Last 5 Minutes Of 'White Lotus' Were Bonkers — And The Creator Has An Explanation
Leo Woodall as Jack and Haley Lu Richardson as Portia in Season 2 of “The White Lotus.”
Spoilers ahead for “The White Lotus”!
The shocking last five minutes of Episode 5 of the second season of “The White Lotus” may make some yell “Uncle!” at HBO.
The show veered into “House of the Dragon” territory in the “That’s Amore” episide when in a closing scene, Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) sneaks out of her room in the middle of the night to discover her new friend Quentin (Tom Hollander) having sex with his nephew Jack (Leo Woodall). To make matters even weirder, Jack has been hooking up with Tanya’s assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson).
Tom Hollander as Quentin and Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya in the second season of “The White Lotus.”
The bonkers twist seems eerily similar to a scene in Season 1 of “The White Lotus” in which hotel manager Armond (Murray Bartlett) is caught in the act with his young employee Dillon (Lukas Gage).
Mike White, the show’s creator, told Variety on Sunday that was precisely his intent — and that the latest scene was meant to “echo” its predecessor.
He also noted to Variety that both scenes in Season 1 and 2 feature a character walking in on gay sex behind closed doors and both occur two episodes before the finale. It should be noted that in Season 1, the person who walks in on Armond is Shane (Jake Lacy), who eventually kills Armond. If White truly wants to “echo” the scene in Season 2, Tanya may suffer the same fate as Shane.
“There’s a pleasure to me as a guy who is gay-ish to make gay sex transgressive again,” White told Variety. “It’s dirty… men are having sex and you have this ‘Psycho’ music underneath. It just amuses me.”
He added: “I just think transgressive sex is sexier. I guess I’m old school. There’s this gothic vibe of walking through a haunted hotel or haunted house and people are having sex behind closed doors.”
Yet, when it comes to the burning question that most people have regarding the scene — which is whether or not Jack is Quentin’s actual nephew — White played coy.
“Well, you’ll have to see,” he teased.
Despite White giving somewhat of an elusive explanation, plenty of people on Twitter have their theories on who Jack actually is and where the story is headed. Check them out below!
the last minute of tonight’s #WhiteLotus without context: pic.twitter.com/g8qugS9phu
— Jordan Shipowitz (@JordanShipo) November 28, 2022
It did seem fishy that Jack, with his blokey Essex accent, would actually be the nephew of the ultra-posh Quentin, but I still didn't see that twist coming in White Lotus. Masterful. #WhiteLotus
— Random person (@BrianPe75097879) November 29, 2022
White Lotus Episode 5 was a zinger.
My thoughts and suspicions…
YES…Daphne subtlety told Harper that Cameron isn’t the father of her oldest child…Harper just didn’t pick up on it.
YES… Tanya is being conned.
NO… Jack isn’t Quentin’s Uncle…— Chris Hollins (@Hollins280) November 28, 2022
people completely missing the fact that chav boy is a sex worker for rich old gays in the white lotus and thinking it’s incest is SENDING ME. "nephew" and "uncle" are not even cleverly veiled codes💀
— 🌻sunflower🌻 (@East_From_Eden) November 28, 2022
Don’t be confused, Jack’s not really his nephew, it’s his boyfriend. Jack’s working Portia to keep her away so she won’t catch on to their scam. #TheWhiteLotus#whitelotus
— ShawnMarie (@Shawn33Larson33) November 28, 2022
Jack is absolutely a sex worker. And I feel like all these guys are setting up trying to get Tanya's money!!! #WhiteLotus
— KaiO (@H2KaiO) November 28, 2022
The cowboy that Quentin fell in love with is Tanya’s husband, Greg. And yes, he would do anything for his longtime love…including murder.
They planned for Jack to slip into the cold pool that first night, to distract Portia.#TheWhiteLotus#TheWhiteLotusHBO#WhiteLotus— 🌃✨stars by the pocketful 5/27 NJ (@kellylovestammy) November 28, 2022
I think Greg is the cowboy from Wyoming that Quentin would do anything for. He’s going to attempt to kill Tanya for Greg. But then she gets the best of him and her & Portia push him & Jack overboard the yacht to cover it up. #WhiteLotus
— Baela’s bonnet of salvation (@erica_tem) November 28, 2022