We Asked Evan Ross Katz for “White Lotus” Season Finale Predictions

The excitement over the sharply written comedy/drama HBO series The White Lotus has reached a fever pitch — and not just among KCM staffers. The show’s a clever satire of privilege, but also a murder mystery, and there are countless theories floating in the ether surrounding the identity of the killer at the heart of the plot.

Evan Ross Katz is a writer, podcast host, and, crucially, a White Lotus enthusiast. A long-time fan of the show’s creator Mike White, Katz has been one of the leading voices in the White Lotus speculation and analysis on social media — on his Survivor-themed podcast, Drop Your Buffs, he put out a two-hour episode analyzing episode six. (By the way — I also put out a White Lotus podcast episode this week!)

I asked Katz to give us his predictions for the season finale this Sunday, along with his thoughts on the arc of Mike White’s career, the overlap between White Lotus and Survivor, and why this delicious series has had such a grip on the public consciousness.

Katie Couric: How did you become so obsessed with White Lotus? It sounds like you’ve been a Mike White fan for a while…

Evan Ross Katz: Yes, I’ve been a Mike White fan for a very long time. I’m a huge fan of Survivor and Mike is a legend within the world of Survivor, not just as a contestant, but he’s had a great influence on the show because of his friendship with Jeff Probst. They test a lot of the changes on the show with Mike and he will give a yay or a nay to Jeff.

With White Lotus, I think my fandom of Mike White and then my fandom of Jennifer Coolidge brought me in originally. Honestly, I think the theme song from season one was also a pivotal moment for me: Something about that song made me think, This is my culture.

I feel like Mike borrowed some of the production values from Survivor when it comes to the music, and other aspects of The White Lotus. Obviously it’s a completely different show, but don’t you feel there’s a bit of Survivor in the series?

Oh my God, I could do a two-hour dissertation on this very point you’re making. Yes, I couldn’t agree more. I think those elements were included with great purpose, and I think the best examples are those wide, gorgeous shots of Sicily. Those are a signature of Survivor.

Let’s talk about White Lotus season two, because the finale is happening on Sunday. You — among others — have noticed a few Easter eggs in the show that maybe the average viewer might have missed. What are some of those?

Some are Easter eggs and then there are other things that I think are worth putting a pin in. An example of the latter would be the fact that Mia, after sleeping with Valentina in episode six, now has access to the master key to the hotel, which I think is going to be a relevant piece of information. Or the fact that Mia was willing to drug that piano player in an effort to become a singer. He could have died, and she did not seem very remorseful. That’s notable as we start to think ahead about who will be the murderer.

Regarding the Easter eggs, the newest one that I discovered is that in the trailer for episode seven, there’s a shot in the beginning from what I imagine is the morning after the party at the Palazzo. Tanya, Jennifer Coolidge’s character, asks “Where’s Portia?” and she is wearing the same dress as the mannequin in the vehicle on the set of The Godfather, which Albie and Portia visit in episode three. On the set tour, Portia asks, “She blows up?” when she sees the mannequin.

Also in episode six, Portia was wearing a Godfather T-shirt, right? But she previously had said that she’s never seen The Godfather. So why would she have that t-shirt? The T-shirt appears to be oversized, which would make you think it’s Jack’s, because she slept in his room that night.

I know many people have speculated on the death of Tanya, but knowing what I know about Mike White and his friendship with Jennifer Coolidge and his love for her character, I do not think Tanya will die. I also think we’ve been led so obviously to Tanya’s death, and Mike White does not want to lead people down obvious roads. So I think that could be a mislead, but I do think Portia could be collateral damage, perhaps the unintended hit. Because if we connect the dots here, Greg did not know that Portia would be coming on the trip. So it just makes sense that she would be the one that gets it in the end because they probably see her as the biggest roadblock. I mean, they give Tanya a little bit of cocaine and they’re good to go, whereas Portia is someone that they have to keep their eye on.

I thought it was interesting that Tanya didn’t ask Quentin about how he and Greg ended up in a photo together. Maybe she was too coked up?

The question is, is that just Tanya being Tanya? Is it, as you said, a result of the cocaine? Or is that something that she decided to put a pin in while she had herself some sex, and then circle back later?

In episode six, she witnessed what went on between Quentin and Jack in the bedroom and then didn’t whisper a word of it to Portia. And in episode two, she overhears Greg’s phone call on the patio, and didn’t ask who he was on the phone with. So Tanya is not confrontational by nature.

She’s a funny character because she’s not very likable, but I feel like a lot of us are rooting for Coolidge more than we are for Tanya.

