Ciao

I enjoyed this episode more than the 1st seasons opening - everything feels more refined and cohesive, with an ensemble of quirky, interesting and well written characters with compelling motives - all framed beautifully in picturesque Sicily.

Although I enjoyed it, the 1st season to me felt slightly disjointed at times, almost like it didn't quite know where it was going next, with all these elements working against each other.

Already this season feels more intentional, like all of the moving parts of this story have been intricately thought-out and a satisfying conclusion is coming.

I also have to mention the music that accompanies this show, arguably the thing that ties everything together and makes the show work so damn well, the legendary Cristobal Tapia de Veer reprises his role as composer, bringing the unique, and bizarrely bleak yet catchy scoring with him.

By the end of the 1st episode I was intrigued, enthralled and left wanting more. Excited to see where this show goes.

After a great first season, it was interesting to see what Mike White was going to cook up for the show in its sophomore year. Originally conceived as a limited series, HBO got him to come back to do another season, and I was excited to see if he could find a way to keep it fresh, but without treating the same steps that he did last time. It's a whole new cast - with the exception of Jennifer Coolidge and Jon Gries - and new hotel. And it's already off to a promising start and it's changing up the game and adding more big social themes.

It continues on the idea of introducing a huge ensemble cast and slowly bringing their stories together by bringing them together and it seems like it's continuing with the great pace of the first season. And the new cast is already off to a swinging start with a lot of great names being added to the roster. F. Murray Abraham and Meghann Fahy are already standing out with great representations of the two sides that this show is trying to tackle. It's still going on with the class satire and that is as funny as it has ever been (although one can't help but feel very bad for Haley Lu Richardson's Portia), but it's also delving into a pool of gender issues, showing how the effect of the many movements that sprung from the #MeToo-movement impacts rich people. An interesting idea and something that will definitely keep the show going on a fresh course for this second season, if they are able to continue to balance the two. The style is very much intact, and while the music has been subtly changed to fit its Italian setting, it still sounds amazing and shows a lot of creativity on behalf of composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer. Mike White has used most of his career to write in the comedy field, but with this show, he's showing that knows how to compose drama brilliantly. The season is off to an amazing and refreshing start, although some things may feel a bit too similar to the first season.

"Ciao" is a great beginning and White enhances his own job by introducing another big social theme into the mix, so far with great results. The new cast is great and fits into this world flawlessly, and the production value is off the charts as usual with the subtle changes showing off the talent behind.

The series "The White Lotus - season 2" likewise season 1 is very well written, with an amazing assembly cast and with parallel stories that hold the viewer's attention. Writer and director Mike White this time around, creates his White Lotus resort in beautiful Taormina, Italy and he couldn't have chosen a more perfect culture to place his strange characters in. A mixture of Italian tradition, mafia, romance, comedy, family, sexuality, with American self-centeredness.

Not only does Jennifer Jennifer Coolidge shine enormously again as Tania, but also Adam DiMarco as Albie, Haley Lu Richardson as Portia, Simona Tabasco as Lucia, Will Sharpe as Ethan, Aubrey Plaza as Harper, Beatrice Grannò as Mia, Sabrina Impacciatore as Valentina, Leo Woodall as Jack. Each one of them was perfect in characterizing their characters.

The series gets off to a rocking start, introducing nearly all new characters (apart from Jennifer Coolidge and her now husband Jon Gries). The tension is palpable. I felt genuinely uncomfortable watching the first episode. The undercurrent of anger, pettiness, foreshadowing, and idiocy. Jennifer Coolidge is as ridiculous as in Series 1, or perhaps more so. Apparently oblivious to her husbands dislike of her, he appears to really despise her.

The setting in Italy is beautiful and the introduction of local language into the dialogues works very well. The Italian character seem brilliant and very well cast. As are the rest. I am very much looking forward to it and I hope that the ending will be better than season 1.

Why the only boring and annoying character from season 1 is in season 2??! I am talking about Tanya. I could not stand her character in season one and hoped to never see her again(nothing personal for the actress, only her role). It is hard to watch her, she is slow, dull, uninteresting, not funny, always seems lost and confused. They killed the one only interesting character in season one... Hopefully the Italian hotel manager will be interesting enough to watch.

Season one actually was not interesting either, but I dont know why I watched it. And I dont know why I am watching season two 😀..