We’re Breaking Down the Shocking (but Unsurprising?) Ending of ‘The White Lotus’ Season 2
IDK about you, but I’m still absolutely reeling from that White Lotus finale. The creator, Mike White, has an uncanny ability to surprise audiences but give them an ending that also feels perfectly spot-on and not like it came out of nowhere, and this episode was no exception. There’s a lot to discuss from the finale, so we’re here to break down everything that happened to everyone, including who died and how they died. Here’s where every character ended up and what may or may not have happened in the finale.
Tanya
Oof, Tanya. I’m so sorry to see you go, but honestly, it was a bit fun to watch you leave. On the way back to Taormina from Palermo on the yacht, Tanya finally puts two and two together (with help from Portia) that the men on the boat are actually, definitely connected to Greg and they are actually, definitely trying to kill her for the money Greg will get if Tanya dies.
She stalls as long as she can, then grabs the gun the drug dealer brought with him to kill her and shoots her way out of the bedroom. She kills all the guys on the yacht, seemingly giving herself the freedom to escape and survive. But when she tries to jump from the yacht, she hits her head on the smaller boat waiting in the water and dies. She was so close!! But at the end of the day, it feels right that the only person who could truly take Tanya out was herself.
In the words of creator Mike White:
Raise your hand if you have ever been personally victimized by Mike White #TheWhiteLotus pic.twitter.com/nX5le8pCCs
— 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐢 (@camiferreol) December 12, 2022
Portia
For her part in this whole thing, Portia realizes she’s basically being abducted and sneaks away to call Tanya and tell her what she knows. Jack insists on driving her back to Taormina himself, which, girl, you should have literally RUN. When they get in the car, Portia confronts Jack and he basically admits that there is something very bad happening to her and Tanya. At some point during the drive back to the resort, Jack pulls over and allows Portia to get out of the car. He tells her not to go back to the resort, throws her a phone, and drives away. Honestly, she’s lucky he liked her because she was certainly too dumb to escape on her own.
“These High-End Gays” + Jack + Greg?
In some ways, Jack is now free from whatever hold Quentin had on him, because Quentin and the other guys are dead. Except for that one man who made it off the boat! I don’t know his name, but I hope he thinks long and hard about his decisions.
Matteo, the man who stayed behind at the villa, seemed genuinely distraught about what was going to happen to Tanya. Maybe that’s why he had to stay behind and maybe he’ll tell the cops what he knows. As for Greg, I hope Portia goes home and tells someone who has some authority exactly what she knows about what went down in Sicily and he gets literally zero dollars.
Daphne + Cameron, Harper + Ethan
What are we going to do with these four? Ethan and Cameron duke it out in the water because Ethan is convinced something big happened between Cameron and Daphne. Ethan finds Daphne on the beach and tells her he think something happened between them, and Daphne goes from feeling upset and hurt to disassociating within, like, 0.02 seconds. Daphne and Ethan head to the little island across the water and do…something? We don’t know for a fact because it’s not shown, but my theory is that they at least hook up a little bit. Ethan goes back to his room and he and Harper actually, finally get it on, and all four of them go home happy-ish.
A little armchair psychology from me here, but I think Ethan and Daphne definitely did something on that little island. And even though I’m not sure how far it went, I think it gave Ethan the confidence or reignited his sense of desire so that he could remember why he was attracted to his wife. It’s like that mimetic desire theory in reverse. Cameron always wanted the things that were above his status. And Ethan had to learn that he could get exactly what Cameron had after Cameron took what he wanted from him for so many years. It’s like he was trying to even the score.
The Di Grasso Gentlemen
I was really hoping we’d get a fun Bert reveal in this finale, but all we learned about him is that he can still get aroused. Albie talks Dominic into wiring Lucia 50 grand so that he can free her from her “pimp,” and Albie very quickly realizes he’s been played. Dominic realizes Albie is likely being played but wires the money anyway because of a karmic debt he feels to the universe and because Albie swears he’ll put in a good word with his mother if Dominic does it. Wait until Laura Dern, who voices the wife/mother on the phone, hears that her son sold her out for 50 grand. Ouch. The three of them get on the plane home more or less as the exact same people they were before.
Lucia and Mia
Lucia and Mia stay winning!!! Lucia’s con on Albie worked (Alessio was a friend of theirs), and frankly, I don’t feel bad for him. That’s what happens when you go through life trying to fix every woman you encounter. Mia gets the job as the singer at the White Lotus, and between the two of them, they’re 50 grand richer. Good for them!!
Valentina
Valentina finishes the season with the proverbial stick firmly pulled out of her ass, and I’m happy for her.
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