White Lotus: Review and Recap, Episode 6
Whew, baby! What an episode. It’s twelve hours later and my heart’s still racing. Much like Tanya’s, due to all the coke she’s inhaled in Palermo while banging a “mafia boss” (probably a hooker).
Let’s get into it! Time to talk character updates, theories confirmed, episode highlights, and finale expectations.
CHARACTER UPDATES
Ethan is losing his mind.
Which is an issue of his own making! If he had just come clean to Harper earlier (when she asked three times) about what happened while Harper and Daphne were in Noto, things would’ve been so much easier. I thought he was going to drown himself for a minute when he went out in the water after seeing Cam and Harper flirting over drinks. Will Sharpe does an excellent job portraying a guy on the brink of insanity.
Harper’s finally playing the game.
Did she and Cam actually fool around when she went up to get her hat? I don’t think so. But I enjoyed her messing with Ethan’s head. She also had one of the more heartbreaking lines of the season, replying to Ethan’s half-hearted “I love you” with a “God, that’s depressing.” Also, “we’re too young to be this old” was a dagger.
Daphne’s living her best life.
She’s just excited to get “massages” from Timmy Chalamet lookalikes and go home to her trainer bang-buddy.
Cam is… a relative mystery in this particular episode.
I think he’s getting caught up with Harper in a way he didn’t expect and it’s not gonna end well.
Albie is getting played by Lucia.
At least, that’s my take on it. Alessio only started appearing when Lucia realized Albie would do just about anything to save a prostitute, and I think she’ll end up either (a) getting thousands of dollars from Alb before he leaves or (b) Alb will take Lucia with him back to the U.S. The car abduction scene was strange. It felt almost unfinished.
The DiGrasso boys got a wake-up call by their Italian famiglia. Poetic justice.
As one Twitter user wrote: “kinda interesting how the Di Grasso ancestors were 3 women who are untrusting of men, implying all the men before these 3 generations also didn’t treat their wives/sisters properly and it’s an endless cycle.” This was especially confirmed by Bert’s sadness at dinner over his (unfair) expectations of a warm embrace.
Portia’s finally seeing who Jack is.
Jack lured her away from the palazzo and the party to get absolutely belligerently drunk and give away a few secrets. I was stunned, personally, by the actor who plays Jack. His performance both as a blasted British lad and West Ham fan on the streets of Palermo and as a depressed young man in too deep (whatever kind of financial/emotional/sexual debt he’s in) was Emmy-worthy. Portia seemed shocked, even though the audience saw this coming.
Also, a noteworthy tweet: “Season 2 of White Lotus would be so different if Portia had watched Love Island and knew to stay away from men from Essex.”
Tanya! Come on! We were all rooting for you!
But alas, she fell into the trap. The trap of cocaine, dancing, and “mafia boss” sex. However, she did find that photo of Quentin and Greg, confirming some audience theories.
Valentina kind of won.
Though Isabella rejected her advances due to her engagement with Rocco, Valentina is finally, truly exploring her sexuality thanks to sweet Mia.
THEORIES CONFIRMED
Quentin’s cowboy lover from Wyoming is definitely Greg.
So they must be in cahoots against Tanya. Could Tanya having sex with the mafia hooker void her prenup and get Greg a ton of money? Jack talked to Portia about his “uncle” Quentin coming into money soon…
More imagery from the title sequence!
Remember the swan and the naked lady? It’s basically Mia in her feathered white dress and Valentina getting it on.
Tanya’s own vision—when she disassociated during sex with Greg and saw “men with effeminate hairstyles” and “shark eyes”—came to life with the gays on coke.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Again, I was so impressed by Leo Woodall as a drunk and depressed Jack. It was heartbreaking. As always, Jennifer Coolidge is the queen of physical comedy and no one has been funnier snorting lines of cocaine. Aubrey Plaza continues to be a gift to our eyes, the ancient Italian nonna chasing Bert and the boys out of her casa was wonderful, Will Sharpe as Ethan going nuts is certainly the best he’s been all season as an actor, and I’m still in love with Mike White’s genius.
FINALE EXPECTATIONS
Remember in the trailer, when we saw Cam and Ethan violently fighting in the water? We haven’t seen that still, so it must happen in the finale. Could one of them be the body Daphne finds?
Bert keeps talking about falling again and that bandage on his head is prominent—I think he may take a fatal fall.
Chekhov’s gun… we saw a little pistol in Tanya’s mafia hooker’s bag. It has to be used now, right?
More than one guest must die, according to dialogue from episode one. Do Lucia and Mia count as guests, since they have spent at least one night at the White Lotus?
Mia has the master key from Valentina. This has to come into play. Mia’s got so many cards in her deck and I’m excited to see what she does! Also, could Guiseppe come back for revenge? We know he didn’t die from Mia giving him molly… just went to the hospital…
I am so excited (and that’s an understatement) for the finale next Sunday. Send me all your theories on the Content Consumed Instagram! Let’s chit-chat.
Cheers,
Casey
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