Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for The White LotusIn the past few years, we’ve seen many popular miniseries thought to be single, standalone projects get extended for additional seasons as a result of overwhelming audience enthusiasm. The cast of Big Little Lies returned for a second season, and shows like Fargo and True Detective embraced the anthology format. The White Lotus offers somewhat of a middle ground between these two approaches. While the majority of the Season 2 cast is new, there is some connective tissue to the events of the first season thanks to the reintroduction of Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) and her new husband, Greg (Jon Gries).
The Parallels Between Tanya's Arcs in Season 1 and Season 2
Of all the great performances in The White Lotus, Coolidge’s work drew a particularly high amount of acclaim and won her the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress. While Tanya is an eccentric character who has a lot of privilege, it’s hard not to feel bad for her, as she’s constantly having her heart broken. Tanya’s arc grows even more complex in Season 2. Despite seemingly finding happiness in her new marriage, she has another tumultuous vacation due to the scheming of the enigmatic English ex-pat, Quentin (Tom Hollander).
Any hopes that fans had that Tanya would become the “Nick Fury of The White Lotus” universe and appear in the next season (which has already been confirmed for renewal by HBO) were dashed in the season 2 finale, “Arrivederci.” After realizing that Greg and Quentin had been teaming up to steal her wealth, Tanya defends herself against the conspirators before meeting a gruesome end when she falls off the boat. Ironically, her newfound agency puts her in the same place that she was in her most memorable scene in the first season; she is crying, heartbroken, and helpless on a boat when she should have been enjoying herself. The beautiful writing from Mike White shows that despite everything that Tanya has done to evolve, so much remains the same.
Tanya Hits Rock Bottom in Season 1
Tanya is pretty much hapless in the first season; she had taken the vacation as a way to cope with the recent death of her mother. Surrounded by happy couples, Tanya feels more than a little out of place, and she’s relatively clueless as to the effect that she has on people. Through a deception by the manager Armond (Murray Bartlett), Tanya takes a trip to spread her mother’s ashes on a luxury boat with Shane (Jake Lacy) and Rachel Patton (Alexandra Daddario). Her breakdown and sobbing elicit uncomfortable reactions from the young couple, who have their expected romantic evening ruined by Tanya’s misery.
Tanya’s ignorance isn’t only related to her trauma. She’s also shown a relative lack of knowledge about the mistreatment of the staff, as her kindness towards the lovely spa manager Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell) is tinged with an aura of privilege. She also has no hopes of finding a companion, and the situation on the boat with Jake and Rachel only emphasizes how lonely she is. The scene marks a moment of change in her character arc. She’s at her lowest, but she’s able to rebound upon her return to the shore by engaging with Belinda and finding a new lover in Greg.
Season 2 Sees a New and Somewhat Improved Tanya
By Season 2, the Tanya that we saw cradling her mother’s ashes has all but disappeared. She’s feistier and funnier than ever, and the kindness she showed to Belinda is replaced by apathy towards her new personal assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson). While in the first season she’s willing to have a breakdown in front of strangers, she stands up to Greg when she thinks she’s being ignored. After Greg’s shocking departure, she takes the opportunity to luxuriate with Quentin and his seemingly wealthy friends.
While her first scene on the boat was her unraveling, the sequence on the boat in the second season is where everything falls into place in her mind. She shows newfound attention to detail and is able to recognize that Quentin and his friends aren’t as charming as they seem. She’s also able to move past her heartbreak over Greg and has accepted her future. She’s turned from a victim to somewhat of a hero; her pivotal phone call to Portia allows the young girl to realize that Quentin’s “nephew,” Jack (Leo Woodall), is not to be trusted.
It’s interesting to see how radically Tanya has changed between the two trips. While she ultimately doesn’t end up actually helping Belinda in the first season, she begins to show awareness for Portia and cares about her safety. She’s even able to temporarily avoid Quentin and his companions by faking a trip to the bathroom and grabbing the gun. Instead of reacting to every small detail that would have traumatized her in the first season, she’s able to deduce that Greg’s initial suggestion that they take the trip to the Italian resort was so that she could be killed, and he could take the money that would have been denied to him if they actually got divorced.
Jennifer Coolidge Makes Tanya Even More Complex in Season 2
However, the situation escalates to the point that Tanya returns to the same state that she was after her mother’s death; she’s crying, regretting her actions, and forced to accept the unthinkable. While her brutal killing of Quentin and his friends is satisfying, she doesn’t suddenly start giving one-liners and empowering herself. Once again, she’s been set up; instead of wrestling with the death of a loved one, she now grows ashamed that she has blood on her hands.
Perhaps the cruelest trick of irony within this sequence is that Tanya’s death is caused by a simple accident; we seemingly rest assured that while she may have a hard time explaining her innocence to the authorities, she might at least be able to make it out alive. Sadly, she takes a tumble off the side of the boat, which proves to be instantly fatal. Her mother’s ashes were spread in the sea, and now that’s where her body is left for someone to find. The symmetry is bleak.
Throughout both seasons, Tanya has been the most surprising character; we’ve laughed at her, felt sorry for her, and grown to detest her, and then feel inspired by her when we least expected it. Coolidge’s performance could have easily been repetitive in the second season, but she fleshed out a seemingly simplistic woman into a complex character that will likely earn her another Emmy nomination, and maybe even another win. Sadly, all this development leads to tragedy; once again, there’s death at sea.