As endlessly long the wait for the second series of White Lotus to hit screens felt, the time it’s actually been on TV has been blink-and-you’ll-miss it. With the final episode a mere week away, we’ll soon be facing another bleak stretch with no uber luxury hotel chain, no chin-scratching whodunnit-ery and, worst of all, no Tanya McQuoid to see us through.
But before we mourn the loss of one of the best shows on the TV calendar, there’s loads of juicy ends to tie up which will are helping us to make the most of every last morsel of mystery the White Lotus Sicily might offer.
Ever since episode one back in October the show has been littered with Easter Eggs and fan theories, on everything from the leading role the art plays in the story telling, to speculation about who the killer and their victim(s) will transpire to be. But the penultimate episode has thrown up some curve balls that we’re desperate to get to the bottom of before the final credits roll.
The Cowboy Photo
For starters, those two men in the cowboy hats in the photograph Tanya found look prettttty familiar. This one was hard to miss, and Twitter was instantly a light with viewers scrambling to join the dots.
You’ll remember that in episode five, Tanya’s new GBF Quentin told her that he’d only ever been in love once, with a straight cowboy who never loved him back. Cut to Tanya finding the framed photograph in Quentin’s room, and the resemblance between the other man in the photo and Tanya’s missing husband Greg is uncanny. Which, naturally, lead to speculation that Tanya was being scammed by the pair. With Quentin trying to set up Tanya with ‘notoriously well hung’ stranger – whose peen, coincidentally, is the second we see in the series! – it could be that he and Greg are hoping to avoid a prenup by having her be unfaithful.
‘If it's blackmail to get out of the prenup, that's why greg was so pissed about portia because having her around ruins the plan,’ tweeted one viewer. ‘But... if you're Quentin, why would you leave that pic around unless you wanted to rub it in Tanya's face?
‘I feel like murder is possible too! But it seems really elaborate, like why would you need a sex worker to f*ck her if you’re just gonna do some murdering?’
Which brings us on to…
The red dot
When Tanya did eventually give in to temptation in her husband’s absence and has sex with Niccolo (he of ‘well hung’ proportions), fans were immediately distracted by a red dot in the top corner of the room, with many speculating it could be a camera. Later in the scene, the camera pans out in what some have pointed out a ‘voyeuristic’ manner, similarly to what you would expect if you were spying on the couple doing the deed.
So it could be that Tanya’s extra-marital hook up, to all extents and purposes fully orchestrated by her mysterious new friend Quentin, is being recorded. But to what ends? The theory that Quentin is in cahoots with Greg, particularly considering the cowboy photo, holds up, with loads of people convinced that the pair are hoping to exploit a loophole in the prenuptial agreement protecting Tanya’s millions. Similarly, the footage could be intended to be used for blackmail later on, which could nicely set up a season three storyline… if Tanya isn’t dead by then, obviously.
Jack’s drunken confession
When Tanya stumbled upon Quentin mid-coitus with his ‘nephew’ Jack, it took the internet a hot minute to cotton onto the fact that incest wasn’t a fun part of the plot, but that Jack was a sex worker hired by Quentin to come on holiday with him.
But it was a drunken conversation with Tanya’s assistant Portia which was the bigger plot twist. Like everyone at the prestigious White Lotus Sicily, Quentin and his rough around the edges guest are at pains to flaunt their wealth and fit in with the glamorous, rich clientele. But suspicions about Quentin’s nefarious dealings on the island were only validated when Jack told Portia that his ‘uncle’ Quentin was set to come into vast wealth soon. Could this be the proof we need that Quentin is set on scamming Tanya, and that Jack will be compensated handsomely for his role? With episode seven mere days away, there isn’t long to wait to find out.