White Lotus boss breaks down THAT death in season 2 finale

hayley lu richardson and jennifer coolidge, the white lotus, season 2
White Lotus boss breaks down THAT death in s2Fabio Lovino/HBO

Spoilers for The White Lotus season 2 follow.

The time has come to say 'arrivederci' to The White Lotus: Sicily after seven tense, sexy episodes with a side of murder.

In the first episode of the satirical anthology show from creator Mike White, the audience learns there are multiple bodies on the resort's premises. Last night's (December 11) eventful finale finally revealed whose corpse Daphne (Meghann Fahy) sees in the water in the prologue.

It's Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) who kicks the bucket in the season 2 finale, much to the shock of The White Lotus' hardcore fans.

tom hollander, jennifer coolidge, the white lotus s2
Stefano Delia/HBO

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Introduced in season one, set in Maui, Tanya has been the link between the two chapters, lulling viewers into a false sense of security, thinking she'd be relatively safe this time around.

"Maybe that's the journey for her: a journey to death," White told TVLine.

"Not that I really wanted to kill Tanya, because I love her as a character and obviously love Jennifer, but I just felt like we're going to Italy, [and] she's such a diva, a larger-than-life female archetype. It just felt like we could devise our own operatic conclusion to Tanya's life and her story."

jennifer coolidge, the white lotus season 2
- HBO

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According to White, Tanya dies in a very fitting way for her somewhat ditzy character.

After Quentin (Tom Hollander) was confirmed to be working with Tanya's husband Greg (Jon Gries) to kill her in order to get her money, the heiress takes the Englishman and his pals down in a yacht bloodbath. She later panics and hits her head in a desperate attempt to jump on a speedboat, ultimately drowning.

"It felt like she needed to give her best fight back, and that she, in a way, had some kind of victory over whoever was conspiring to get rid of her," White said.

"So it just made me laugh to think she would take out this whole cabal of killers and that, after she's successfully done that, she just dies this derp-y death. It just felt like that's so Tanya," he continued.

The second, newly Golden Globe-nominated season may have to come an end, but a new chapter in The White Lotus saga promises more holiday shenanigans for a sadly Tanya-less round three.

The White Lotus airs on HBO Max in the US, and on Sky Atlantic, Sky Go and NOW in the UK.

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