Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Season 2 of The White Lotus.
Since its first season, HBO's The White Lotus has captivated audiences with its complex characters who embody the show's exploration of the power behind wealth and status. With Season 2 underway, it has ramped up the stakes tremendously by adding even more sex to the mix. Much of the focus this season gravitates around sex which propels its cast of characters into much more compromising situations.
Not only does this season of The White Lotus feature more seductions, infidelity, and nooky, but it also heavily explores sex as a commodity, an industry, a tool, and a weapon of power. Nowhere is this more evident than in the relationship developing between hotel manager, Valentina, played by Sabrina Impacciatore, and hopeful singer, Mia, played by Beatrice Grannò. While their brief sexual dalliance appears quite sweet and innocent, there are several layers to unpack when, in Episode 6, the two meet in a vacant room of the hotel for their sexual affair.
Disrupting the Gender Norms of a Quid Pro Quo Relationship
Without expressly confirming it or shaking hands, by Episode 6, Valentina and Mia have entered into a sexual quid pro quo in which one receives a career benefit of some kind in return for meeting the sexual needs of the other who occupies a position of authority. In this case, Mia is boosted in her dreams of becoming a successful entertainer when Valentina agrees to let her sing in the hotel lounge. In exchange, Mia seduces the lonely manager who has never acted on her repressed sexuality.
There is, however, much more nuance at play here, starting with the nature of their pairing. While larger society and media abound with examples of similar entanglements both consensual and forced, the rarity in the case of Mia and Valentina is that both are emboldened women who at least appear to benefit greatly from each other. "Isn't it so interesting that this dynamic... that you give me something, I give you something... it's known as a male/female dynamic, and there is this dynamic between two women," says Impacciatore in an interview with costar Grannò that plays after the episode. Reserving this plot for the two endearing Italian women rather than one of the season's hedonistic men is just one of the ways that director Mike White has subverted this partnership.
Who Manipulates Who?
Beyond gender subversion, what's even more impactful is that Mia enters into the position of dominance despite being the one offering sex as a bartering chip. In nearly any other television series or movie with this plot element, the character with business or career authority is most often portrayed as taking advantage of the other. While it is true that Valentina could have allowed Mia to play the piano and sing without any strings attached, she appears hesitant to have any physical intimacy with her. Instead, it is Mia who asserts herself and takes the power into her own hands to sleep with the trembling Valentina.
In their post-episode deep-dive, Grannò posits that "All Mia wants is just to play that piano. She knows that if she manipulates you (Valentina) into that, then she'll get it." To which Impacciatore replies, "You think that you manipulate me. I don't know if you manipulate me." While both actresses seem steadfast in the justification of their characters each willingly taking advantage of the situation to their benefit, what is clear is that neither of them is the same version of themselves from episode 1. In order to get to this moment, a dramatic shift in power has indeed taken place between Mia and Valentina.
Mia's Development Into "a Monster"
At the start of the season, Mia follows her friend Lucia, played by Simona Tabasco, to the Sicilian White Lotus resort with an innocence that rivals costar Adam DiMarco's role of Albie Di Grasso. Her role in the series appears to offset Lucia's wild nature and counterbalance the intensity of the show's exploration of sex work. She is reluctant to have intercourse for money instead focusing her attention on her dream of becoming a successful musician, but her passivity has her follow Lucia into several compromising situations.
As one of the least powerful players in the series, she is at the whim of Lucia, guests like Ethan and Cameron, and even the domineering presence of Valentina who sees her and Lucia as tantamount to an invading scourge. It isn't until Mia realizes that her sexuality has a power of its own in securing her dreams, that she begins to wield it, first with the resident pianist, Giuseppe, then later with Valentina. "I've created a monster," jests Lucia, but certainly Mia has evolved with the series and taken some control she did not have at the start.
Valentina's Softening Throughout the Season
In stark contrast, Valentina has lost some of the calculated authority she possessed early in the season. From her introduction to the series on the dock of the waterfront hotel, Valentina has exuded a commanding air over her hotel, the staff, and the occasional guest who needs to be checked. When Mia and Lucia first appear in the hotel, she jumps into action to keep everything according to her sense of order. Valentina's power seems, though, to have its limits. First, she is forced into allowing Mia and Lucia to stay at the hotel in a grating conversation with Dominic Di Grasso, played by Michael Imperioli. But later, it is the heartfelt conversation with receptionist Isabella, played by Eleonora Romandi, that fundamentally transforms her character.
In Episode 6's post-air Q&A, Impacciatore says that Valentina doesn't feel seen by anyone. When Isabella confesses her admiration to Valentina she is suddenly thrust into her most vulnerable state, something she would normally only allow herself to do during solitary lunches feeding the local stray cats. With her loneliness overwhelming her, she loses control of her power and desires at the pivotal moment when Mia is starting to flex hers. The result is such an incredibly nuanced climax for the two characters that neither one will ever be the same after. As Impacciatore says, "It's something that is going to change her life forever."
What's to Come for These Two Women?
While it is unlikely that Mia and Valentina's affair will evolve into something deeper like the seemingly romantic, non-transactional relationship developing between Albie and Lucia, both women are certainly emerging from the vacant hotel room changed. Mia now has a powerful foot in the door of her potential career. Whether she decides to use this sexual power over Valentina to continue to advance her career is yet to be seen, but with Lucia in Mia's corner, things certainly are looking to be interesting. With Mia having access potentially to Valentina's master key, she might have a pivotal role in the downfall of one of the guests, Lucia, or even herself.
Meanwhile, Valentina has had the most life-altering moment of finally living true to herself. While we know that Valentina survives this season thanks to her appearance in the introductory body bag scene, perhaps this character's guard will continue to fall revealing more of the softer Valentina. Or perhaps, like Belinda in Season 1, she will find a way to snap back into her role as the indomitable manager ready to greet a new round of guests with a stoicism she has spent her life perfecting.
Season 2 of The White Lotus concludes this Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.