“Arrivederci”

• Creator: Mike White
• Starring: Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, F. Murray Abraham, Haley Lu Richardson, Meghann Fahy, Theo James, Will Sharpe, Beatrice Grannò, Tom Hollander, Simona Tabasco

Grade: A

Warning: Reviews of The White Lotus season 2 will contain spoilers.

“Abductions”

• Creator: Mike White
• Starring: Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, F. Murray Abraham, Haley Lu Richardson, Meghann Fahy, Theo James, Will Sharpe, Beatrice Grannò, Tom Hollander, Simona Tabasco

Grade: A-

Warning: Reviews of The White Lotus season 2 will contain spoilers.

“That’s Amore”

• Creator: Mike White
• Starring: Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, F. Murray Abraham, Haley Lu Richardson, Meghann Fahy, Theo James, Will Sharpe, Beatrice Grannò, Tom Hollander, Simona Tabasco

Grade: A-

Warning: Reviews of The White Lotus season 2 will contain spoilers.

“In the Sandbox”

• Creator: Mike White
• Starring: Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, F. Murray Abraham, Haley Lu Richardson, Meghann Fahy, Theo James, Will Sharpe, Beatrice Grannò, Tom Hollander, Simona Tabasco

Grade: A-

Warning: Reviews of The White Lotus season 2 will contain spoilers.

“Bull Elephants”

• Creator: Mike White
• Starring: Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, F. Murray Abraham, Haley Lu Richardson, Meghann Fahy, Theo James, Will Sharpe, Beatrice Grannò, Tom Hollander, Simona Tabasco

Grade: B+

Warning: Reviews of The White Lotus season 2 will contain spoilers.

If there’s one thing that’s going to drive me nuts with this season of The White Lotus, it’s in Mike White continually dangling the character of Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) in front of us, only to pull her away at the last second. Bull Elephants opens with her on her trek to work, where she stops at a cafe and is hit on by a stranger whom she savagely rebuffs. Part of the fun in the first season was in Murray Bartlett’s Armond and his slowly unraveling mental state as the hotel’s guests ran him ragged. Outside of these brief snippets, Valentina has largely been a mystery so far, including a scene later on in the episode where a co-worker approaches/flirts with her. Surely White has grander designs for her, but it’s hard to parse out exactly what those designs will be.