TL;DR: Season 2 was excellent in some ways but not as spectacular as Season 1. It is worth a watch.
White Lotus S2 was excellent but not as fantastic as S1.
I preferred what S1 explored (class and generational differences) and S2 (same or opposite sex relationships, family wounds).
S1 included both Steve Zahn and Connie Britton who I LOVE. And the hotel manager in S1 was beyond fascinating.
That being said:
Michael Imperioli (Dominic Degrasso) and Aubrey Plaza (Harper Spiler)were the clear winners for me. I wish I could have hooked up an IV and just taken their performances straight to my veins.
Imperioli's (Christopher in The Sopranos) performance as Dominic a son, father and husband with no integrity or morals in his relationships with women was subtle and riveting. I loved how he emoted the range of indifference, angst, regret etc with his cheating on and disregard for his wife and family.
The honesty between him and his Dad around their infidelity was fascinating.
Plaza as Harper who is a married woman with a disconnected but seemingly connected relationship was moving. The writing around what real “honesty is in a relationship was superbly portrayed.
Yes at times I thought there was similarities between her behavior and April’s on Parks and Rec and it just may be a gift or hers. The way she carries unvarnished truth telling and non-verbal exasperation and judgement is so easy to connect with.
Her husband, Ethan (played by Wil Sharpe who I've never seen before) was interesting to a certain extent.
The fact that he was uber rich from selling his company and that was his opportunity to alpha dog his friend Cameron wasn’t explained enough.
By far the most compelling part of his character was how the wounds of Cameron taking women he liked from him over the years of his relationship.
The fiery rage that found its way out of Ethan was such a great way to portray how long held frustrations find their way out into relationships.
I really liked the story line of Albi (Dominic’s son) and Portia (a rich woman’s assistant) was fascinating to see how they first met and where their arcs developed.
After meeting they each pursued other relationships that were more exciting (Portia’s for excitement, Albi’s for retribution) and how they ended up was interesting writing even if the characters were semi-compelling.
The show included a storyline of a woman who is essentially a closeted lesbian named Valentina. The way she emoted the uncertainty and vulnerability of getting into an intimate relationship with a woman at her age was fascinating.
She had never been with a woman until she was with Mia (one of a pair of two prostitutes) was ok but I don’t think it added much to the storyline since it was mostly sexual.
The subtle way they portrayed the messiness by Valentina’s post sex messy hairdo really worked.
The only carryover from last season to get all season screentime was Tanya (Jennifer Cooldge…yes Stiffler’s mom) annoyed me the whole time.
And I wonder if the part was written to annoy the audience. Her neediness and lack of perspective was so frustrating. Perhaps that was a win from the writer’s perspective.
I thought they overplayed Italy. I got tired of the shots of the cities, etc. The only nature part I really enjoyed was the crashing waves which I thought worked perfectly.
I did think the hotel worked well particularly given the variety of the settings it had. I thought the ornate villas/homes were not interesting. It felt like the show was working too hard to create a contextual setting that meant something that I couldn’t understand.
The storyline of the grandfather/father/son visiting the town the family is from was lame. It did not move the story forward when they met their apparent relatives.
While it became predictable, Albi getting swindled was a cool twist. I liked in particular because as part of getting the money to free Mia (the other of the two prostitutes) Albi all but sold himself out and still got burned.
The final episode was good but not great. It did solve the very first scene where Daphne is swimming and runs into a dead body. But it felt like the writers were trying to recreate the unparalleled excitement of the plot twist in Season 1 and it almost felt unnecessary.