Not only is the name Armond, along with the character’s look and facial hair, a clear reference to Robin Williams’ character in The Birdcage, Armond is actually, fully gay. Until then, there’s the resort’s chaotic manager Armond, played exquisitely by Murray Bartlett of “Looking” fame.
These two are destined to have a lesbian fallout a la The Best of Everything, and I personally can’t wait for it. She sneaks out of bed every night to meet Kai, while Olivia grows more and more discomfited by the idea of Paula having a romantic relationship with someone that isn’t her. He’s now forced to work for the very people who stole his birthright, and Paula is the one who’s more horrified by the racist reality of resort culture than any of the rest of her cohort. Paula, for her part, is busy hooking up with Kai, a native islander who we later learn was robbed of his family land by the resort itself. On the subject of Olivia: she’s clearly in love with her best friend Paula, who is one of the only people of color staying, rather than working at, the resort. That’s what’s cool about it: almost every character has to contend with queerness in some way. “The White Lotus” isn’t a show with one gay arc or character. Nope Olivia, that’s 100% not how it works, and I’m pretty sure you’re gay, so you really should know that. She trolls her dad by asking whether her grandfather was a “butch top” or a “bossy bottom” and concluding (fully incorrectly!) that he “probably got AIDS from receiving.” His daughter Olivia is the one who seems the most excited about the revelation. Take Steve Zahn as Mark Mossbacher, an unambitious trophy husband who, upon learning of his father’s hidden queer sexuality, basically falls apart and goes rogue, insisting on a course of radical honesty that basically traumatizes his young, awkward son in public. That’s what’s cool about it: almost every character has to contend with queerness in some way, whether they are themselves queer or not. But the more interesting aspect? How laced with gayness the show is. The music, a cacophony of high-pitched flutes and groans by Cristobal Tapia de Veer, is brilliantly insane, clueing us into key scenes of emotional distress as all the guests (and staff) at the resort fall apart spectacularly. Which, to be clear, are 100% the only options she’s given in this show.ĭon’t get it twisted: The show being ridiculous is a key selling point. The wife, Rachel (Alexandra Daddario) is a journalist who actually just writes listicles like “10 Badass Women Changing the Tech World.” She’s considering giving up her career, and for the first time in the history of this trope, I actually agree with her gross husband: she should just quit and spend the rest of her life being rich.
There’s also a boring straight newlywed couple who get to share the bulk of the show’s most absurd exchanges. These white people include Nicole Mossbacher (Connie Britton) as a conservative tech girlboss, her husband Mark (Steve Zahn) a man who, while on vacation, learns his father died of complications related to AIDS, and their children, porn addict Quinn (Fred Hechinger) and closeted lesbian Olivia (Syndey Sweeney.) That’s not all: we also get Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya, a woman mourning the death of her awful mother, Brittany O’Grady’s Paula, Olivia’s best friend, and Natasha Rothwell’s Belinda, a new age spa manager and gifted masseuse. It’s about an absurdly lush, wildly dysfunctional resort located in Maui, Hawai’i, and the (mostly) white people who stay there.
But while the scene went down well (literally) for the most part, some members of the show's audience couldn't resist pointing out that that Armond's ass-eating technique could use some work.If you haven’t had the pleasure of tuning in to Mike White’s new HBO series “The White Lotus,” let me break it down for you. That kind of creative choice is exactly the reason fans love The White Lotus. Lukas Gage, who plays Dillon, recently revealed that the moment was originally written to be a sex scene, but that he and Armond actor Murray Bartlett pitched a "salad tossing" scene instead, as they felt it would be more original, not to mention a more organic depiction of what is a perfectly normal part of sex for queer people. Social media response to the scene has been largely positive, with viewers living for the chaos of it all as well as applauding such explicit queer representation on screen. The scene specifically featured Armond rimming Dillon-a sex act that rarely if ever gets shown on-screen. The White Lotus caused quite a stir on Sunday night, with the final moments of the fourth episode revealing resort manager Armond in flagrante delicto with his underling Dillon.