‘The White Lotus’ Season 2 Premiere Non-Spoiler Review – “Ciao”

Mike White’s hit HBO multiple Emmy Award-winning satire comedy-drama series, The White Lotus, returns for a second season. Now an anthology, the series creator takes the hotel chaos halfway across the globe to Sicily, Italy. I got to see a majority of what he and his team have to offer, and let’s just say that things continue to be overwhelming.

The second season’s first episode is titled, “Ciao”. It is written and directed by Mike White.

In this review, I will be discussing The White Lotus Season 2 Episode 1. There will be no major spoilers here, as the title of this article suggests. Nonetheless, please read ahead at your own discretion.

Please note that I have seen the season’s first five out of seven episodes before their airing to properly understand the small details and the larger picture of the narrative.

Plot Synopsis

According to WarnerMedia, here is the logline for The White Lotus Season 2 Episode 1—“Ciao”.

On a couples’ trip in Sicily, Harper (Aubrey Plaza), Ethan (Will Sharpe), Daphne (Meghann Fahy), and Cameron (Theo James) spend an awkward first day sizing each other up. As Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) arrives with her new assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), Dominic (Michael Imperioli) fields questions from his father Bert (F. Murray Abraham) about his wife’s absence, while his son Albie (Adam DiMarco) plays neutral. Meanwhile, hotel manager Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) tries to keep locals Mia (Beatrice Grannò) and Lucia (Simona Tabasco) out of her establishment.

WarnerMedia

Discussion

At nearly one hour, “Ciao” resets The White Lotus lore in a way that gives viewers a clean slate. The second season premiere plays out in the same way that the series pilot did in the summer of last year. The viewer is shown that someone has died, there are one or two surviving characters, and the mystery is supposedly forgotten about as White takes us through the 7-day journey of new hotel guests, employees, locals, and more. I noted his use of plot structure in the way that each day utilizes a prologue (waking up), a first (breakfast), a second (lunch), and a third (dinner) act, then ending in an epilogue (heading to sleep), of course. This appears simple, yet the details and events within the episodes’ structures make up the complexities of the overall narrative.

Welcome to The White Lotus Sicily

To add to the intricacies of White’s storytelling, the roster of characters is larger this time around. In Season 1, we had the Mossbacher family, the Patton couple, Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge), and the Maui hotel staff.

In contrast, the Sicily season features just a few more groups to juggle: the Di Grassos, Tanya McQuoid-Hunt (Coolidge), her partner, Greg (Jon Gries), her assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), the Babcock couple (WarnerMedia Press has this pair credited as the Sullivans), the Spiller couple, two girls named Lucía (Simona Tabasco) and Mia (Beatrice Grannò), and the Sicily hotel staff…

Looking at this new roster, you can see how this can get calamitous. That isn’t to mention the season introduces an “uncle and nephew” duo and their group somewhere down the line, but we will get to that in a later episode review.

Eyes and Ears

The White Lotus‘s use of Italian music is a hit or miss. Personally, I quite like the scoring that de Veer and his team use. The season also remixes its theme song in a way that is specific to the Sicilian theme. Everything new this time around requires some getting used to, so it might not be for everyone right away.

Grobet and Larson have awe-inspiring cinematography with the Italian scenery, and when paired with Valerio and Bower’s editing, the new plot can smoothly transition from one scene to another. At the quarter-mark of the episode, there is a nice shot of a pond with a lily floating on top, which takes us to a polished floor of the reception area. In another example, towards the end of the episode, we see the moon shining in the night over the Ionian Sea and the dark water glistening from the rays of light. Neat details like these exhibit the beauty of the atmosphere, while everything else — the controversies that emanate in this episode and follow throughout the season — is anything but bellissimo.

The Construction of the Hotel

The production team worked hard on the room designs and the rest of the hotel’s architecture. One particular prop that I am curious for the show to expand on is the head statues that appear in this episode. One hotel employee, Rocco (Federico Ferrante), does get into the history of the heads, but the following four episodes do not return to this. It would be interesting to return to this in the final two episodes as a means to extrapolate on the significance of the statues’ use in the season.

Moreover, in terms of the hotel’s layout, I would love to see where every section is to further determine how the mystery is to be solved. Rocco does have a minor role in the background that is switched to another part of the hotel midway through the season, so I wonder how the changes are done a second time in the latter two episodes.

