The White Lotus Season 3 can fix the Season 2 finale’s biggest mistake
Greg’s plan may not have gone as well as you think.
The Season 2 finale of The White Lotus mostly does a good job of wrapping up the many mysteries and dangling plot threads that preceded it. Not only does the episode finally reveal who all the corpses were in the Season 2 premiere’s flashforward, but we also learn the fates of characters like Harper (Aubrey Plaza) and Portia (Haley Lu Richardson).
The episode’s revelations and twists make it a fittingly humorous and tragic conclusion for Season 2. “Arrivederci,” however, doesn’t wrap up everything in a nice bow. The episode ends with one major plot thread unresolved, although it sounds like The White Lotus Season 3 may address it.
Jon Gries as Greg and Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya in The White Lotus Season 2.
Greg’s Scheme — In the final two episodes of Season 2, viewers learn that Greg (Jon Gries) has been secretly working with Quentin (Tom Hollander) to murder his wife, Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), and take all her money. Tanya, however, discovers the plan and manages to shoot her would-be killers in the final act of “Arrivederci.”
But Tanya dies herself after jumping off Quentin’s yacht and hitting her head on the way down. Her body is found floating the next morning by a horrified Daphne (Meghann Fahy), while Tanya’s assistant, Portia, meets back up with Albie (Adam DiMarco) and makes her covert escape from Italy.
Season 2, in other words, ends with Tanya dying and her money presumably going to Greg, which is just what he wanted.
Greg (Jon Gries) got everything he wanted. But will his future really be as easy as he thinks?
Greg’s Comeuppance — To say that White Lotus fans have been disappointed by Greg’s apparent victory would be an understatement, but it doesn’t sound like series creator Mike White intends to let him get away with murder. During a special featurette for “Arriverderci,” White touched on Tanya’s demise and briefly commented on whether Greg’s actions will come back to haunt him.
“I think as far as like, what happens to Greg and the conspiracy of Tanya’s death, it’s possible that I think 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,” White said.
The White Lotus creator went on to suggest that viewers may get to see Greg’s comeuppance in a future season, adding, “Maybe you’ll have to wait to find out what happens.”
White didn’t elaborate, but his comment suggests that Greg’s storyline is far from over.
Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) is one of the only people who knows what really killed her boss.
The Inverse Analysis — Right now, very little is known about The White Lotus Season 3 other than that it’s happening and will likely be set somewhere in Asia. However, White has already proven that he isn’t opposed to having some characters appear in multiple seasons, so there’s no reason to think that Greg couldn’t pop up again.
White doesn’t even have to physically bring Greg back to resolve the character’s storyline. He could tie up the story with a news headline or simple conversation between two characters. Either way, it sounds like White is at least toying with the possibility of returning to the drama of Greg and Tanya’s marriage in The White Lotus Season 3.
Seasons 1 and 2 of The White Lotus are streaming on HBO Max.
