This season of The White Lotus has built to a fever pitch, with multiple (multiple, you guys!) murders on the horizon, if we’re to take what Rocco (Federico Ferrante) was apparently told in episode one as gospel. So now that the season finale airs on Sunday night, what are we all thinking? Who will bite the dust? Will it be Lucia (Simona Tabasco)? (And by the way, what game is she playing with Albie [Adam DiMarco], anyway?) Or douche-bro Cameron (Theo James)? Or … someone else entirely? Let us know your theories in the comments. And look out for Manuel Betancourt’s recap of the finale, as well as our staff breakdown of how it all wrapped up, first thing Monday.
Does The Godfather point the way?
Hattie Lindert: Despite my desperation to watch twerpiest husband in America, Ethan Spiller, bite the bullet, last week’s pressure cooker of an episode (and the post-credits tease of his underwater brawl with Cameron) leaves him more prone to kill than be killed. But when it comes to White Lotus Death Watch 2022, I’m prescribing to an outlandish theory based on a T-shirt Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) wore in episode six.
Here’s how I see it: In the last episode, Portia donned a T-shirt from The Godfather, a movie we know she hasn’t seen given an episode three conversation. The tee depicts a scene in The Godfather in which Michael’s wife, by error, becomes the victim of a car-bombing meant for her husband. Portia’s clearly no Coppola aficionado, and with Jack on her arm off-resort it’s also unlikely she’s trying to gain Albie’s brownie points. Therefore, I’m convinced the shirt indicates someone who isn’t meant to die stands to perish—and if last season tells us anything, death finds White Lotus guests in the darndest ways.
So who, exactly, stands to become the wrong hit? There are clearly dirty dealings afoot surrounding Tanya—to me, that means both Jack (Leo Woodall) and Portia are at risk. But if The Godfather also serves as a veiled reference to the DiGrasso Three, Lucia (Simona Tabasco) may face danger. Albie, his father, and grandfather have all proven their penchant for saviorism, and we know Albie has an eye on Alessio (we don’t know whether or not he’s truly a threat, as Alessio and Lucia’s conversations are never afforded subtitles, which feels purposeful.) No matter whose head ends up on the chopping block, knowing Daphne (Meghann Fahy) was shown alive in episode one gives me the comfort I need to survive each sleep until Sunday.
Counting on Cameron (then again, maybe not)
Saloni Gajjar: Congratulations to Mike White on a commendable job of confusing the fuck out of me when it comes to predicting who will die in The White Lotus. I’ve spent so many weeks theorizing over character motivations and desires (is Daphne the real mastermind? How far will Lucia go to scam Albie?) that mulling over the victim’s identity almost took a backseat. The fascinating second season has ruined almost everyone’s vacation, and any of the resort guests could eat it. My strongest bets heading into the finale are Jack, Cameron (Theo James), and potentially Lucia. I know, Lucia doesn’t count as one of “the few guests” who dies—as Rocco tells Valentina in the premiere—but at this point, she’s constantly at the resort, so it’s easy enough to call her a patron mistakenly. Lucia could be Albie’s victim (or Albie and his dad together?), especially if we consider how she spoke about being punished for her profession earlier.
Season one ended with no one mourning Armond’s death, and the guests left Hawai’i without much remorse over it (not even Jake Lacy’s Shane). With that in mind, Jack, unfortunately, fits the bill. He’s clearly not Quentin’s “nephew” but a distraction hired to keep Portia away from Tanya. Jack also has a rough past (as he reveals in episode six), and he could end up being collateral damage in a fight that’s not his. The trailer for episode seven hints at Tanya, Quentin & Co. spending time on a yacht. An “accident” could lead to multiple people drowning, too.
As for Cameron, I was confident he wouldn’t be the body Daphne finds floating in the water because her reaction would be worse if it were her husband. But each passing episode has revealed she’s a smart player who could be playing the long game. Daphne may not necessarily kill him, but she could help someone who did (Ethan? Harper?) to her advantage. Then again, if an asshole like Shane walked away scot-free, maybe Cameron could too? The foursome has been the most enticing part of season two for me, and there’s no telling how their journey will end. The anticipation and speculation is exactly why The White Lotus is appointment viewing, huh?
Steering clear of the obvious
Cindy White: I’m going to go against what I suspect might be a trend of predictions that someone involved in Tanya’s storyline will be the one washing ashore and focus on someone else. My out-of-left-field guess is Dominic (Michael Imperioli). I haven’t heard his name come up a lot in the death-pool talk so far, which makes him an unexpected victim (and I don’t see Mike White taking the obvious route). I’m basing this all on Lucia’s scheme to get Albie to take her to Los Angeles. Being the white knight he is, I can see Albie falling for her ploy with Alessio, who isn’t really the threat she makes him out to be. The one obstacle she’s not counting on is Dominic. He’s willing to tolerate her hanging out with his son in Italy, but he may not be willing for it to go any further than that. Last season, the death was the result of an accident, not premeditated murder, and I think the show might go this way again (for at least one of the deaths). So a heated confrontation between Dominic and Lucia that gets out of hand makes sense to me. My guess for the second victim? I can also see Ethan absolutely snapping and getting revenge on Cameron.