HBO's viciously satirical tragicomedy The White Lotus recently concluded its limited six-episode run and has been hailed as one of the best HBO Max original series of the year. Yet despite how popular the show has become since debuting in July of 2021, there are still several question marks, loose ends, stranded subplots, and nonsensical aspects about the first season of The White Lotus that continue to leave fans scratching their heads.
Whether or not series creator Mike White will address the curious fates of Lani, Quinn, Rachel, Belinda, and a few others ahead of season 2 is anyone's guess, but fans of the show still want all the answers they can get.
10 Lani's Disappearance
Poised to be one of the most lovable characters on the popular HBO original series, Lani (Jolene Purdy) confusingly disappears after the first episode. She is introduced by hiding her pregnancy on her first day of work as a staffer before her water breaks in the lobby of The White Lotus hotel.
Explained to have given birth to a healthy baby in a nearby hospital, Lani goes completely absent for the rest of the season. While it makes sense she would stay in the hospital with her newborn, it makes zero sense to dedicate so much screen time to such a lively and compelling character and one of the only Hawaiians on the show and completely abandon her arc in the first episode.
9 Quinn's Lack Of A Bed
The characters in The White Lotus are often defined by their excessive wealth, with Poof CFO Nicole Mossbacher (Connie Britton) ranking as the richest of all. Therefore, it makes no sense that her son Quinn (Fred Hechinger) is ill-afforded his own bedroom, or bed, and forced to sleep on a cot in the kitchen.
Stranger yet, when Olivia (Sydney Sweeney) kicks Quinn out of the hotel room and forces him to sleep on the beach, his parents still refuse to get him his room or own bed to sleep on. Perhaps they are trying to teach him a lesson not to rely on his inherent wealth, but it seems very odd for Quinn to not be accommodated according to his family's exorbitant affluence. Even Olivia and Paula sleep on pull-out sofas in the living room.
8 Honeymoon Suite Drama
The petty and vindictive power struggle between newlywed real-estate agent Shane Patton (Jake Lacy) and hotel manager Armond (Murray Bartlett) over the honeymoon suite is taken to nonsensical extremes. Once Shane showed physical evidence of his mother's honeymoon suite booking at the midway point, the drama would cease right there and Shane would be moved into his correct room immediately.
However, Armond's deeply-held grudge prolongs the drama until he is caught in a sexual imbroglio with Dillon (Lukas Gage), at which point he finally gives Shane the room he paid for. Had Armond given Shane the honeymoon suite to begin with, his tragically senseless death would not occur. While Armond created his own drama, the way handled it made no sense whatsoever.
7 Paula's Dark Turn
One of the less convincing character arcs on the beloved HBO original series comes when Paula (Brittany O'Grady), a seemingly sweet-natured college student who listens to the Mossbachers' problems more than their own daughter Olivia, suddenly concocts a scheme to steal jewelry from them. This made little sense in terms of consistency with the character.
While Paula's intentions were honorable, as she wanted to help her friend Kai pay for a lawyer to defend his improperly treated family, her motives come out of nowhere and failed to be believable. If Paula was just posing as Olivia's friend to take advantage of her privileged lifestyle, that makes her just as bad as the rest, and therefore renders her evolved character arc totally moot.
6 Kai's Theivery
As nonsensical as Paula's motives are, Kai's (Kekoa Kekumano) are even more head-scratching. The Hawaiian busboy risks his job, freedom, and life by exacting a robbery planned by a girl he's known for less than a week. He doesn't even seem interested in the theft but is semi-coerced by Paula when she makes an impassioned plea.
Despite his family's need to hire a lawyer and fight for their illegally taken land, two wrongs do not make a right. Moreover, as the victim of theft himself, it makes even less sense for Kai to resort to the same crime that left his family in financial ruin. Kai knows as much but commits the crime anyway. Also, entering and exiting the Mossbachers' room without a mask is illogical as can be given the security monitors.
5 Armond Naming Kai To Olivia
Considering his incessant drug abuse, most of Armond's decisions make little sense. However, there is absolutely no way that he would, or legally could, provide the name of the assailant who broke into the Mossbacher's room. Yet when Olivia asks who it was, Armond publicly tells them it was Kai.
There's simply no way Armond would name a person involved in a crime of that magnitude, much less a hotel employee. Rather, Armond's namedrop feels contrived as a way to bolster the subplot between Olivia and Paula. Once Olivia learns Kai was responsible, she knows Paula was involved.
4 Dillon's Complicity
Dillon begins as an upstanding, obedient, low-level hotel employee. Over time, he becomes a craven party animal who is curiously willing to risk it all for the downward-spiraling Armond. While sex and drugs can be mighty alluring to a young person, Dillon's complicity with Armond makes little sense, especially after he learns he won't be afforded professional perks as promised.
Dillon's reluctance to join Armond suddenly and nonsensically turns into a brazen willingness to push the envelope of decorum. After Armond tells Dillon he will not get a raise, time off, or a promotion, Dillon continues to throw his life away for no reason at all. It makes no sense.
3 Olivia's Forgiveness Of Paula
Perhaps it's born out of her guilty sense of entitlement, but Olivia's sudden forgiveness of Paula for plotting to steal from her family is disingenuous at best and nonsensical at worst. For the first five episodes, Olivia is a cynical, jealous mean girl who bullies Quinn and Paula and tries to steal Kai for herself.
Yet when Paula explains her reasoning for getting Kai to steal the jewelry, Olivia quickly sides with her friend over her family in a way that does not feel honest or earned given her personality. Instead, her forgiveness of Paula feels like a last-ditch effort to give Olivia redemptive closure of some kind.
2 Rachel's Decision To Stay With Shane
The character of Rachel, a standout role for actress Alexandra Daddario, saw her entire arc on the show involve her difficult decision to stay married to Shane and live as a trophy wife or leave him and pursue her dream career in journalism. Just when all the signs point to the latter, Rachel somehow decides to stay married to the crass real estate mogul, who now presumably has manslaughter on his rap sheet.
If Rachel made the decision to stay with Shane because of the fatal incident with Murray, then it makes no sense at all. Shane was never in danger as Armond was neither armed nor had the intention to inflict harm. Given the strength and independence that Rachel demonstrated throughout, staying with Shane felt like a nonsensical copout of the character.
1 Belinda Destroying Her Business Plan
While it was very understandable for Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) to be upset with Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) for pulling out of their mutual business investment, her dejection after being gifted thousands of dollars makes almost no sense.
Moreover, Belinda discarding her business proposal is even more of a question mark. Now that she has the financial capital, all she needs is another like-minded investor. Therefore, throwing out her business proposal is defeatist and counterproductive, something that goes against the ambitious and optimistic characteristics of Belinda that are established in the first place.
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