The White Lotus Season 2

The second season of ''The White Lotus'', an American satirical comedy-drama anthology television series created, written, and directed by Mike White, premiered on HBO on October 30, 2022. The season was greenlit in August 2021, filmed in Sicily in early 2022, and features an ensemble cast of F. Murray Abraham, Jennifer Coolidge, Adam DiMarco, Meghann Fahy, Beatrice Grannò, Jon Gries, Tom Hollander, Sabrina Impacciatore, Michael Imperioli, Theo James, Aubrey Plaza, Haley Lu Richardson, Will Sharpe, Simona Tabasco, and Leo Woodall. Coolidge and Gries reprise their roles from the previous season.

The plot follows the lives of the staff and wealthy guests at a luxury resort in Sicily. The season received critical acclaim, earning 12 nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmys and 11 nominations at the Creative Arts Emmys, winning five awards across both ceremonies.

Cast and characters

Main

* F. Murray Abraham as Bert Di Grasso, Dominic's elderly, womanizing father
* Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya McQuoid-Hunt, reprising her role from the first season
* Adam DiMarco as Albie Di Grasso, Dominic's affable, socially awkward son, a recent Stanford graduate
* Meghann Fahy as Daphne Sullivan, Cameron's seemingly sweet but manipulative stay-at-home wife
* Beatrice Grannò as Mia, a local aspiring singer who initially resists her friend Lucia's attempts to introduce her to sex work
* Jon Gries as Greg Hunt, Tanya's volatile husband
* Tom Hollander as Quentin, a wealthy gay British expat living in Sicily
* Sabrina Impacciatore as Valentina, the strict, no-nonsense manager of the White Lotus in Sicily
* Michael Imperioli as Dominic Di Grasso, a sex-addicted Hollywood producer traveling with his father, Bert, and son, Albie
* Theo James as Cameron Sullivan, a cocky and scheming investments manager, Daphne's husband and Ethan's college friend
* Aubrey Plaza as Harper Spiller, a strait-laced employment lawyer, Ethan's wife
* Haley Lu Richardson as Portia, Tanya's rudderless young assistant whom she brings on her vacation
* Will Sharpe as Ethan Spiller, a newly wealthy tech entrepreneur, Harper's husband and Cameron's college friend
* Simona Tabasco as Lucia Greco, a local hustler and sex worker
* Leo Woodall as Jack, a charismatic young man from Essex, whom Quentin introduces as his "naughty nephew"

Recurring

* Federico Ferrante as Rocco, a concierge at the White Lotus to whom Valentina has taken an inordinate dislike
* as Isabella, a concierge at the White Lotus with a permanent smile
* Federico Scribani Rossi as Giuseppe, a lecherous middle-aged lounge singer and pianist at the White Lotus
* Francesco Zecca as Matteo, Quentin's friend
* as Hugo, Quentin's friend
* Bruno Gouery as Didier, Quentin's friend
* Nicola Di Pinto as Tommaso, the captain of Quentin's yacht

Guest

* Laura Dern as the voice of Abby, Dominic's estranged wife
* Angelina Keeley and Kara Kay as two hotel guests.

Episodes

Production

Development

On August 10, 2021, HBO renewed ''The White Lotus'' for a second season. White initially envisioned the second season taking place in a political setting, such as a Bilderberg conference, but scrapped this idea and chose Italy instead. White said regarding this choice, "The kind of mythology of Sicily, at least from the point of view of Americans, is the archetypal sexual politics and role play that you associate with, like, opera and the mafia and Italian romance. I felt like it should be more focused on men and women and relationships and adultery and have an operatic feel to it, so I pivoted." Asked to describe the second season, White likened it to "a bedroom farce with teeth". Kim Neundorf served as an additional composer for the season. White had been inspired for the season by a trip he took with Jennifer Coolidge to Africa.

Casting

Upon the announcement of the second season renewal, HBO announced that a predominantly new cast of characters would be focused on at another White Lotus property for the second season, though Mike White had stated there was a possibility for a few cast members from the first season to return as their characters. On October 15, 2021, Coolidge was reported to be set to return for the second season. She and Jon Gries are the only actors in the season to reprise their roles from the previous season. In January 2022, Michael Imperioli, Aubrey Plaza, F. Murray Abraham, Adam DiMarco, Tom Hollander, and Haley Lu Richardson were confirmed to be cast to star in the season. In February 2022, Theo James, Meghann Fahy, and Will Sharpe joined the cast as series regulars, while Leo Woodall was cast in a recurring role for the season. In March 2022, Beatrice Grannò, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Simona Tabasco joined the starring cast for the season. The season features White's fellow '' Survivor: David vs. Goliath'' contestants Kara Kay and Angelina Keeley in cameo roles.

Filming

On January 20, 2022, the second season was reported to be filmed at the Four Seasons in Taormina, Sicily, Italy; on February 28, 2022, HBO confirmed that production had begun there. The opening theme of the second season, accompanied by a chorus of voices, shows scenes from the frescoes of Villa Tasca in Palermo. Filming took place in various locations in Sicily: throughout the city of Taormina, notably the San Domenico Palace hotel which represents the main location, and in the ancient theatre of Taormina; in Cefalù, with the long beach and the view of the Norman Cathedral; in Fiumefreddo di Sicilia (with the famous Slave Castle); in Palermo, in particular at the Teatro Massimo and at Villa Tasca; the interior scenes of the Opera house in Catania at the Teatro Massimo Bellini; in the city of Noto, in particular ''Villa Elena''; Giardini Naxos; and different views of the seafront of Sicily and Mount Etna.

