t have. In any case, Mike White crafted one other uncomfortably hilarious sequence a number of years again with Enlightened, and right here, with a glowing forged populating his acid-tongued comedy of manners, Lotus ended up garnering extra buzz and awards consideration than Enlightened ever did. Now it’s change into an anthology, and with Season 2 arriving on HBO this Sunday at 9/8c (I’ve seen the primary two episodes), the query is: Can White recapture the previous magic with a brand new forged? Or is Season 2 destined to really feel like a visit to someplace we’ve already been earlier than?
Fortunately, the brand new season does add a number of intriguing wrinkles to the formulation — sufficient to assist us overlook a few of its extra repetitive tendencies. Season 2 whisks us away to a different White Lotus luxurious resort, a seaside resort in Sicily that welcomes a contemporary crop of overly pampered vacationers, together with a mismatched pair of younger married {couples} caught collectively on trip and a newly divorced dad attempting to reconnect to his Italian roots along with his aged father and son in tow. There may be one repeat visitor, although: Jennifer Coolidge reprises her Emmy-winning position as spacey socialite Tanya, bringing alongside a fleet of bags, her now-husband Greg (Jon Gries) and a frazzled new assistant, Portia, performed winningly by Haley Lu Richardson.
Season 2 hits on a number of the identical themes as final season — wealthy individuals wallow of their privilege amid lovely vistas, whereas the much less lucky scramble to maintain them joyful — however White goes heavy on the marital dissatisfaction this time, too. Aubrey Plaza and Will Sharpe play Ethan and Harper, a newly wealthy couple sharing a getaway with the cheerfully oblivious Cameron (Theo James) and Daphne (Meghann Fahy) whereas working via nagging problems with their very own. The Sopranos vet Michael Imperioli performs the divorced dad Dominic, combating to maintain his household collectively whereas indulging in his personal self-destructive appetites. Even lovebirds Tanya and Greg at the moment are bickering, with the goofy spark they shared in Season 1 now snuffed out.
The brand new season is decidedly extra amorous as effectively, with a number of characters on the prowl for sexual journey. (We even see Tanya and Greg within the act, though naturally, it’s performed for laughs.) However on the coronary heart of The White Lotus is White’s keenly observant eye for awkward social interactions and ear for naturalistic dialogue, the place the characters say simply as a lot by what they’re not saying. Sure, Season 2 does deliver again its murder-mystery ingredient, opening on one other lifeless physique — and multiple this time — however via White’s emotionally insightful writing, the true fireworks come from inside.
I’m torn on the return of Tanya: In some ways, it seems like a rerun and a distraction from the opposite storylines, however Coolidge is a lot enjoyable as Tanya that it’s arduous to argue with it. (Her presence right here is form of like Season 2 in a nutshell: perhaps pointless, however nonetheless satisfying anyway.) The brand new forged is as soon as once more studded with gems, highlighted by Fahy as chipper trophy spouse Daphne and F. Murray Abraham as Dominic’s dad Bert, a raunchy previous codger who flirts with each woman he sees. Really, a mischievous pair of Sicilian women, Lucia and Mia (Simona Tabasco and Beatrice Granno), is perhaps probably the most refreshing additions of all, bringing some vibrant native coloration to the proceedings. The resort workers, although, isn’t as fascinating this time; the resort’s tightly wound supervisor Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) feels too broad for an in any other case refined sequence.
Season 1 of The White Lotus was such a breath of contemporary air that it’s barely disappointing at first to see Season 2 taking part in lots of the identical notes, simply in a unique key. However two episodes in, it had already began to develop on me, as long-held secrets and techniques and hidden resentments between the visitors started to crop up. The season additionally has an old-world class and a continental aptitude to it that contrasts properly with final season’s lush Hawaiian dream, indicating that this anthology might hold tweaking its formulation for years to come back. Even when it repeats itself a bit, The White Lotus remains to be head and shoulders above the overwhelming majority of TV exhibits, and with the best way it cycles in nice new actors and tailors itself to its environment, I actually wouldn’t thoughts making a keep at The White Lotus an annual journey.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: Season 2 of The White Lotus hits on a number of the identical themes as final season, but it surely nonetheless affords a terrific forged and insightful social satire.
