The White Lotus Resort returns to television, perched above the Sicilian water in the lush, mountainous commune of Taormina. The hotel brims with opulence and Italian art, boasting a panoramic view of Mount Etna. As vacationers trickle in by boat, dirty secrets and gendered angst proliferate through The White Lotus Resort. Each inhabited room becomes a breeding ground for grand debauchery and scheming. Once the Ionian Sea can no longer carry the mysterious, dead body, the show begins.

            The vibrant presence of Tanya McQuiod's recrudescence at the Sicilian branch of the resort with Greg, her Maui crush-turned-husband. However, dreams of a Monica Vitti-esque holiday go awry when Greg leaves the trip early under suspicious circumstances.

When the local gay men adopt Tanya for their brazen rendezvouses, she rejoices in the breezy bond fueled by exorbitant villas and gossip, and alcohol. Tanya puts it plainly, saying, “Women are kinda depressing. They have a lot to be depressed about. These gay guys are fun.” If you’re not offering good fortune or unlimited empathy, Tanya doesn't care. She just wants companionship. When Tanya’s relentless zeal for love thrusts her into gunfire, she just needs to know one thing: “Is Greg having an affair?”

            The most compelling argument for a Sicilian battle of the sexes lies in the show’s starring pairs. Harper and Ethan Spiller join his college roommate, Cameron Sullivan, and his wife, Daphne, in a couple’s retreat to The White Lotus. Their dinners are awkward, simmering with innuendos and secrets, yet never boiling over with confession. Ethan reveals Cameron’s competitive streak in college, but something’s in the Italian air, and the assertions of dominance become more explicit, fueled by his greed for wealth.

Harper’s cynicism drives her to seek the fatal flaw in the Sullivans’ otherwise golden, idyllic marriage. Her itch for superiority is scratched when Daphne reveals how she’s aware of and copes with Cameron’s infidelities. “I do what I want so I’m not resentful,” says Daphne after an edible, “I’m not a victim.” Daphne’s initial introduction as a chipper airhead diminishes, replaced with a woman leveraging willful ignorance for her marriage. Even when Ethan confides in Daphne about her adulterer husband, she maintains, with a strain, her cool. “You don’t have to know everything to love someone.”

The White Lotus brings into question what makes a successful marriage. To Harper and Ethan, honesty reigns supreme in their dynamic, even if passion is at stake. To Daphne and Cameron, smoke and mirrors offer room for admiration.

Three generations of the Di Grassos arrive in Sicily in search of their distant relatives, only to meet reality- and their misogyny. Albie Di Grasso befriends Portia, Tanya’s assistant, and forms a vacation crush. To overcompensate for his father’s sleaze, Albie adopts a “nice guy” cliche when it comes to women. “Girls are always complaining that guys aren’t nice,” Albie states, “but then if they find a nice guy, they’re not always interested.” He regurgitates pseudo-feminist takes of The Godfather, hoping for a nod of approval from Portia, and asks for consent after kisses. With a rejection from Portia and an affection for “wounded birds,” Albie offers sex worker Lucia money to help her escape presumed danger- maybe she’ll like him.

At The White Lotus, Dominic Di Grasso feels the repercussions of infidelity and sex addiction. His wife and daughter refuse to talk to him, but he’s not ready to change yet. Even as a fervent critic of his father’s flirting with young women, Dominic hires sex workers Mia and Lucia on the family vacation. But not to fret; he’s a self-proclaimed feminist. “I have always supported women. I have always promoted women,” Dominic boasts. Like his son, he resents his father’s sleaziness and attempts to break the generational curse. Bert epitomizes Boomer sentiments of gender but perhaps offers the most nuance to women. “Women aren’t all saints,” he warns Albie, “they’re just like us.” With each new Di Grasso man, their misogyny becomes more thickly veiled, only for it to unravel when all three ogle the same woman at the airport.

Locals join in on the fun this season as sex workers Mia and Lucia prance through the halls of The White Lotus. Other than the resort itself, these women intertwine each storyline into their sticky web. Though initially prohibited from the establishment because of their work, Mia and Lucia become the wielders of power by the end of their stay. Aspiring singer Mia leverages sex to jumpstart her music career, becoming the permanent musician at The White Lotus. Lucia exploits Albie’s “wounded bird” fixation for 50,000 euros. Each rendezvous is an attempt to access wealth and power with the cards they were dealt, but not without questioning their method. “Why is it always men who have the power,” Mia asks her connection. “If we didn’t, pretty girls like you wouldn’t get to skip to the front of the line.”

As it explores themes of gender and power, The White Lotus never takes a holier-than-thou angle. The show knows its juicy drama and sharp dialogue continue the word-of-mouth phenomenon. It gets the timing right, too. Right when everything should burst at the seams, The White Lotus takes a long, dramatic pause, then lets its guts splatter everywhere.

Writer: Jasmine Hur

Artist: Solymar Estrella