Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The White Lotus: Sicily!!In The White Lotus season 2, episode 2, “Italian Dream,” the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, foreshadows a major character’s death. The first episode already set up that Sicily-set second season will see several tragedies, with multiple dead bodies being found in the ocean in episode 1’s flash forward. While it will probably be a while until bodies start dropping, The White Lotus season 2 has already given a subtle hint as to the identity of one of the show’s new victims.
The White Lotus season 2 focuses on 10 wealthy Americans vacationing at a resort in Sicily, with the various groups crossing paths at different points throughout their trip. One of the groups visits a coliseum, with the elderly Bert Di Grasso (F. Murray Abraham) telling the story of Hades and Persephone, in which Hades kidnaps Persephone and traps her in the Underworld. Immediately after this lesson in Greek mythology, the show cuts to a shot of Harper Spiller (Aubrey Plaza) swimming in the sea before being pulled partly underwater by Cameron Babcock (Theo James), foreshadowing that he may kill her by the end of the season.
How The White Lotus Is Setting Cameron Up As The Main Villain
Although the identities of The White Lotus season 2’s multiple dead victims haven’t been revealed yet, the show seems to be hinting that Cameron has something to do with it. He has been incredibly sexually aggressive toward Harper, harassing her throughout the first two episodes and even getting naked in front of her at one point. He is also constantly belittling Harper’s husband, Ethan (Will Sharpe), with the Spillers already suspicious that Cameron has ulterior motives. Reinforcing this further is the fact that Cameron is very similar to one of the vilest characters in The White Lotus season 1, Shane, who just so happened to be the one behind that installment’s dead body.
So, with all this setup, it seems pretty clear that the Hades and Persephone myth is meant to parallel the story of Cameron and Harper in The White Lotus‘s Sicily-set second season. Much like how Persephone is dragged to the Underworld in the Greek legend, Cameron would metaphorically be dragging Harper to the underworld by killing her. Cutting from Bert telling the story to the shot of Cameron pulling Harper underwater has to be an intentional choice, as the imagery draws parallels between the two. Plus, the dead bodies are found in the water, making this conclusion even more likely.
How The Di Grassos Will Meet Harper And Ethan
In The White Lotus season 1, the resort’s guests were constantly bumping into each other, with much of the show’s conflict coming from the interactions between the various groups. In The White Lotus season 2, that hasn’t happened yet, with Harper and Ethan having barely interacted with the Di Grassos. However, the Sicily season of the show is setting up how they will meet. Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) returns from The White Lotus season 1, bringing her assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson),m along. Tanya has already had interactions with Harper, while Portia is starting a relationship with Albie Di Grasso (Adam DiMarco), meaning that the two groups will most likely meet through these connections. While there is still a lot to go in The White Lotus season 2, the show is already perfectly establishing how it might end.
New episodes of The White Lotus release Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
