This Was Mike White's Biggest Fear About The White Lotus' Season 2 Shoot-Out
Note: Detailed spoilers for "The White Lotus" season 2 finale are below.
In "The White Lotus" season 2 finale, tension is knife-thick. Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya McQuoid plays a central role throughout the episode as she puts two and two together, realizing that her new rich gay friends are fooling her and that they actually plan on abducting and murdering her. It doesn't help when she discovers her husband orchestrated the plan — conspiring with his lover to take away the prenup money from his wealthy wife.
Season 2 of the Mike White-created, Emmy-winning HBO series explores infidelity and sexual politics along with misogyny and power dynamics in an idyllic Sicilian setting. A new batch of conflicting personalities and their secrets are unraveled in season 2, and it all comes down to a shocking conclusion, with Coolidge's self-sabotaging Tanya at its center and end. Creator Mike White made some interesting choices as a director during the finale's intense conclusion, which he has explained, was a decision he took to play to his own creative strength.
Too much camp or just the right amount?
In an interview with The Ringer, Mike White elaborated on his method of directing the ending moments of "The White Lotus" season 2 finale, when Coolidge's character recognizes she's been abducted to be killed. Before leaving the yacht with her escort, Tanya grabs the suspicious-looking bag and runs into a room ... only to learn that it contains a rope, tape, and gun, which does not bode well for her fate. In a panicked, terrified frenzy, she bursts out of the room, shooting at everyone. The camera focuses on her expression throughout — Tanya doesn't open her eyes for a second. We see and hear her shoot multiple bullets, and moments later the crime scene is revealed: Tanya has managed to kill everyone in her path. We don't know if anyone tried to save themselves or stop Tanya because we only see her throughout the scene.
Mike White feared that the shoot-out scene would dial up on the "campiness" and make it intolerant — the writer didn't want the sequence to come across as "goofy." It was serious; it was Tanya saving her life even though she stepped foot into a grave of her own making later on. Staying with Tanya as she acted out of fear created suspense and an atmosphere of uncertainty, and we know White is terrific at developing that.
'It created its own suspense'
Here's his full quote from the interview:
"If we stay with her panic and her fear and her pain—or the terror of it—it would still feel like the show in a way. The more it became a shoot-'em-up, you know, you need to hear all the things that are going on, but it's off camera and you're just staying with her crazy face. It created its own suspense. Maybe it's also because I'm not an experienced director with an action gun sequence and was just like: Let's just play to my strengths as well."
Coolidge's Tanya McQuiod (and her husband Greg) is the only character to reprise her role in the second season ... unfortunately, the last for her character. After her shoot-out attempt is successful and she has managed to safeguard her fate, Tanya attempts to jump into a smaller boat and escape the yacht. Instead, she ends up breaking her neck and floating away, only to be found by Meghann Fahy's Daphne on the resort's beach. It's a terrible understatement to say that Coolidge's character will be dearly missed — here's hoping Mike White finds a way to resurrect her for the show's third season. Maybe she has a cool identical twin?