#1. I Can't Stop Thinking About Daphne
The White Lotus actress, the inimitable Meghann Fahy, DIDN’T get a Golden Globe nomination?!
Yes–I, like almost everyone else, watched the finale of The White Lotus last week. If you haven’t watched yet and plan to, I’d recommend coming back to read this newsletter later–spoilers ahead!
I <3 U, Meghann Fahy
I gasped in HORROR when my best friend told me last Tuesday that Meghann Fahy–the actress who plays The White Lotus’s vapid and relentlessly cheerful, yet low-key cunning, sociopathic housewife and probably future cult leader, Daphne–did not receive a Golden Globe nomination for her role on the TV show the entire internet was talking about last week. When she revealed that Aubrey Plaza (cool, controlled lawyer Harper), Jennifer Coolidge (our beloved heiress, Tanya, from Season 1), and F. Murray Abraham (Bert, the skeezy grandfather) all received nominations, though, I couldn’t believe it! WHO DO I NEED TO CALL TO MAKE THIS RIGHT?!
Before The White Lotus became one of the most talked about TV shows of the year, some of us were privy to Meghann Fahy’s talent from a little show called The Bold Type that premiered in 2017. If you haven’t seen it, The Bold Type was a sort of Sex and The City-esque show following three co-workers and best friends in their 20s who work for a popular fashion magazine (a stand-in for Cosmopolitan) that ran for five seasons on Freeform. Although it wasn’t on the level of anything produced by HBO, I genuinely loved it. Meghann’s character, Sutton Brady, was always my favorite of the three leads. She brought a free-spirited energy and as much emotional depth as a show on Freeform can stand to the role of Sutton that I’m 1000% sure played a part in her casting as Daphne on The White Lotus.
**Minor spoiler alert ahead if you plan to watch The Bold Type: I fell in love with Sutton Brady (and also Meghann Fahy by default) in the later seasons of The Bold Type when she stood her ground about not wanting to have kids, even if it meant having to walk away from the love of her life. Representation of women who don’t want children on TV sucks. Most characters are either stereotyped as an asshole who hates kids, a complete disaster who can’t even take care of herself, or a super successful career-oriented woman who doesn’t have the time for children.
Walking in the footsteps of the undeniably wonderful Cristina Yang, who chooses not to have kids simply because she doesn’t want them, Sutton’s story in seasons four and five was a breath of fresh air in a period of my life when I was debating this very question and coming to terms with my own views on having children. Seeing a beautiful, talented, strong woman around my age (Meghann is 32; Sutton was in her late 20s) make the decision to not have kids because she doesn’t want them and stand by it on a show about life, love, and career was extremely validating for me in a time I needed it badly. And so my love affair with Meghann Fahy began.
The White Lotus, Season 2
When I sat down to watch the first episode of The White Lotus’s second season about a month ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see Theo James (who captured my heart as ‘Four’ in Divergent, which I have seen no less than 10 times), but delighted to see Meghann Fahy grace my TV screen once again. And their characters were married! My wildest dreams coming true. I was shocked to see Aubrey Plaza in a serious role, which was a fun experience, but the charm that Meghann Fahy lends to her character, Daphne, dazzled me from the very first episode where she is gleefully explaining to Harper and Ethan that as a stay-at-home-mom she watches a lot of Dateline because she loves all the husbands murdering their wives.
Daphne is the most complex character on The White Lotus. Through her absolutely A++ performance, Meghann Fahy brings to life a character who is a rich, banal, stay-at-home-mom who isn’t sure if she voted but gets drunk in the evenings and donates a lot of money to charities that tug at her heart strings, but also has a lot of the right ingredients for a future cult leader.
Daphne is charismatic, quietly dominant, persuasive, and definitely a bit delusional. The lack of concern she has for other people is something that sneaks up slowly, then practically smacks you in the face in episode three when she reveals to Harper in Noto that her children are probably not actually her husband Cameron’s, but biologically the spawn of her trainer, who we assume she started seeing once she learned Cameron was cheating on her. I mean, it took me a second to understand the reveal, but did anyone else put Daphne at the top of their list for murder suspect after this episode?!
