Another episode of
The White Lotus season 2, and another week during which I do still wonder why it got made, but I fear this is going to become repetitive on my part so let's just delve in.
Unsurprisingly, no one is faring well as the five star vacation progresses, aside from maybe Daphne, who never fights with her husband, doesn't not know a single thing about Puerto Rico, can't fathom why one would hesitate to bring a child into the world right now (despite her harrowing C-section experience), and seems to live off cocktails, emasculation theories, and well, yes, a huge fortune. Cameron's luggage still hasn't turned up, but his temper has and honestly, when you combine that with the fact that his company is apparently dealing with several harassment lawsuits, it does make one wonder if he's at the source of those. As does his insistance to seek out Harper and makes sure she "likes him", despite criticizing her behind her back, wondering why on Earth Ethan married her, again! His extroverted side does seem somewhat entertaining though, if that little fashion exhibition he does is any indication, and he and Daphne do seem to work as a couple, somehow. When she shared her delivery story, a somewhat genuine moment finally seemed to shine through, even catching Harper off guard.
On the other side of the beach towels, Ethan and Harper are
not doing great. Maybe it's all a smokescreen and their relationship will, in fact, prevail... but having sex life issues so early in the marriage, as well as an imbalanced way of making decisions between them (that fish thing is not going to be easily forgotten) doesn't bode particularly well. Ethan already seems tired of Harper's "shit talking" habit, and doesn't seem to want to spend time with her, leaving her alone at breakfast and shooting down her attempts to be close to him. He also has a very peculiar way of showering (I'm not buying he was just taking a cold shower after that little pornhub excursion, he'd also just come from a run!), with no soap, no scrubbing, wet hair that's suddenly already dry two minutes later, and barely getting time to dry before he shrugs on a shirt. This man stresses me out.
For that matter, so does Tanya. She seems (blissfully?) oblivious of Greg's decidedly shady behavior, and doesn't blink an eye when he suddenly turns into Mr (kind of) Nice for a day. He goes along with her perfect Italian day, including the Vespa, some unplanned bug swallowing (oh, how this reminded me of that Georgia Nicolson scene. Which, however, was much funnier, even in book form), giant clams, looking like Peppa Pig, and finally finding out that Greg has some kind of work-related thing to deal with in Denver. Please, the only emergency Greg has is the apparent affair he's having with someone, unbeknownst to Tanya... until she surprises him on a call, to said-person. I'm wondering what Tanya saw, exactly, in Greg, even in season 1 (it can't be that infuriating cough that had everyone thinking he was about to exit this life). He's always been hot and cold with her, he's clearly very worried about the prenup and... yeah, not going to end well.
As it turns out, Portia hanging around may have been a blessing in disguise (for Tanya, at least) if Greg's off in more ways than just geographically. The poor girl can't catch a break, even when she heads to a romantic restaurant, Tanya somehow ends up there too and berates her for being, basically, visible. She and Albie are on a somewhat awkward outing, talking about what they're each looking for in a partner. It seems pretty obvious that Albie's into her, and genuinely trying to avoid replicating whatever his grandfather and father are up to with (various, it seems) women. Portia, however, looks surprised when he asks to kiss her and hang out the next day. On a more superficial note, I'm glad to say that Portia does own something other than unlikely shirts and shorts, there was a cute(ish) dress in that suitcase! The shoes need to be thrown out but hey, it's only episode 2, maybe Lucia and Mia can take her shopping on ole' Dominic's credit card when the need arises.
I hope the following episodes are really going to pick up because so far, I still enjoyed season 1 and its characters a lot more. Lucia and Mia aren't particularly entertaining, and the only bright thing about the Di Grasso trilogy is that Dominic's estranged wife is voiced by Laura Dern. No screen time, no care though. What did you guys think of the episode? Are you enthralled by the Sicilian country side, mythology, and food yet (where is that Oreo cake though!)? As usual, share your thoughts in the comments!