Outfits for the Occasion

Lastly, I want to talk about the appearances of the characters themselves. Bovaird and Sprouse deliver some of the most gorgeous looks in the show so far, and it’s primarily in the women’s costumes. Whether it’s bathing suits, dinner dresses, or other kinds of attire, the clothing is eye-catching at first, but you tend to forget about this theme of beauty when things are going on in and around the hotel… maybe that is the point, that there is so much to focus on that we can easily lose concentration.

For instance, Haley Lu Richardson is presented as different from when I last saw her in films such as Kelley Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen and M. Night Shyamalan’s Split. The hair department cuts her hair short and there is a blend of blonde and brunette going on that gives her a particular distinction from previous characters that she’s played.

White’s Writing

The series creator dedicates so much effort to crafting the several teleplays of this season, which pays off well. I suggest paying attention to the two or three characters’ behaviors in the prologue, where the mystery is introduced. White makes use of dialogue and appearance such as the line, “Italy is just so romantic… You’re gonna die, they’re gonna have to drag you out of here” or “Why is your face like that?”. The set-up is interesting because it isn’t a body being transported into an airplane like last season. Instead, White shows us where the body/ bodies are found and how specific characters give a larger reaction to these deaths.

Enough of the drama, let’s get into the comedy. Somehow, for some reason, White succeeds in making a fart joke hilarious, and it isn’t just thrown in there because it can be. There is something logical about this fart and the way it plays as a narrative beat here and there in the teleplay. It gives this layer of no restraint to a character who does not care what others think or perceive of them, at least, in the way that I interpret it.

Brain Rot or Not?

One narrative element I respect in White’s writing in The White Lotus is how he initiates discourse. Harper Spiller (Aubrey Plaza) has trouble sleeping because of what’s going on in the world as she believes it is coming to an end. In response to this, the other couple — the Babcocks — say that they do not pay attention to the news and just throw their money at whatever charity needs donations. The Babcocks represent the upper class who think they do not possess the power to change the world around them when really, they actually do.

This brings us back to Season 1, where Paula (Brittany O’Grady) and her friend, Olivia Mossbacher (Sydney Sweeney), speak to the Mossbacher parents (Connie Britton and Steve Zahn) about capitalism and imperialism, along with some other political topics of discourse.

This particular scene in Season 2, however, is noteworthy as a meta-narrative plot device as it allows us to ask ourselves if caring for awards shows and “the best [BLANK] of the year” is worth caring for. Frankly, they aren’t. Television has the power to distance us from reality, leading to both beneficial and detrimental effects. As Ethan Spiller (Will Sharpe) says, “[There is] so much content now. It’s like there’s like billions of shows. Everyone’s just trying to keep up. It’s suffocating, honestly”.

The Crew Behind The White Lotus Season 2 

The White Lotus is created by Mike White.

Mark Kamine, David Bernad, and Mike White are the executive producers. John M. Valerio, Heather Persons, and Todd Brown are the producers, while Marco Valerio Pugini and Ute Leonhardt serve as the co-executive producers.

Xavier Grobet is the director of photography, with Frank Larson on additional cinematography. Valerio serves as the editor. Zoe Bower serves as the assistant editor.

Cristobal Tapia de Veer returns to score the music of the series. Kim Neundorf serves as the additional composer. Gabe Hilfer serves as the music supervisor. Mikael Sandgren is the music editor. Henry van Roden is the music coordinator, while Evan M. Greenspan works on the music clearances.

Meredith Tucker is the casting director for the series. Francesco Vedovati and Barbara Giordani serve as the Italian casting directors. Joe Gery serves as the US casting associate.

Aesthetics

Alex Bovaird is the costume designer. Brian Sprouse serves as the assistant costume designer. Erminia Melato, Lisa Crescioli, and Paola Stefanelli are the costumers of the series.

Rebecca Hickey is the head of the make-up department. Federica Emidi is the key make-up artist. Francesca Antonetti and Rosa Saba are the make-up artists. Ilenia Fanciulli, Claudia Pompili, Federico Meniconi, Cecilia Proiette, Ambra Samrau, and Annalisa Parisi serve as the additional make-up artists.

Miia Kovero is the head of the hair department. Elena Gregorini is the key hairstylist, while Italo Di Pinto is the hairstylist. Armandina Bernandini is the additional hairstylist.

Cristina Onori serves as the production designer, while Federica Salatino is the assistant production designer. Gianpaolo Rifino serves as the supervising art director, while Silvia Colafranceschi is the art director. David Orlandelli is the storyboard artist. Letizia Santucci is the set decorator, while Luisa Iemma is the senior assistant set decorator. Fabiana Rizzi and Giorgio Pizzuti are the assistant set decorators.

