Little is still what it seems at another White Lotus resort halfway across the world, certainly souring la dolce vita for the fabled hotel chain’s latest round of guests.
The trailer for the Emmy-winning series’ highly anticipated second season checked in on Thursday, introducing new guests, the picture-perfect Sicilian locale and one chronic visitor: Jennifer Coolidge’s well-heeled Tanya McQuoid, who’s now a newlywed honeymooning with her Season 1 man, Greg (Jon Gries) — and her assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), much to her new husband’s dismay.
“Whenever I stay at a White Lotus, I always have a memorable time. Always,” McQuoid says, later revealing she’s convinced Greg is having an affair.
There’s also a multigenerational trio of men on a “boys’ trip.” The Di Grasso men, who at first claim they’re traveling together to learn about their Sicilian heritage, quickly reveal that they’re on a family vacation because all the women in their family hate one particular scoundrel among them.
Michael Imperioli’s Dominic Di Grasso seems up to “sloppy” no good with two young women he invites to the hotel: “They’re going to be visiting me this week. Coming and going,” he tells the front desk’s Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore), who appears to be this season’s Armond (played last season by Emmy winner Murray Bartlett.)
“They come. And go,” she quips, astutely reading between the lines. “I see.”
Aubrey Plaza’s character Harper Spiller — a skeptical and seemingly long-suffering girlfriend — is among the first guests to cast doubt on the closed-door happenings of the cliffside resort. That seems to be because the couples’ trip she’s on converges her relationship with a sketchy playboy, his forgetful wife and uneasiness about her boyfriend’s (Will Sharpe) newfound wealth.
“I’ve seen a lot of guys who, like, make all this money and they just start acting different,” Meghann Fahy’s Daphne Babcock tells Harper.
Cut to a scene of Daphne’s husband Cameron (Theo James) and two women getting ready to party, going all in on a woman named Lucia’s molly stash and “let’s fun” catchphrase. (Lucia is played by Simona Tabasco.)
The trailer’s tense score crescendos from there as things begin to go sideways: Drinks are poured, shots are swilled, someone falls into a pool, waves crash, vases crash, people have sex, Tanya ‘fesses up to “a series of very bad decisions,” someone passes out, a gun is found and a dead body is carried out of the hotel in a black body bag.
“Italy’s just so romantic. You’re gonna die. I’m gonna have to drag you outta here,” Daphne adds, sitting pretty on the beach.
The sophomore season of Mike White’s satire begins streaming on HBO Max on Oct. 30.
———
