Critical response For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating with an average score of 8.2/10, based on 122 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Swapping its tropical trappings for Euro chic while focusing primarily on the corrosive influence of carnal desire,
The White Lotus remains a cookie full of arsenic that goes down smooth." On
Metacritic, the season has a score of 81 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Many critics said that White repeated the first season's success with sharp writing, his ensemble cast, and more focused plotlines, with some calling it an improvement on the first season.
Lucy Mangan of
The Guardian rated it 5 out of 5 and wrote, "The writing is as dense and layered as ever, the plotting is immaculate and the viewers' sympathies—or loathings—are never allowed to rest in one place for too long." For
The New Yorker, Inkoo Kang wrote, "the airless sociological fatalism of Season 1, which was matched by a claustrophobic production due to
COVID-19 restrictions, gives way to a more mature drama, as well as a deeper exploration of how the characters' class concerns converge with gendered angst." Brian Tallerico of
RogerEbert.com wrote, "Mike White is a writer that is as thrilled with a fascinating dinner conversation as he is a murder mystery, and so even as the plotting sags more than it did the first time, the way that his characters bounce off each other, unpacking their social constructs, remains fascinating." Alison Herman of
The Ringer praised the series' pivot to the theme of gender politics, writing, "White knows that sex, like money, is a form of power, and that each is intimately bound up in the other." Melanie McFarland of
Salon wrote, "You may not want to be in the same room with the people you're watching, but the sights alone provided a level of escapism like nothing else on TV." For
The Washington Post, Travis M. Andrews wrote, "though these new episodes meander at times, Season 2 is more tightly plotted and there are enough new ideas, with even the most staid insights heightened by White's razor-sharp writing, for it to feel fresh." Some critics welcomed the characters Mia and Lucia, two Sicilian sex workers whose plotlines intersect with many of the hotel guests', saying their presence felt like a response by White to criticisms of the previous season's focus on its well-off leads. Others noted how the second season "has invested in horror imagery in a way the previous outing didn't, and it's been one of this installment's best through lines." Some critics thought the shift from the themes of class criticism to gender roles made for a less riveting watch. Shirley Li of
The Atlantic wrote, "Season 2 is as juicy as season 1, but it's not as caustic in its approach." Of the diminished role of the hotel staff,
Linda Holmes of
NPR wrote, "Thematically, without that tension between how the guests see themselves and how the staff sees them,
The White Lotus seems adrift. With all the criticism of the first season and the fair questions about whether it was satirizing its rich and white characters' lack of interest in the people around them or just reproducing it, it was always clear what the show was trying to be about, or thought it was about. It was trying to be about the foibles of wealth and carelessness; it's much less clear where White is going with this story." Coneer Reed, writing for the
left-wing magazine
Jacobin, praised the series’ exploration of class issues, adding "In a cultural moment where limp “eat the rich” sentiment is lacquered over any property that would like to appear progressive in the long wake of ’s Best Picture Oscar win, is the rare production that actually merits applause." The second season appeared in the top ten on numerous publications' "Best of 2022" lists, including first for
Good Morning America,
The Independent, and
San Antonio Express-News; second for
I; and third for
Cleveland Plain-Dealer,
Irish Independent,
LA Weekly,
Newsday,
Radio Times,
TV Insider,
USA Today, and
The Washington Post, among others.
Accolades The second season received 12 nominations at the
75th Primetime Emmy Awards in five categories and 11 nominations at the
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 10 categories, moving from limited/ anthology series to drama. It won four awards at the Creative Arts Emmys. For the Primetime Emmys, Coolidge won
Outstanding Supporting Actress. Other nominations included
Outstanding Drama Series;
F. Murray Abraham,
Michael Imperioli,
Theo James and
Will Sharpe for
Outstanding Supporting Actor;
Meghann Fahy,
Sabrina Impacciatore,
Aubrey Plaza, and
Simona Tabasco for
Outstanding Supporting Actress; and White for
Outstanding Directing and
Outstanding Writing for the episode "
Arrivederci". == Notes ==