Music

For the season, Cristobal Tapia de Veer collaborated with his manager Kim Neundorf to finish original compositions due to his own scheduling conflicts. For the theme tune, Tapia de Veer wanted to keep elements of the first season theme but rework it to better fit the Italian setting, including making it more harmonious. The season's theme, "Renaissance", begins with oscillating notes on a harp and before the orchestral strings, piano chords, and cymbals are layered in before the return of ululating vocals. This then reaches a high pitch, before a synthetic EDM dance beat builds and drops. Tapia de Veer credits Neundorf for bringing a more organic sound to the production. Singer Stephanie Osorio provided the vocals, whom Tapia de Veer recorded holding a long, single note as she wavered the sound through her hand. Tapia de Veer then sampled this and played different versions of it on a keyboard.

Budget

According to ''Vulture'', the costs of production for the season remained at under million per episode, the same as the first season. Italy, where the season was filmed, offers up to 40% tax credit to foreign productions taking place in the country.

Release

The second season premiered on October 30, 2022, on HBO and HBO Max, with episodes releasing every week until December 11, 2022.

Reception

Critical response

For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating with an average score of 8.2/10, based on 122 reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "Swapping its tropical trappings for Euro chic while focusing primarily on the corrosive influence of carnal desire, ''The White Lotus'' remains a cookie full of arsenic that goes down smooth." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 81 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Multiple critics voiced that White repeated the success of the first season with sharp writing, his ensemble cast, and more focused plot lines, with some saying it is an improvement on the first season. Lucy Mangan of ''The Guardian'' rated it 5 out of 5 and wrote, "The writing is as dense and layered as ever, the plotting is immaculate and the viewers' sympathies – or loathings – are never allowed to rest in one place for too long." Writing for ''The New Yorker'', Inkoo Kang gave a positive review, writing "the airless sociological fatalism of Season 1, which was matched by a claustrophobic production due to COVID-19 restrictions, gives way to a more mature drama, as well as a deeper exploration of how the characters' class concerns converge with gendered angst." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com wrote, "Mike White is a writer that is as thrilled with a fascinating dinner conversation as he is a murder mystery, and so even as the plotting sags more than it did the first time, the way that his characters bounce off each other, unpacking their social constructs, remains fascinating."

Alison Herman of '' The Ringer'' praised the series' pivot to the theme of gender politics, writing "White knows that sex, like money, is a form of power, and that each is intimately bound up in the other." Melanie McFarland of ''Salon'' observed, "You may not want to be in the same room with the people you're watching, but the sights alone provided a level of escapism like nothing else on TV." For ''The Washington Post'', Travis M. Andrews wrote "though these new episodes meander at times, Season 2 is more tightly plotted and there are enough new ideas, with even the most staid insights heightened by White's razor-sharp writing, for it to feel fresh." Some critics welcomed the characters Mia and Lucia, two Sicilian sex workers whose plot lines intersect with many of the hotel guests', saying their presence felt like a response by White to criticisms of the previous season's focus on its well-off leads. Others noted how the second season "has invested in horror imagery in a way the previous outing didn't, and it's been one of this installment's best through lines."

Some critics thought the shift from the themes of class criticism to gender roles made for a less riveting watch. Writing for ''Vulture'', Roxana Hadadi said season two "centers infidelity, to diminished effect", and that "there's also a new bluntness, and a noticeable tentativeness, that keeps this second season from hitting as hard and bruising as immediately as its predecessor." '' Vanity Fair''s Richard Lawson wrote season two is a "vibrant set of plates to set spinning, which White does with his usual mix of acerbic bite and melancholy. Though, things do feel a little less pointed this season." Shirley Li of ''The Atlantic'' noted "Season 2 is as juicy as season 1, but it's not as caustic in its approach." Commenting on the more diminished role of the hotel staff, Linda Holmes of NPR wrote, "Thematically, without that tension between how the guests see themselves and how the staff sees them, ''The White Lotus'' seems adrift. With all the criticism of the first season and the fair questions about whether it was satirizing its rich and white characters' lack of interest in the people around them or just reproducing it, it was always clear what the show was trying to be about, or thought it was about. It was trying to be about the foibles of wealth and carelessness; it's much less clear where White is going with this story."

The second season appeared in the top ten on numerous publications' "Best of 2022" lists, including first for ''Good Morning America'', ''The Independent'', and ''San Antonio Express-News''; second for '' I''; and third for '' Cleveland Plain-Dealer'', ''Irish Independent'', ''LA Weekly'', ''Newsday'', ''Radio Times'', ''TV Insider'', ''USA Today'', and ''The Washington Post'', among others.

Accolades

The second season received 12 nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards across 5 categories and 11 nominations at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards across 10 categories, moving from limited/ anthology series to drama. It won 4 awards at the Creative Arts Emmys. For the Primetime Emmys, Coolidge won Outstanding Supporting Actress. Other nominations included Outstanding Drama Series; F. Murray Abraham, Michael Imperioli, Theo James and Will Sharpe for Outstanding Supporting Actor; Meghann Fahy, Sabrina Impacciatore, Aubrey Plaza, and Simona Tabasco for Outstanding Supporting Actress; and White for Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Writing for the episode " Arrivederci".

Notes

References

External links

*
*

{{ScreenActorsGuildAwards EnsembleTVDrama

The White Lotus
White Lotus
2022 LGBTQ-related television