The White Lotus twists the Italian Dream into a nightmare

Warning: this story contains spoilers for the season two episode The Italian Dream of The White Lotus.

In many ways going on holiday represents a waking dream, a time where reality is temporarily on pause, and we do things we’d never usually contemplate in real life: drink at midday, ignore emails and wear linen head-to-toe.

But there inevitably comes a time, during even the most vivid dream, when we wake up and realise that none of it is real. Sadly, the same thing tends to happen on holidays, a moment when the illusion is shattered, and you are forced to accept that despite being day drunk and rocking a fun wardrobe, you can’t outrun the horror of who you really are.

The Italian Dream is something of a nightmare for Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) in The White Lotus.Credit: BINGE / HBO

In the second episode of The White Lotus season two, conveniently titled The Italian Dream, everyone is trying to escape something. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) finds herself unable to move past the fact she is still herself, even in Sicily.

“Such a beautiful view,” she says, taking in the view from the breakfast buffet. “I wonder if anyone’s ever jumped from here?”

Tanya McQuoid-Hunt (Jennifer Coolidge) in The White Lotus.Credit: HBO

During the last episode, we learned that despite finding her happily ever after with Greg (Jon Gries), Tanya is no closer to finding contentment. In Tanya’s defence, a dream life with Greg feels like more of a nightmare, given his apparent disinterest in their marriage.

Despite all this, she remains the world’s most pessimistic optimist, determined to have her dream day in Italy: dressing as Monica Vitti, riding a Vespa, eating plates of pasta and smoking thin cigarettes.

“We’re really chic and happy, and we’re beautiful,” she says to Greg, though you get the feeling Tanya accepts those descriptions are beyond her. To his credit, Greg rents a Vespa, but by the end of the episode, he is telling her he has to rush back to Denver for work, and Tanya’s dream is shattered.

Meanwhile, on the couples holiday from hell, Harper (Aubrey Plaza) spends her time running away from Daphne (Meghann Fahy) and Cameron (Theo James) while Ethan is just running.

No one should be shocked that Ethan (Will Sharpe) is the kind of guy who exercises on holidays, but Harper is definitely shocked to find him masturbating in the room when she returns from breakfast.

The worst of friends. Holidaying American couples, from left, Ethan Spiller (Will Sharpe) and Harper (Aubrey Plaza), with Daphne Sullivan (Meghann Fahy) and Cameron (Theo James) in The White Lotus.Credit: HBO/Binge

“I was only gone for 15 minutes; I just grabbed a croissant,” she says. Harper offers a half-hearted attempt to join in, but, as Ethan points out, she’s “not a morning sex person.”

Instead, she is more comfortable doing what she does best; picking apart Daphne and Cameron’s perceived dream life.

“Daphne and Cameron never fight; if you never fight, then your relationship is not real,” says Harper. “They act like they’re on their honeymoon, but it’s bogus; it’s not real.”

It’s become increasingly hard to decipher what is real with this curious foursome besides the simmering tension between Harper and Cameron. Cameron represents everything Harper believes to be wrong about the world, yet she can’t help but be intrigued by him.

Cameron (Theo James) and Harper (Aubrey Plaza) far right, seem drawn to one another, despite their obvious differences. Credit: HBO / BINGE

In so many ways, Cameron is the anti-Ethan; loud, obnoxious, confident and comfortable in his wealth. It’s as if his very presence makes Harper realise that while she might not want their dream life, she may not be content with her real life either.

Later on in the episode, Cameron surprises Harper from beneath the water during a swim, clutching at her legs. “I thought you were a shark,” says a shocked Harper without an ounce of irony. Cameron could well be a shark, but so too could Harper.

Over on the world’s weirdest boys’ trip, Dominic’s (Michael Imperioli) version of the Italian dream is to play happy families for a day, but each of the De Grasso men is too distracted by their drama to ever really switch off.

Like father, like son. Dominic (Michael Imperioli) finds himself haunted by the sins of his father, Bert (F. Murray Abraham). Credit: HBO / BINGE

No stranger to extra-marital affairs, Bert (F. Murray Abraham) is determined to know why Dominic’s wife and daughter are absent from the holiday (he knows, but he doesn’t understand).

Meanwhile, Dominic is more concerned with making sure no one figures out local girls Lucia and Mia are staying at The White Lotus on his dime and in his room.

As for Albie (Adam DiMarco), well, he is trying his hardest to prove to Portia he is nothing like his father or grandfather. He’s wholesome; he’s respectful, he’s precisely the type of guy she isn’t looking for, having made her intention “to get thrown around by some hot Italian guy” crystal clear in episode one.

And therein lies the magic of The White Lotus, everyone is searching for something they can’t seem to find, and like a dream, it all feels within reach for a moment.

But then you abruptly wake up, real-life resumes, and the Italian Dream is over - for another week at least.

The White Lotus is on Binge and Foxtel On Demand.

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