Two episodes of The White Lotus down and we're enjoying our favourite pastime of racking our brains to come up with theories on what is going on, only to have them completely wrong and disproved the next episode.
Monkeys, there's definitely something about monkeys - and see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Who did rob the hotel store? Is sweet angel Belinda safe? Will Greg/Gary ever see any comeuppance? And are some of the guests actually related to characters from the first series, or do they just have a passing resemblance and we need to get our eyes tested?
A quarter of the series in (we know) and we're still completely in the dark about who will survive their stay and the gun rampage that sounded out early in the first episode. But no guests seem more mysterious - or in danger - than the Ratliff family.
Read Next
Mum Victoria (Parker Posey) is seemingly drug-addled and full of hatred for everyone outside their family. But is she really that drug-addled? Does she really not remember Kate (Leslie Bibb) or is she hiding something behind the rictus grin? Then there's the very strange relationship between the siblings. That's not to mention the terrifying toxic masculinity of Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) - a trait we know all-too-well is a leading cause of violence and murder in the real world.
But it's father Timothy who seems a man fully on the edge. And last night, we got our first big chunk of intel on what is really going on in the life of a character at The White Lotus, courtesy of his refusal to co-operate with the resort's no-phone policy.
And it came via Oscar-winning actor, Ke Huy Quan - you'll remember the actor from his child stardom in Indiana Jones and The Goonies and his heartwarming speeches about his Hollywood second-chance when he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Eagle-eared fans quickly spotted him as the uncredited voice of Kenny in episode two (later confirmed on social media), finally giving some clarity on just how much trouble Timothy - and his whole family - are really in.
It's around $10 million and hard jail time of trouble. Finally reaching Kenny on the phone, it emerges that a whistleblower in Kenny's office has landed him in extremely hot water. Calling Timothy on a burner phone, we find hear that the FBI have raided his Brunei office (where he seems to have accepted a position in government). Timothy helped Kenny set up fund related to money-laundering and bribery that made the patriarch of the Ratliff family $10 million, and now he's deeply implicated. 'You said this couldn't happen,' says Timothy, which, even for the maths-blind amongst us, seems naive at best.
It's not the first time Mike White has employed the 'Uncredited Oscar Winner' trick - in season two, Laura Dern appeared as the wife of Dominic Di Grasso (Michael Imperioli) at the end of the phone. Her swear-laden rant ensured the audience knew that most of what Dominic was saying on his holiday to his father and son, wasn't true.
The White Lotus resort is important for many of its guests as a hideaway from their real lives, which aren't often as idyllic as their bank balances and wardrobes suggest. We meet them at the point where they're living their dream holiday lives - and these phone calls are key to giving us a peek at what's really going on, what they're hiding from and what could put them in danger.
Like Dern's call in season two then, Kenny's desperate conversation with Timothy tells us what might go wrong in the lives of those who we know - from the opening scenes - could be in peril.
How scared or desperate could you be if everything (money and freedom) was at risk and will the situation Timothy finds himself in ultimately reveal who (him? The FBI? A family member? A furious Kenny?) could be at either end of the gunshots we heard in episode one?
ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE.
