One of the juiciest dynamics in The White Lotus season 2 is that of the central quartet: Ethan (Will Sharpe), Harper (Aubrey Plaza), Cameron (Theo James) and Daphne (Meghann Fahy). While Harper is initially disgusted with Cameron, her husband Ethan’s former college roommate, the couple’s controversial dynamic becomes darker (and a little more heated) as the couples mingle. All of this culminates in a possible altercation between Harper and Cameron in episode six, which could have fatal consequences in the finale.
Harper’s frustration with Ethan begins in episode four when, after rejecting her sexual advances over the course of their vacation, he repeatedly refuses to tell her the truth about the debauchery he and Cameron engaged in while she and Daphne were in Noto were (which includes him). kiss Mia). When Ethan finally confesses (only after Harper spots a condom on the couch), Harper, fed up, still has doubts about Ethan’s story – so he asks Cameron to speak to her and confirm his version of events.
Cut to Harper and Cameron getting drinks at the bar and Ethan looking too friendly to be comfortable. When they disappear together so Harper can get her hat from her room, Ethan immediately suspects they are meeting there, especially when he discovers that the adjoining door of their hotel rooms is unlocked.
Harper insists nothing happened but Ethan, in a deliciously ironic twist, can not help but stew. So what really happened between the two?
Meet Harper and Cameron on “The White Lotus“?
In episode five, Daphne advises Harper to “just get a trainer” (aka an extramarital boy toy) after dropping the bombshell she knows Cameron is cheating on (a revelation leading viewers to believe her eldest child may not be Cameron’s). It’s possible that an embittered Harper simply took that advice. It’s safe to say that Ethan suspects this: in the preview of the finale, we see Ethan spitting, “I know you did something!” at his wife and punching Cameron.
Could he be right? Harper always seems disgusted with Cameron (he’s a scoundrel who makes fun of her work as an employment lawyer; can you blame her?), but there was some heat there, too. Let’s not forget the legs touching under the table in episode five or the way he strips naked right in front of her in episode one. Also, Harper is noticeably upset that Ethan would rather watch porn than be intimate with her — can you blame her again? — and repeatedly asks Ethan in episode six if he even “want” her anymore. Could her desire to be desired have ended with the hasty date night Ethan keeps imagining?
Does Harper act with Ethan in The White Lotus?
However, Harper’s behavior in episode five is revealing: at the winery, she repeatedly asks Cameron and Ethan if they’ve ever dated the same girl, and scratches at the crusts of Ethan’s old insecurities about Cameron.
“Cameron always slept with the girls I liked, but before I could get hold of them,” a prickly Ethan explains, allegedly because Cameron was jealous of Ethan’s “higher status” (a dynamic that’s particularly evident in this day and age as a post above Ethan is now much richer than Cameron).
There’s definitely some macho beef between these two, and Harper is smart enough to take advantage of it. Harper is expected to take Ethan’s story about his night with Cameron at his word alone — despite finding a condom in her room, witnessing him talking to Lucia (Simona Tabasco) and Mia (Beatrice Grannò), and for days waiting for him to reveal the truth. It’s clear that she resents his perceived deceit, along with Ethan’s lack of attraction to her.
Harper might just want to give him a taste of his own medicine and is “playing games” like Daphne taught her in Noto. What better way to get back at her husband than to stage a date with his frat boy enemy, complete with “smoking guns” like the bolted door, and ask him to take on her she Word? It’s sneaky, and we can’t say we don’t love it – let’s just hope this little slice of home theater doesn’t kill anyone in the next installment.
Is Ethan Just Paranoid About The White Lotus?
The final possibility is that after being able to kiss another woman while on vacation, Ethan simply became overly paranoid that Harper would do the same, despite doing nothing to make him doubt her fidelity . After all, it’s not as if Harper didn’t return to their rooms with Cameron earlier (just to let Ethan assuage her concerns that Cameron would undress in front of her). Ethan’s suspicions might just be a bad case of projection. Let’s just hope his paranoia doesn’t drive him to do something he can’t undo in the finale.