The season finale, titled “Arrivederci", aired on Sunday evening, and based on the reaction online it's safe to say many were shocked to find out which character died.
Some fans are saying the death was preventable, while others are applauding the show for its creativity.
Here's what happened in the finale of The White Lotus and what we know, so far, about season 3.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Who died in 'The White Lotus' season 2?
After two seasons on the show, Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) finally met her end during the highly-anticipated season finale.
The episode saw her waking up after a wild party at Quentin's (Tom Hollander) palazzo in Palermo.
After boarding the yacht back to Taormina, Tanya gets a phone call from her assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) who expresses that she has a feeling that something bad is going to happen.
During that call Tanya pieces together that Quentin and her husband knew each other (after also seeing a photo of them together back at the palazzo) and were plotting to have her killed, so that they could swallow her fortune.
Terrified by this death trap, Tanya finds a gun and proceeds to shoot and kill Quentin, one of his French friends and the local she hooked up with the night before, Niccolo.
Tanya then tries to jump onto a smaller boat off the yacht to presumingly escape, when she falls off the yacht, hits her head and drowns.
What are people saying about 'The White Lotus' finale?
Fans are divided over the turn of events that played out in the Season 2 finale.
Many are sad to see the character go after being a constant presence on the show, while others are applauding how it ended for her.
Some are pointing out that Tanya's death was preventable had she removed her heels before making the leap onto the smaller boat, or if she had used the ladder.
Others are left wondering what her death means for Greg: will he now get all of her money?
Some fans are upset over the realization that Coolidge won't be in season 3, unless as one fan states, Tanya has a twin sister.
Others are choosing to focus on Coolidge's overall performance in the series and are even calling for the actress to receive an Emmy.
What happened to the other characters in 'The White Lotus'?
Aside from Tanya, the other characters on the show got to end their trip on relatively pleasant terms.
Her assistant, Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) woke up in a hotel room with Quentin's supposed nephew Jack (Leo Woodall). Her phone is missing from the bedside and she grows suspicious of Jack for not only stealing her phone, but also for his drunken confession about his "uncle" not having any money.
Oh and Tanya also tells Portia that she saw Jack and Quentin having sex, meaning they're probably not actually related.
In the car, a passive agrresive Jack doesn't take Portia back to the hotel, but instead drops her off near the airport in Catania and asks her to forget about Tanya and just get on the flight in the morning.
Self-proclaimed feminist, Albie (Adam DiMarco) bargains a deal for €50,000 (US$52,700) with his father Dominic (Michael Imperioli) in exchange of putting in a word with his mother. The beneficiary of the payment, Lucia (Simona Tabasco) wastes no time in sneaking out of Albie's hotel room the next morning, leaving him feeling like he got 'played'.
Him and Portia exchange numbers at the airport, so it looks like there might be hope for the two of them in the next season after all.
Elsewhere, Harper (Aubrey Plaza) and her husband Ethan (Will Sharpe) are still upset with one another at the beginning as Ethan is convinced Harper slept with Cameron (Theo James). She ends up admitting that the two of them kissed, but that was it. It looks like that helped rekindle things between Harper and Ethan as they had a steamy scene before their flight.
Oh, and not to forget an 'open to interpretation' rendezvous between Ethan and Daphne (Meghann Fahy) before the former finally makes love to his wife on the final evening of their trip.
Will there be a season 3 of 'The White Lotus'?
With season 2 now over, many fans are left wondering what they can expect in the third season, the official renewal of which was confirmed byThe White Lotus creator Mike White to Variety recently.
In an interview with Deadline in October, White suggested where the next season might be shot.
“I think it’d be fun to maybe go to a whole different continent. You know, we did Europe, and maybe Asia, something crazy like that, that would be fun," White said.
Variety also reports the third season may focus on "death and Eastern religion and spirituality."
“The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex,” White said. “I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.”
In HBO's Unpacking S2 E7 with Mike White that aired after the finale, White also discussed why he brought Coolidge back only to kill her in the show.
In the end of season one, White talks about Tanya sitting with her husband talking about health issues and she says, "I’ve had every kind of treatment over the years, death is the last immersive experience I haven’t tried."
“I was thinking, it’d be so fun to bring Tanya back because she’s such a great character, but maybe that’s the journey for her, a journey to death. 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, she’s such a diva — a larger than life female archetype — it felt like we could devise our own operatic conclusion to Tanya’s life and her story," White said.
Following the end of the second season, fans were also left wondering about Tanya's husband Greg (Jon Gries). Does Greg now get to keep all of Tanya's money?
White did have something to say about this, hinting that Tanya's assistant Portia may go searching for answers.
“I think that Portia is scared enough to just leave it alone, but the fact that all of those guys die on the boat, it feels like there’s gotta be somebody who’s gonna track it back down to Greg. But maybe you’ll have to wait to find out what happens," White explained.
As for whether we will see any other familiar faces in the upcoming season, sounds like that's not off the table.
"I think it's fun to bring back somebody back from some season," White added in his Deadline interview.
Who was nominated from The White Lotus?
Within a few hours of the Season 2 finale's airing, the show was once again part of the awards conversation — following five Primetime Emmy wins for the first season.
The show scored a Golden Glove nomination for Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, where it will compete with the likes of Black Bird, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Pam and Tommy, and The Dropout.
Both Coolidge and Plaza were nominated for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Limited Series/Anthology or Motion Picture category while F Murray Abraham was nominated in the male category for his portrayal of the Di Grasso patriarch Bert.
Coolidge was nominated for the same category at the Golden Globes 2022, but failed to take home the honours. Maybe she'll add the shiny sphere to her awards cabinet this time around. The winners will be announced on January 10, 2023.
One of the living rooms.Courtesy of Airbnb.
The swimming pool. Courtesy of Airbnb.
One of the bathrooms.Courtesy of Airbnb
One of the bedrooms.Courtesy of Airbnb