And you also pointed out that there were red lights in that room when Tanya and the Italian man were getting into it at the end of the last episode. So we smell blackmail, right?

Yes, absolutely. Which furthers the theory that Tanya will not die because if that red light is filming her, and if there’s an infidelity clause in her prenup, they wouldn’t need to kill Tanya. All they would need is evidence of marital infidelity, which they got in this last episode.

Here’s a prediction: I think Lucia and Mia are both grifters and they are setting Albie up — or Lucia is setting Albie up — to give her a boatload of cash under the pretense of rescuing her from her pimp. I think her pimp is in on the whole thing.

Yes. And this makes sense because we actually see the pimp’s character in the first episode — they pass by one another and there’s no bad blood between them. So we have reason to believe that whatever transpired with that car pass-off in the last episode, that Lucia is in on it. But one question I have is about how much Lucia and Mia are working in collaboration with one another because in these last couple episodes, we’ve really seen them diverging. Everything involving Lucia and Albie has been separated from Mia’s plot line with Valentina. So I’m curious how coordinated their efforts are. But again, I come back to the fact that Mia has that master key and could that be something that she would share with Lucia?

I also think Bert’s head injury is going to play a factor. I think there’s something around his deteriorating mental health or deteriorating physical health. I also think there’s something about him talking about a homecoming and his depression, that he wasn’t greeted with open arms by his apparent ancestors, there’s something sort of melancholy and sad about that.

Let’s talk about the fab four: Ethan, Harper, Cameron, and Daphne. Do you think Ethan offs Cameron?

I have two theories here. One theory (which is not my own) is rooted in the scene several episodes ago when Ethan and Cameron were on the jet skis and at the very last minute, they both swerve. I saw a theory that they’re going to be jet skiing again, only this time neither swerve. Again, there’s no proof of this so much as speculation.

I think the more realistic theory lies in a detail that we saw in episode six, when Cameron gets in bed with Daphne and you see a tattoo of a bird on his leg. I went back and I was watching the opening credits again, and you actually see that same bird in the mouth of a tiger. And the name of the cast member that’s featured in that image is Simona Tabasco, who plays Lucia. There’s also that statue that we keep seeing — the Testa Di Moro. We first saw it in episode one, we saw it again in this most recent episode. The story of the Testa Di Moro is about a man that comes to an island and has an affair with the woman. The woman becomes so enraged that she ends up killing the man. And I think the mislead is thinking that the affair is with Harper when in actuality, the affair was with Lucia.

So you think Lucia is going to kill Cameron?

I think Lucia is going to kill Cameron. Or I think Lucia could use Albie to help her kill Cameron because, you know, Lucia and Albie are very much enmeshed with one another right now.

I know all of the reasons you’re a big Mike White fan, but what is it about this series specifically that is so captivating?

I think some of my answer was unlocked after hearing Mike’s recent interview with Terry Gross. He said that when you’re younger, you have this attitude that you want to stick it to the man. And then Mike talked about the fact that he’s starting to become the man. In becoming the man, he’s realized that the man actually has real life problems. I think this show, and particularly this season, is exploring the fact that rich, famous, privileged people have very real problems.

And sure, when people outside of that world look in, it’s easy to laugh at them or say, “You think you’ve got problems? Think about what I have to go through and I don’t even have access to money,” et cetera. And that’s all true, but two things can be true at once, right? So I love the idea of exploring this and I appreciate the humanity that Mike puts into these people.

I also think Mike has a way of exposing conversations people are having behind closed doors that they’re too afraid to have publicly.

I think we expect television to depict real life, but I think Mike finds aspects of real life that actually don’t get played out on television. I think the best example of that is the Ethan and Harper plot, where the issue is more complex than being in a sexless marriage. In the last episode Harper says, “Are you even attracted to me?” Ethan responds, “I love you.” He didn’t say yes or no, so what does that mean?

Mike talks about the fact that he’s interested in the gray area. I think we often want to look at instances in life and ask what they mean. This show is very much about concluding that there aren’t always answers. In fact, there are often even more questions.

I think that there’s something to be said about the episodic release of this show because I feel like this is a big rebuke against the age of dropping entire seasons in one fail swoop.

I think part of the reason that this show has been able to become such a cultural touchstone is that we have a week to post-mortem about it. Had they dropped all seven episodes all at once, I think the show would not have been a success. I think part of the formula of this show’s success is that audiences miss episodic releases.

I think we can all agree that Mike White is a genius.

He’s a genius. I’m very curious to see how he will navigate all of this attention moving forward. You know better than anybody, through your decades of interviews, that fame changes people. I’m confident that it will not change him, but I’m curious to see how the amplified expectations will affect both him and season three.