‘The White Lotus’ Just Took a Berserk—and Incestuous?!—Turn

All hell broke loose in this week’s episode of The White Lotus. All of those agitated stares, the confused sexual tension, those snarky comments—they’ve all been leading up to our final three episodes. Now, what the devil is going on at The White Lotus Resort in Sicily?! Let’s unpack.

(Warning: Spoilers ahead for Season 2 of The White Lotus.)

Ethan (Will Sharpe) and Harper (Aubrey Plaza) finally address the condom situation—and while Ethan clears his own name, buddy Cameron (Theo James) now faces Harper’s terse glances. So much for bro code, eh? Delightful Daphne (Meghann Fahy), who has easily become the best character on this show, is none the wiser. She chirps through croissants for breakfast, Aperol Spritzes on the beach, and fat plates of pasta for dinner, not a clue of the tension.

As if these brutal staredowns over $500 meals aren’t enough, with Cameron covering his tracks by shaming Ethan for breaking bro code by telling Harper, Cameron pushes his double-date awkwardness ever further. Scratch awkwardness—we’re getting into abusive territory, at this point. At dinner, Cameron runs his ugly little fingers (not really “ugly,” I take that back—Theo James is a man) over Harper’s bare legs, coming onto her.

At dinner! Where Harper’s husband sits next to her. Where Cameron’s wife sits next to him. Harper has shown nothing but distaste for the man, and now, he makes matters worse for himself with this horrendous act. Plus, we already know Ethan views Cameron’s every move as competition; Cameron picked up all the girls he liked in college, went head-to-head in water skiing, and definitely wants to compare bank accounts. What’s next? Are they going to pull out rulers?

That’s not the incest, though. No family members were involved in that holy hell. The Di Grasso family isn’t guilty either—though they’re getting pretty close! Dominic (Michael Imperioli) and his son Albie (Adam DiMarco) are now officially spit sisters, as Albie has sex with the same sex worker Dominic was fooling around with just a few episodes ago. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me if Nonno Bert (F. Murray Abraham) has a wank with Lucia (Simona Tabasco) as well.

And Albie sets himself up for total destruction in this episode, as he totes Lucia around town, misunderstanding the fact that she’s a prostitute who charges thousands of dollars for sex. She claims to actually “like” him, as she’s having sex with him for free. But she guilts Albie into thinking there’s “some big bad guy” bullying her for money. Convinced, he decides he’s going to help her get the cash. And who is Albie going to ask for the money? His father, who’s already shelled out a whole semester’s worth of college tuition to these ladies.

Again, though, those aren’t the characters guilty of incest, as incest-adjacent as they may be. Surprisingly, it’s Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) and Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) who are involved in those horrors.

With Greg (Jon Gries) totally in the rearview mirror and Portia’s interest in Albie completely dissipated, the pair have cozied up to a group of gay men on a bender in Sicily. Tanya schmoozes with the leader of the pack, Quentin (Tom Hollander), who owns a villa a few kilometers over, while Portia canoodles with Quentin’s nephew Jack (Leo Woodall).

Portia and Jack fool around while Quentin and Tanya dress up for the opera, then they all shuttle back to the eerie Versailles-esque villa. The walls are like a maze. After hearing smacking noises through the walls, Tanya ambles down the hallway to find Quentin and his nephew Jack having sex.

So, we’ve spiraled into complete chaos. This reminds me of The White Lotus Season 1, Episode 4, in which Jake Lacy’s evil guest character walked in on Armond (Murray Bartlett) eating the ass of his loyal employee. Except, worse, because we’ve entered Game of Thrones-style incestuous territory. Plus, I hate Cameron way more than I hate Shane. It seems like we’re going to enter the final circle of Dante’s Inferno in these final two episodes. Bring it on.

The Five Guests Most Likely to Die

We’re placing bets on who will die this season on The White Lotus. After this episode, here’s our top five picks of folks who may become corpses in just a few episodes.

1. Cameron: I hope he dies! I’ll clap! This man is so evil. The world will dance on his (fictional) grave.

2. Jack: Portia is a manipulative woman who’s not afraid to go for what she wants. She trashed Albie’s dreams of summer romance, and when she finds out what her fling is doing with his uncle, she might just slit his throat.

3. Albie: Man, Albie is so awkward, at this point, he’ll probably just drown while attempting pool sex with Lucia. And then who’s in charge of paying his debts?

4. Ethan: Breaking bro code? Cause for death! If Daphne finds out about the prostitutes in any way, Cameron will lop Ethan’s head right off.

5. Giuseppe: Giuseppe is “alive,” per the concierge. But he’s struggling. In order to get out of trouble, maybe Mia (Beatrice Grannó) will just finish the job.