While Armond is one of the show’s only true joys, this dynamic seems to already be wearing out its welcome, unless Armond is developed in more interesting directions.
![the white lotus gay sex scene the white lotus gay sex scene](https://media.gq.com/photos/611a7c644ae19f60a4951138/master/pass/murray-bartlett_2.jpg)
Yet he remains bizarrely underdeveloped for such a central character, carried almost entirely by Bartlett’s chameleonic performance.
![the white lotus gay sex scene the white lotus gay sex scene](https://attitude.co.uk/media/images/2021/08/murray.jpg)
The show at this point is centered around Armond, with him serving as antagonist to several guests now, a resort manager agent of chaos toying with his guests. However, this is undercut by White’s writing and plotting, much of which serves no real purpose to the characters. Tanya is just trying to move on from the loss she is feeling, and Coolidge completely spellbinds in this week’s episode, walking the fine line between comedy and all-out, all-consuming grief.Īrmond may be the only other truly compelling figure in The White Lotus at this point. She’s deeply broken and torn-up by the death of her mother, and is still tied to the expectations her mother had for her. Coolidge is incredible in this episode, taking a character that can seem inscrutable and turning her into a somewhat relatable human being. Tanya is the biggest enigma of The White Lotus, a character just as wealthy as the others but seemingly disconnected from the world they share. The most entertaining pairing is surely Shane and Rachel being pushed off with Tanya, becoming pulled into the spreading of her mother’s ashes. Tension builds as characters are paired together in unexpected ways, often initiated by Armond. “Mysterious Monkeys” features the resort in disarray, with teenagers Olivia (Sydney Sweeney) and Paula (Brittany O’Grady) dealing with trust issues, Quinn (Fred Hechinger) experiencing digital device withdrawal, and Rachel and Shane attempting to figure out their sex lives.
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White may be adamant about not falling into a traditional class critique, but he fails to find a compelling direction for his project. While this may be a conscious sidestepping of painting the staff as heroes and the guests as villains, this creative decision leaves the project off-balance. Characters like resort manager Armond (Murray Bartlett) and Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) are, frankly, more interesting and nuanced, yet White seems to lean away from them. White focuses so intently on the guests and their horrifying and unlikable personalities that we spend so little time with the resort staff. Halfway through creator Mike White’s new HBO miniseries, The White Lotus still suffers from the same imbalanced tone and inconsistent writing that has plagued the project from the start.
![the white lotus gay sex scene the white lotus gay sex scene](https://i0.wp.com/instinctmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/149CF0BC-8364-43F3-B74E-E8285561D4AB-e1640477308422.jpeg)
However, all of these unsalvageable characters hit the same dead-end, finding that maybe new surroundings won’t change fundamental personal flaws. These include characters like Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), seeking relief from her grief at the resort, and newlyweds Shane (Jake Lacy) and Rachel (Alexandra Daddario) attempting to define their married lives. Attempts at transformation define the characters of The White Lotus, with the self-absorbed elites populating the titular Hawaiian resort hitting the dead-ends of their respective lives. He clearly means to put on an air of sexual viability, but the heartless performance adds a degree of disconnect, leaving a sad man playing a tired role. The gesture is uncomfortable in the extreme, a strange, animalistic dance of dominant masculinity. Deep in the bizarre third episode of HBO’s The White Lotus, we see Mark (Steve Zahn) crawling towards his wife in bed, hooting and hollering in imitation of an ape.