Sunday is the Season 2 finale of “The White Lotus” and fans are dying to discover the identity of the dead body found during the opening minutes of Episode 1. Too bad Illinois sports betting offers no props on this sort of question.
The corpse was found by Daphne, a rich New York stay-at-home-mom visiting the ultra-posh White Lotus resort on the Italian island of Sicily. Moments after the body is found, hotel manager Valentina is on the scene, where she’s told by a fellow staff member that a “few” guests are dead.
Daphne and Valentina are alive, but the other 13 cast members remain unaccounted for.
Going into the finale, one can imagine why several may end up dead. The only returning cast member, Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), a loveable but clueless socialite, was last seen in the near vicinity of a naked Italian man, a pile of cocaine, and a handgun. The relationship between college roommates Cameron and Ethan has exploded into a mess of jealousy and paranoia after Ethan’s wife Harper found his buddy Cameron’s open condom wrapper in their hotel suite.
Then there’s the Di Grasso family. Three generations of Italian-American men seeking a homecoming in their family’s village. Now they’ve become embroiled with a local sex worker and her pimp.
With such an intriguing reveal on tap, some people may be wondering if they can gamble on the outcome. Maybe in Sicily, but we’ve yet to hear of any Illinois sportsbook apps taking action on this market.
Instead, here are some hypothetical odds along with some analysis behind the betting numbers. Hey, maybe you could win enough fictional money to afford a trip to the world’s greatest, and deadliest, fictional resort — The White Lotus.
Betting Odds on Who Dies In Season 2 Finale
Longshots
Lucia: The affable Sicilian sex worker Lucia has been lurking the halls of the White Lotus with her bestie Mia for the past six days. In that time she has slept with two thirds of the Di Grasso family, and also Cameron (who still owes her money). Now Lucia is either in trouble with her pimp, or trying to scam the Di Grassos.
Either way, I see danger ahead, but I don’t see her dying. It’s too much of a trope to kill off the strong female prostitute. It just doesn’t mesh with the show’s vibe or resonate with what creator Mike White — the guy who wrote “School of Rock” and not the new New York Jets quarterback — is attempting to say on a thematic level.
Mia: Likewise it’s hard to see Mia ending up dead, but her odds get a boost because she recently obtained the resort’s master key, giving her free reign to the entire hotel. The aspiring musician Mia might be facing the music if she happens upon the wrong hotel guest at the wrong time.
Contenders
Quentin and Greg Hunt: As Jennifer Coolidge appears to be the through-line between seasons of The White Lotus, and with Season 3 already in the works, I think Tanya will be safe — despite the precarious situation she finds herself in at the end of Episode 6. On the other hand, Quentin and Greg, the two most recent men in Tanya’s life, feel expendable.
Greg and Tanya married shortly after the events of Season 1, but early this season he abruptly abandoned her in Sicily. As a result, Tanya takes up with Quentin, a gay British ex-pat living his most fabulous life. But after he whisks Tanya away to his Palermo villa, she discovers a photograph of a young Quentin with a handsome cowboy. It’s unclear if Tanya knows the other man’s identity, but savvy viewers will recognize Greg — Quentin’s unrequited first love.
Who knows what they’re up to, but it seems likely Greg and Quentin are in cahoots. Whatever their plan is, will they die unceremoniously while trying to execute it? It would be an intriguing wager for online casino Illinois outlets to offer if they could (and if the state had them).
Favorites
Albie Di Grasso: If Albie goes down this Sunday it is most likely because he picked a fight with a bigger dog. And for Albie, pretty much everyone’s a bigger dog. Whether it’s attempting to rescue his crush Portia from the increasing erratic Jack, or trying to protect Lucia from her pimp, if Albie goes on the offensive it will likely backfire.
Plus, Albie is supposed to be the “enlightened modern man” so wouldn’t it be ironic to have his life end trying to be the knight in shining armor? As if to say, chivalry is dead, and now so is Albie.
Ethan Spiller and Cameron Sullivan: These two have shared a simmering tension all season, and if I know The White Lotus like I think I do, Ethan and Cameron are either going to sleep with each other or kill each other — or quite possibly both.
