The White Lotus
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Now, Mauis experiencing a tourism boom thats overwhelming its infrastructure.
The road to Hana is atraffic jamand the islands mayor has asked airlines to temporarily pause incoming flights.
LikeThe Handmaids Talepremiering during Donald Trumps first 100 days,The White Lotuscant help feeling extra prescient.
Consequences are as ephemeral as sunsets.
Shane is fighting a two-front war now.
Hes still strung out on the Pineapple Suite, enlisting his moms travel agent to harass the hotel manager.
And she must have, right?
She showed up carrying a Goyard tote.
For Rachel, its about the work, yes, but its also not about work at all.
Her career anxieties feel almost metonymic.
She approaches Nicole, whose high-octane career she admires, for advice.
Nicole will know what to do; Nicole carries a Louis Vuitton Neverfull to the pool.
What is Nicole talking about?
But also: What else is she supposed to say?
Nicoles impregnability is her power.
His interest in the lives of women their age is about as sincere as Nicoles.
Witchcraft is just another word onThe White Lotuss 2021 bingo card.
(Youd be forgiven for forgetting that someone must.)
The good news sends him on a reflective bender.
The day will be seized; footprints will be left in the sand.
He doesnt even ask Quinn what video game hes been playing.
Instead, he signs them up for scuba lessons.
Is this how Quinn goes?
Its a new day of a kind for Tanya, too.
Craniosacral therapy with Belinda has left her refreshed.
What started as a trip to scatter her mothers ashes has become an impromptu wellness retreat.
She collapses herself all over Belinda, eventually asking her to dinner.
The scenes ugliness has levels.
Theres Tanyas sense of entitlement to Belindas unpaid time, her brinkmanship, her complete lack of self-awareness.
The customer is always right, and Tanya is a lifelong customer.
But what happens at the dinner is more agonizing.
Comparatively, whats happening between Shane and Armond can look like a battle between equals.
Privately, though, Armonds hanging by a thread.
What if I cant fucking do this anymore?
The Pineapple Suite may be Shanes whole war, but for The White Lotus manager its just another skirmish.
Next week, another rich guy with another impossible demand will arrive on the trade winds.
And the week after that.
And the week after that.
Lei, luau, repeat.
Armond could surely perish.
And so the new day, our first full day with out-of-offices on, comes to a close.
Rachel passes on the assignment, saving her honeymoon but probably damning her marriage with festering resentment.
Shane somehow gets lucky anyway.
Belinda is high on whats got to be false hope; Armond is just high.
At least Quinn probably doesnt have to go to scuba school now.
