On The White Lotus, change is as good as a holiday

Warning: this story contains spoilers for season two, episode four of The White Lotus.

The midway point of any holiday often brings a certain malaise; the initial excitement has dimmed, and with the end in sight, there comes an urge to switch things up. For most normal people, this might be a subtle shift, say, ordering something new from the menu or hiring a scooter when you swore you wouldn’t.

But here at the sexually charged White Lotus: Sicily straying from the club sandwich will not cut it.

Harper (Aubrey Plaza) suspects her husband Ethan (Will Sharpe) may be changing in front of her eyes,Credit: HBO / Binge

Instead, the winds of change are blowing our guests in various directions, to different bedrooms and, in one particularly confronting case, a church pew.

Let’s begin where we left off: the world’s most dysfunctional couples holiday. The vibe between our awkward foursome has been in a near-constant state of flux from the get-go, but following Cameron and Ethan’s night of debauchery, Harper (Aubrey Plaza) is quick to notice a difference in her husband.

As she rejoices in being right about Cameron (Theo James) and Daphne’s (Meghann Fahy) fauxmance - “it’s a front; he cheats on her!” - Ethan (Will Sharpe) is even more silent than usual.

Of course, he is doing his best to adhere to Cameron’s “bro code” demand for silence, but when Harper discovers a condom wrapper, she mistakenly believes her “loyal to a fault” husband may not be so loyal after all.

While Harper digests the cracks in her own marriage, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) and Tanya miraculously find themselves on the same page - for once. They are both bored, frustrated, and desperate for distraction which conveniently arrives in the form of the charming Fedora-wearing Quentin (Tom Hollander).

Quentin is a wealthy gay English ex-pat who lives in Sicily and showers Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) with tailor-made praise: “You’re so chic; you have impeccable style.”

He invites Portia and Tanya to spend the day with him and his husband, and for Tanya, it is precisely the change she has been searching for.

The arrival of champagne-swilling Quentin (Tom Hollander) turns Tanya’s holiday blues around.Credit: HBO / Binge

Her fixation on straight men has only led to heartbreak, but the warmth of Quentin breathes new life into the eternally pessimistic Tanya.

“If you’re looking for a friend, gay guys really are the best,” she tells Portia. “Women are depressing; most women are drips. It’s not their fault; they have a lot to be depressed about.”

By her own admission, Portia probably includes herself in that “depressing drip” category, but following Tanya’s lead, she too chooses to mix things up.

Over breakfast, she briefly considered revisiting a holiday romance with Albie (Adam DiMarco), having palmed him off poolside the previous evening.

“He’s nice and smart; he went to Stanford ... he’s not non-binary,” she says to a barely-listening Tanya. “I feel like I should give him a chance.”

But the arrival of Quentin comes with an added bonus, his naughty nephew Jack (Leo Woodall), AKA the attractive British guy Portia previously spied in the pool.

Jack has major Love Island vibes, and while he may not be Italian, he is precisely the type of holiday fling Portia had in mind: dangerous, cheeky, and probably good at throwing her around.

“If you want an adventure, stick with me,” Jack teases while a jealous Albie looks on from the beach.

You all right, luv? Cheeky British chap Jack is basically the anti-Albie, and Portia is instantly drawn to his point of difference.Credit: HBO / Binge

Having clocked that Portia’s interest has cooled, Albie finds himself at a loose end. He is sad, lonely and adrift, making him the perfect mark for Lucia, right? Well, kind of.

But as it turns out, change has also come calling for the unflappable Lucia (Simona Tabasco), who finds herself similarly at a loose end and suffering a crisis of conscience about her line of work. “All whores are punished in the end,” she says to a bemused Mia.

While Lucia appears to be weighing up change for the better, Mia (Beatrice Granno), who has been largely reluctant to hustle like Lucia, seems to have made peace with being a commodity. In fact, she’s off to have sex with Giuseppe (Federico Scribani), the hotel pianist, in exchange for help with her music career.

Ready for a role reversal? Mia and Lucia trade places in episode four of The White Lotus.Credit: HBO / Binge

“Having sex knowing exactly what you get out of it is not so bad,” she declares. “If I want to sing, I have to do it.”

Despite her inner turmoil, Lucia can’t help but do what she does best, zeroing in on Albie and taking him to bed. However, it’s unclear if he is just another transaction or an attempt to anchor herself to someone who seems pure during a personal crisis.

The happy couple? Lucia sets her sights on nice guy Albie. But is he a mark or something more?Credit: HBO / Binge

Naturally, Mike White ties all these loose ends together to form a new series of knots. But now what? On the surface, everything seems different, but if you squint, it all feels rather familiar.

Harper is even more convinced of her outsider status, Tanya’s happiness remains dependent on the affection of others, and Lucia and Mia exchange sex for their end goals.

It appears that at The White Lotus, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The White Lotus is on Binge and Foxtel On Demand.

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