HBO
Season 2 of The White Lotus wrapped up after a wild season finale.
Some big questions were answered, and others were left open to interpretation. There are some potential spoilers ahead for Season 2 of The White Lotus for those who haven’t watched yet.
Aubrey Plaza’s ‘Harper Spiller’ was one of Season 2’s main characters, married to Ethan who was college roommates/friends of Cameron Sullivan (Theo James) who is married to Daphne Sullivan (played by Meghann Fahy).
From where I’m sitting, the hallmark theme of The White Lotus Season 2 is lying. Every single character on the show, whether overtly or by omission, is a chronic liar. Cameron Sullivan is constantly lying to his wife about infidelity and she in turn admits to having a ‘trainer’ who she gets back at him with. All of the other characters are constantly lying or keeping secrets.
Harper and Ethan seem to believe they’re open and honest with each other but both keep potentially life-altering secrets from one another. And that’s why the moment when Harper ‘tells the truth’ to Ethan about what happened with Cameron behind locked doors is interesting. There is absolutely no reason to believe what anyone says on this show.
When Aubrey Plaza’s Harper was accused by Ethan of ‘something happening’ with Cameron, she admitted to some kissing and said he’d grabbed her leg. Ethan then went into a secluded cave with Cameron’s wife and what happened next was pretty obvious. Afterward, Ethan and Harper seemed to have a reignited flame and they looked happy in the final scene.
Aubrey Plaza went on Late Night With Seth Meyers to confirm everyone’s suspicions: something more happened with Cameron than just kissing.
When speaking about Harper’s infidelity, Aubrey Plaza admitted:
“I know what happened, okay? And what happened is, we did some stuff, and I hated every minute of it. It was disgusting, and there was no penetration.”
Seth Meyers joked that maybe one grabbed the other’s butt and Aubrey Plaza added “I think I grabbed a little more than that.”
It doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to figure out what she’s referring to here. And presumably, in order for the scene to work, Aubrey Plaza was given acting direction and told something of this nature happened so she could ratchet up the proper amount of guilt.
Aubrey Plaza got lost while hiking on mushrooms in Italy
That same interview included the revelation that Aubrey and co-star Meghann Fahy (Daphne) was on ‘shrooms when they got lost hiking:
Here is the second clip from her appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers
Aubrey also admitted she wanted a different future for Ethan and Harper. She told Seth Meyers “I was really gunning for doing some takes where, like, maybe we weren’t so happy.” Adding “maybe they’ll be okay, but I have a kind of fantasy that Harper divorces him and takes all his money.”
That wouldn’t have felt right. The central theme to everything, I felt, was lying. The entire Di Grasso family (Bert, Albie, and Dominic) all lying about entanglements with women. The hotel’s manager, Valentina, lying to herself and those around her about her true self. Everyone lying to Tanya McQuoid-Hunt who isn’t an overt liar but is the constant victim of it.
And for anyone who didn’t see Tanya’s fate coming, check this out:
So Harper just splitting with Ethan and taking his money wouldn’t have seemed right. They now need to live with one another forever and think about what happened in Sicily.
And here is The White Lotus creator Mike White unpacking the Season 2 finale, Harper and all:
It’s hard to say if Season 2 was better than Season 1 but I’m leaning towards ‘it was’.