Fabio Lovino is the stills photographer, with Francesca D’Angelo as the stills photographer assistant.

The Cast of The White Lotus Season 2

F. Murray Abraham portrays Bert Di Grasso, Dominic’s father and Albie’s grandfather. Adam DiMarco plays Albie Di Grasso, Dominic’s son and Bert’s grandson. Michael Imperioli portrays Dominic Di Grasso, Bert’s son and Albie’s father.

Jennifer Coolidge and Jon Gries reprises their respective roles from The White Lotus Season 1 as Tanya McQuoid-Hunt and Greg. Haley Lu Richardson portrays Portia, Tanya’s assistant from San Francisco.

Meghann Fahy and Theo James portray Daphne and Cameron, respectively. Aubrey Plaza and Will Sharpe portray Harper and Ethan Spiller, respectively.

Beatrice Grannò and Simona Tabasco portray two local Sicilian girls, Mia and Lucía, respectively. Sabrina Impacciatore plays Valentina, the manager of The White Lotus Sicily.

Tom Hollander and Leo Woodall are credited as Quentin and Jack, respectively.

Federico Ferrante and Eleonora Romandini guest star as Rocco and Isabella, two reception desk employees of The White Lotus Sicily, respectively. Federico Scribani portrays Giuseppe, the hotel’s pianist.

Ermanno Costantino, Kara Kay, Angelina Keeley, Joe Landry, Alberto Lombardo, Maddalena Zacchi Pecaut, Federico Valenti Pettino, Juri Romano, Lorenzo Scalzo, and Angelo Osman Spartà also co-star in the second season premiere.

Performances and Character Developments

The White Lotus Season 2 premiere features an array of outstanding performances from its massive roster. Although, I do want to highlight a handful of them.

Michael Imperioli is nothing like his character, Christopher Moltisanti, from HBO’s critically acclaimed crime drama series, The Sopranos. In White’s series, the actor continues to remind us how great he can be on-screen, and with Dominic Di Grasso, there seems to be an individual who is searching for change. Without spoiling the specific flaws in the male characters, there seems to be rather harsh generational trauma going on that needs to be examined and it deals with masculinity. He has one scene where he is on the phone with his wife, and well… the voice acting from the other end is fantastic!

Something to Look Out For

I love Aubrey Plaza as Harper Spiller. She does not quite know her place in the upper-class social machine, with the season premiere mentioning her profession to be somewhere in the field of law. White does not highlight this in later episodes, as far as I know, but it is just a key detail that you need to remember. I appreciate the character’s proclivity to question her surroundings and the circumstance that she is in. It isn’t to say that there is a lack of emotion there, but rather, Harper Spiller displays herself with a layer or two of maturity. This later affects her dynamics with her husband and the other couple in one way or another.

In “Ciao”, Coolidge goes through a little mental health phase that disconnects her from reality. Her character makes a mention of some vision of men and her husband, and it does come to fruition in later episodes. I am unsure as to the extent of the details of her vision and what it means. Still, I would rather that viewers take note of this for future reference.

Finally, one small dynamic established in this episode is that between Albie Di Grasso (Adam DiMarco) and Portia. When it comes to television, I am not one to “ship” two characters together. However, this is a pairing that I admire to a point. I love White for conveying this from script to screen, and how I feel about it in later episodes changes… but I will not say whether it is for better or for worse.

Final Thoughts on The White Lotus Season 2 Episode 1

On the surface, “Ciao” appears to just establish characters, their backgrounds, and their dynamics with one another. However, beneath that very surface, there is a larger appeal when it comes to timing. Two characters introduced in this episode to be on the lookout for are Cameron Babcock (Theo James) and a local girl named Lucía (Simona Tabasco). White does not want us as viewers to suffer from a well-written story immediately. Instead, he teases us with a treat from The White Lotus. Wow, what a way to end October!

Overall, from its architecture to the writing to the portrayal of characters, Mike White’s series will for sure come for multiple Emmy Awards categories once again. Of course, you will have to watch the next six episodes to find out who dies, who is not faithful, who survives, and everything else that makes the best of television so engaging.

Mike White’s The White Lotus Season 2 premieres on HBO and streams via HBO Max starting October 30th!

Have you seen White’s series? If so, then what are your thoughts on it so far? Let us know! For more comedy and drama-related news and reviews visit and follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!