But Posey's performance cracks me. And it suits the way Victoria is written by White. As someone who doesn't take all hypotheses to extremes and refuses to accept differences of opinion. (May help me spend my whole life in the South and know a lot of Victoria.)
Victoria and Piper have an interesting and spicy dialogue about Buddhism, with their mother calling the young people living in the monastery “a bundle of horrifying children with no purpose” and claiming “You're interested in things like this, but never is.” She also warns Piper that her beloved Buddhist monk K may lead the cult, and when her daughter refutes that he has written a book that has been praised, Victoria Cry screams: “Charles Manson wrote a book! Bill Clinton wrote a book! The list goes on! Hillary Clinton wrote a book!” (Repeat: hilarious).
The heart of Victoria's concern is that beyond the worries that people in her social circle think she is a bad parent, Piper is young and impressive, “In a year, you'll become a completely different value.” This is the heart of what happens every season at White Lotus. Are these characters at a crossroads and making choices that will affect the rest of their lives? Or do they just make mistakes they forget in a week on vacation?
These questions interweave two other major storylines. One involves a gal companion who is a party with Valentin and his Russian brothers moving from a wild nightclub to a white Lotus Villa. The only woman in the crowd, Laurie doffs her top and delights the guys intoxicated with stories about her corporate career and her expensive divorce. But she doesn't sleep either of them. Instead, Jaclin, famously married, puts scandal at risk by connecting with Valentin.
Meanwhile, Saxon and Lochlan become drunk with Chelsea and Chloe, drunk and get lost in sensory overload (with the help of unspecified pills). Early on, two men and two women play separate games in private evenings. Saxon reminds Rochlan that the joys of life should be seized as much as possible, but Rochlan repeats both Sister and Frank, “How about checking if this life is merely a test and we can become better people?” Elsewhere, Chloe confesses that inexperienced young people like Rochlan have weaknesses.
White takes a very subjective approach to filming every party scene in this episode. The lighting has become even hazy, the music boom and dialogue have faded, and the screen is filled with images of laughing faces and naked skin. We are wiped out with enthusiasm, just like our characters.
