The White Lotus: I wasn’t a fan of the first series, but now I’m hooked by the second

REVIEW: “Every time I stay at The White Lotus, I have a memorable time.”

That might be true for Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid, but for me, my first experience of the Emmy Award-winning dramedy definitely made me less inclined for a return visit.

While I appreciated it as a social satire and workplace comedy (and Australian Murray Bartlett’s magnificent turn as the acerbic Armond), I found some of its edgier and darker moments less successful, while many of Mike White’s characters felt one-dimensional and their “situations” more than a little contrived.

Fitfully funny and diverting, rather than truly compelling, was the verdict of my stay.

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However, thanks to having gathered more than its fair share of fervent admirers (and a boatload of awards and critical acclaim) from around the globe, the series is back. Like its big-screen “mysterious death amongst the wealthy” counterpart, Rian Johnson’s https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/film-reviews/117738324/knives-out-the-murder-mystery-thats-also-one-of-the-best-movies-of-2019″>truly magnificent Knives Out, has relocated the action to a southern European island (if you’re looking for a common reason for that – think global pandemic and how much easier and nicer it is to “bubble” a production in such a location).

Sporting a virtually all-new cast (save the always watchable Coolidge) of self-obsessed, sparring, jarring characters in crisis, as well as making use of all the history and gorgeous backdrops Sicily has to offer, I have to confess I’ve become seduced by White Lotus and all its accoutrements, desperate to know how the week will play out (over seven episodes) and whose ankle it is who we’ve caught a glimpse of floating in the Ionian Sea.

Yes, as with the original Hawaiian-set six-episode run, the action begins with a dead body – and a guest preparing to depart.

Daphne Babcock (Meghann Fahy) is holding court on the beach, enthusing about her experience to a couple of fresh arrivals.

“The hotel was perfect, the staff excellent. Italy is just so romantic – you’re going to die. They’re going to have to drag you out of here.”

However, it’s while taking one last dip that she encounters the floater, naturally sparking alarm amongst her fellow sunbathers and the resort staff.

“It’s okay,” resort manager Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) reasons, trying to restore calm, “the ocean is not our property. We can’t be responsible for what happens in the Ionian Sea”. That facade though is quickly shattered when its revealed that more than one guest won’t be leaving the island while still breathing.

Cut to 7 days earlier, when Daphne arrives at the resort with husband Cameron (Theo James), his old college room-mate Ethan (Will Sharpe) and Ethan’s employment lawyer wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza).

From the moment she steps onto the jetty, it’s clear the latter is not exactly thrilled to be there. “They’re so touchy-feely, it’s feels performative,” she notes of Daphne and Cameron’s public displays of affection, “Who does that?”

“Happily married couples,” Ethan snaps back.

But while he worries that she’s going to make the week awkward, she’s convinced they’ve been asked on the trip for a reason and concerned how she’s going to endure the differences in their world views. For while she needs sleeping pills because of worrying about the state of the planet, the Babcocks admit they don’t watch the news (“It’s just polarising society by making us watch a shared apocalyptic soap opera”), preferring Ted Lasso instead.

“We’re just entertaining each other while the world burns,” shrieks Harper.

“I love a binge,” counters Daphne, oblivious to what her dinner partner is saying.

In another part of the resort, three generations of the Di Grasso family are gearing up for a visit to their ancestral village. But while 50-something Dominic’s (Michael Imperioli) attempts to reconcile with his wife back in America falls on deaf ears, his son Albie (Adam DeMarco) is left to deal with his flatulent, constantly flirting 80-year-old grandfather Bert (F. Murray Abraham), attempting to cut him off at the pass before he’s slapped with a hand – or a lawsuit.

To Albie’s immense frustration, Bert even manages to cut short his poolside meet-cute with Portia (Haley Lu Richardson).

For her part, she’s just happy to have spent some time out of her room, having been ordered to stay there for the entire week by her boss Tanya (Coolidge).

“The job is a joke, she is a miserable mess,” Portia confides to her best friend on the phone, admitting that she had hoped this change of scene might also include her getting “thrown around by some Italian guy” while Tanya reconnected with her third husband Greg (Jon Gries).

However, Greg is less-than-impressed with Tanya bringing her assistant on their “romantic vacation”, demanding she send Portia away. Preferring to keep her close, Tanya decides keeping her out of sight will work just as well.

All the stress though causes Tanya to inhale the macarons and quaff all the champagne offered, while Greg’s self-confessed “swamp crotch” rapidly kills the mood.

There’s just something about watching this collection of awful affluent people (and the baggage they’ve brought – or not, in Cameron’s case) that’s truly addictive. Maybe it’s the prospect that at least one of them will be offed and trying to work out how any accident – intentional or otherwise – might play out and who could have “caused” or “contributed” towards it is what keeps you engrossed. Let’s just say there are any number of motives and potential victim-perpetrator couplings by the end of the hour-long opening episode.

Gathering together an arguably stronger, solider ensemble (perhaps a result of everyone in Hollywood wanting to appear on the show after watching the first season), White’s writing feels crisper, the satire sharper, the commentary even more contemporary in feel.

The second season of The White Lotus debuts on Sky TV’s SoHo channel at 8.30pm on Monday, October 30. Episodes will also be available tohttps://www.neontv.co.nz/series/the-white-lotus”> stream on Neon.