This article contains spoilers for Season 2 of White Lotus.
It’s been a few days since the Season 2 finale of HBO’s White Lotus and believe me when I say that it’s all I’ve been thinking about. ICYMI: White Lotus is a limited series that follows the lives, drama, and scandals of guests at the luxurious, Four Seasons-Esque White Lotus hotel. Season 1 of the show, which aired in 2020, took place in the islands of Hawaii while Season 2 whisked us away to Sicily. And if you thought that the tranquil Italian beaches would quell the season’s drama then, bestie, you’d be wrong.
Perhaps, what makes White Lotus the most popular with audiences (besides the beautiful landscapes, obviously) is the creator Mike Mike’s attention to detail. The season is full of shocking twists and turns, but what the audience probably doesn’t know is that these twists didn’t come out of anywhere. In fact, they’re foreshadowed before the show even starts… in the opening credits.
Along with the fire theme song (IYKYK), the Season 2 opening titles featured flashes of — what looks to be — classic Italian art. However, if you have a keen eye, you might notice that the art mimics certain events that take place in the show. Upon a second look, you may notice some of the season’s biggest questions are answered — including what happened between Daphne and Ethan on that little island.
The credits foreshadowed Portia and Jack’s final scene.
One of the biggest twists in White Lotus took place in the whole Tanya-Quentin-Portia storyline — you know, the one where we find out that Tanya’s husband may have been inspiring to kill her to take her money, and using a group of gay men to do it? (If you have no clue what I’m talking about, please watch the show). And while the storyline mainly focuses on Tanya, her terribly-dressed assistant Portia also ends up in the mix, with a man named Jack.
Jack is off from the beginning. Later in the season, we learn that he actually is not who he says he is, and is dangerous to Portia. In the final episode, we learned that Jack has kidnapped Portia to keep her away from Tanya. Once Portia learns this, she asks to be taken back to Sicily. Instead, Jack chooses to save her by bringing her to the airport — so she can escape whatever fate may have been waiting for her back at The White Lotus. This scene definitely came as a shock — I knew I thought that Jack would hurt Portia — but it was actually foreshadowed in the credits.
Next to Haley Lu Richardson’s (the actress who plays Portia’s) name, we see the picture of a daydreaming girl next to a tired-looking lamb. In this instance, this could symbolize how Portia ends up this season — alone — and how Jack was the “sacrificial lamb” character all along.
By the end of the season, we learn that Jack was actually a man that’s trapped in a scary situation, and has to do Quentin’s dirty work. Alternatively, this could also symbolize Tanya or Portia’s status as a “sacrificial” character when it comes to getting access to Tanya’s finances.
Tanya’s Fate was sealed from the start.
Spoiler alert! Jennifer Coolidge’s beloved character, Tanya, is no more. After unaliving several gay men on a yacht (again, watch the show), Tanya attempts to escape to shore. Instead of making it, she ends up hitting her head on a lifeboat and dying. It’s derpy, a little sad, and kind of hilarious.
However, Tanya’s entire storyline was written out in the show’s credits: the deception with Greg, Quentin’s plan, and the deaths on the yacht. Throughout the credits, we see things like two goats goin’ at it behind a bush (which could symbolize Greg and Quentin’s implied affair), a boat in the ocean with a burning mansion in the back (again, this might allude to Tanya being off of the island while crazy stuff is going on back on at the resort), and a person on the shore watching it all (which could symbolize Portia).
However, one of the biggest Easter eggs involves the deaths on the yacht. In the credits, we see a photo of a man falling down the stairs, who has been stabbed in the back. This could symbolize Tanya, who dies after her “friends” turn on her, or Quentin, whose injuries look eerily similar to that of the illustration. I’ll let y’all be the judge,
WHAT ABOUT DAPHNE AND ETHAN?
The Daphne-Cam-Ethan-Harper storyline was full of juicy marital drama. After Ethan has a boy’s night with his married friend, Cameron, his wife Harper becomes suspicious that he cheated on her. And while Cameron was actually the one who cheated on his wife, Daphne, Harper decides to get payback on Ethan through flirting with Cameron.
Ethan spirals, eventually coming to Daphne to say that he believes that Harper and Cameron are having an affair. Then, Daphne says that Ethan should, in short terms, do whatever he has to do to not feel like a victim. After this, the two take a walk to a little island, and we don’t know exactly what happened there.
There are a couple of allusions to this in the credits. First, there’s an illustration of a couple engaging in oral sex on an island — which might just check out as a viable activity between Daphne and Ethan.
Second, next to Will Sharpe’s name (he plays Ethan), we see an illustration of a beautiful woman beckoning a man with a basket of fruit. And it looks almost exactly like the scene when Daphne invited Ethan to the island.
We were let in on Valentina, Mia, and Lucia’s relationship from the beginning.
Finally, the Mia-Valentina-Lucia storyline. In the opening credits, we see an image of two girls laying down, one with her breasts exposed, and one woman standing above them. Valentina, as the hotel manager, was scolding Lucia and Mia from the start. However, by the end of the season, she actually hooks up with Mia. The credits definitely spelled this one out for us, IMO.
Even The White Lotus Vespa ride was in the opening credits.
I’m just gonna leave this here.
