Could Harper die by suicide after her husband’s college friend Cam assaults her? Don’t forget the series starts with him sharing he’d been accused of sexual misconduct at work, and he frequently transgresses Harper’s boundaries from exposing himself to her, to groping her knee in the most recent episode. Perhaps this dramatic conclusion has already been breadcrumbed to us and the artwork serves as a further warning.
It’s not just paintings that reveal the series’ secrets – classic cinema is also a portal into storylines on The White Lotus. As another TikTokuser points out, in the episode where Daphne and Harper take a trip away from their husbands and walk through a palazzo in Noto, Harper mimics a scene near identically to one in the 1960sL'avventura, an Italian drama directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. The character she mirrors the movements of is Monica Vitti’s, and her storytells ofan affair she conducts with her best friend’s boyfriend whilst she’s missing. Yet another sign that Cam and Harper might have some kind of clandestine sexual encounter.
Now let’s talk about Albie.TheWhite Lotus artwork also serves to reinforce characters’ identities in the show. In episode 4, after he’s brutally rejected by Portia, Albie hooks up with Lucia while unawareshe’s an escort. The painting shown to us after this moment isSaint Sebastian, a 1495 painting by Pietro Perugino, which tells the story of the titular martyr. Not only was Saint Sebastian tied to a post and shot at with arrows for his Christian beliefs, but he was also considered a protection from plague according to Mediaeval beliefs. Is Albie the moral saviour inWhite Lotus? As a chronic Nice Guy, perhaps the plague he protects the show from is a form of toxic masculinity we keep seeing on display. He clearly wants to be different from his father and grandfather who cheat on their wives with no remorse, and despite being rejected by Portia, he only stops pursuing her when she essentially breaks his heart.
Stefano Delia/HBO
Beyond the art, the magisterial buildings, too, may hold clues for a dark ending coming for Tanya. OneTikTok reminds us of an early scene in which Cam shares that many of the seemingly wealthy people in Italy have huge gorgeous palazzos but absolutely “no cash”. In episode 5, we see Tanya whisked away on an overnight trip by new friend Quentin who owns exactly this kind of grand palazzo. Enamoured by the artwork and the architecture, Tanya comments “it’s a good feeling when you realise that someone has money, because then you don’t have to worry about them wanting yours.” Could her naivety be an indication that Quentin does want her money, and is coming to collect? These scenes definitely suggest a scam is coming.
If the guests ofWhite Lotus could only look up from their poolside co*cktails they might see that, much like the macabre art surrounding them, their tragic ends are set in stone. Then again, what would this show be without self-involved, rich idiots who can’t see how screwed they are?
