Fed up, Shane wants to talk to the Big Boss. And Armond really seems like heвЂ™s about to return the girlsвЂ™ their depleted drug stash when Shane shows up to complain about the previous episodeвЂ™s Titanic of a sunset cruise. Belinda coaxes the truth from him with one long, empathic stare. Oh, Armond! Armond didnвЂ™t make it home last night. Shane is totally supportive of the plan, whatever it is, so long as he doesnвЂ™t have to listen to her talk about it anymore. No particular cause or charity is identified, and thereвЂ™s no explanation for why a person who doesnвЂ™t have the вЂњdriveвЂќ for media would succeed elsewhere.

(Just imagine Andy Bernard watching The White Lotus on his Roku and gleefully bounding from the sofa.) Rachel wants to talk about her work (again), but instead of journalism, sheвЂ™s mulling a nonprofit career. Shane wears his Cornell hat to breakfast, which is perfect in a way I canвЂ™t put into words. Turns out heвЂ™s not a misanthrope he just hates everyone he knows.)Д«y comparison, the Pattons seem normal today. (Sidenote: I felt oddly proud of NicoleвЂ™s poor, alienated rich, white son for introducing himself. Real relationships have to grow organically in the real world. It sends Quinn back to the ocean to befriend the watermen. When Mark confesses he bought NicoleвЂ™s $75K worth of bracelets after cheating on her, it doesnвЂ™t make father and son closer. Suddenly, that scuba school that takes place in the kiddie pool feels metaphorical. Quinn, permanently bunking on the beach now, stares out at the glassy blue sea as local guys paddle an outrigger canoe, bonding in the exact way his father is trying to force. вЂњParticipateвЂќ here means вЂњplay one happy family,вЂќ but social mores have deteriorated past the point of pretending. вЂњAre you going to participate today?вЂќ she asks him. Overall, the Mossbacher suite is in disarray on the morning of вЂњRecentering.вЂќ Mark wakes up hurting from yesterdayвЂ™s bender, and NicoleвЂ™s sympathy is nonexistent. But what does it say about Paula that theyвЂ™re still friends, that she said yes to this trip? She canвЂ™t tell Liv about Kai because Liv is the hotel developer in their relationship, with a history of taking whatвЂ™s PaulaвЂ™s if she wants it. Fake? вЂњTrickyвЂќ is the word she chooses for Olivia, her borderline frenemy. Paula tells Kai heвЂ™s вЂњso real,вЂќ which makes me (1) cringe, and (2) wonder how sheвЂ™d categorize everyone else.

Kai is caught between two visions for modern HawaiвЂ™i: one where the tourist is king and one based on sustainable agriculture, more closely resembling HawaiвЂ™i before annexation. ItвЂ™s built on the loвЂ™i his family used to farm, and his brothers are contesting their eviction. Kai, the seriesвЂ™s first native Hawaiian character, has a complicated history with the White Lotus. In the small hours of the morning, though, PaulaвЂ™s upstairs/downstairs locationship is played for something more than heavy petting. At least in the case of Armond, whose steep relapse gets the same irreverent gloss as the MossbachersвЂ™ dysfunctional dinners, it feels like the latter. ItвЂ™s an open question, for now, if thatвЂ™s a commentary on reality or merely a tell. For every morsel of intel about Belinda, for example, we watch five minutes of Rachel and ShaneвЂ™s interminable quarreling - does anyone think she has the backbone to leave him? However frivolous the show believes its upstairs cohort to be, theyвЂ™re what the show is made up of. Still, as a series, The White Lotus is more curious about the deficiencies of its privileged characters than in getting to know the characters who wait on them. One by one, they arrive at the same answer: themselves.

The rich, white hotel guests - smiling, damaged - are each presented a chance to show what theyвЂ™re about. The White Lotus has been circling the possibility that itвЂ™s a show with something to say, but this week, Mike White finally lands the plane (sort of).

Evangelion episode 4 summary