Meghann Fahy’s acting in the final episode is award-winning and I will not accept any counter arguments. When Daphne lures Ethan off to the little remote island where it’s implied that they have revenge sex to get back at their spouses for hooking up– I had chills. The amount of emotion Meghann can channel through her face is stunning. Ethan tells Daphne he thinks something happened between Cameron and Harper, and Meghann expertly gives us my favorite scene of the entire season (Tanya shooting all her would-be murderers and then falling off the boat to her death is obviously a close second). Daphne’s mood goes from chipper, to crestfallen, to wistful, to acceptance, to PLOTTING HER REVENGE, all in the space of about 15 seconds. Then she delivers the monologue that *should have* secured a Golden Globe nomination:
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about. You don’t have to know everything to love someone. A little mystery? It’s kind of sexy. I’m a mystery to myself, honestly, I surprise myself all the time. I think you just do whatever you have to do not to feel like a victim. Of life, you know? You just use your imagination.”
“Have you been over there yet? I really want to go before we leave. Looks so pretty. Come on. Walk with me.”
Does Ethan have any choice but to get up and follow her??? He literally doesn’t even say a single word, just stands up and follows Daphne to the island to play his part in enacting her revenge plot. Daphne refuses to be a victim in the story of her life, and she’s willing to do whatever she needs to do to hang on to that mentality.
I get the sense that maybe Daphne had a rough childhood where she had to pretend everything was fine when it wasn’t. All the way back in first few minutes of episode one (which, chronologically, is one of the last scenes of the season), Daphne is somehow super chipper after their dream vacation turned into a domestic nightmare, saying they had “the best time” at the hotel and that “Italy is so romantic,” delivered with genuine enthusiasm, which is wild considering the events that we find out have taken place over the course of their stay. Not only did her husband cheat on her while she was away for the night–which was far from the first time something like that has happened–he also seduced his friend’s wife in the span of just a few days. Cameron was almost murdered by Ethan once he found out about the clandestine encounter, and then he and Daphne act like absolutely nothing happened at their final dinner, even toasting to “friendship, travel, and the good life.” The way Daphne delivers her “I love you” to Cameron hits the perfect combination of Stockholm Syndrome mixed with sociopathy and just a hint of revenge. It is delicious.
She has so much brewing underneath the surface; her bubbly personality is just a shiny veneer over what I can only assume is very deep pain and a willingness to go to extreme lengths to maintain the level of happiness she convinces herself that she has. I don’t think she can outrun her problems forever, but Daphne’s permanently cheery brand of sociopathy by whatever means necessary is perhaps even more disturbing than Cameron’s selfishness and anger issues. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if, several years down the road, Daphne is plotting Cameron’s murder before he can beat her to it. After all, Daphne is hell-bent on never becoming the victim. Fuck yes, I’d watch that show!
I keep picturing an older Daphne as Nicole Kidman’s character, Masha, in Nine Perfect Strangers. Masha runs a health and wellness retreat called ‘Tranquillum House’ where she is secretly microdosing all the attendees with psilocybin (mushrooms) without their consent. She is intense, calm, intelligent, empathetic, and profoundly unhappy. Like Daphne, she is deeply complicated. She wants to help others who are lost find their way back to happiness, but is doing so by her own methods without regard for others’ feelings or consent. Give me the show where Daphne, fueled by the accidental death of her children, has offed Cameron and opened a cult-like, ultra-exclusive wellness retreat with the money from his life insurance policy. Dear Daphne, you are wild and a joy to watch. I’ll miss you next season.
After watching it all again, here are a few more hot takes about Season 2 of The White Lotus:
Season 2 is significantly better than Season 1 and you can’t change my mind!
I could use an entire season just about Cameron; I feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface of the menacing personality hiding behind his beautiful face.
I agree; Portia’s outfits are bad but perfect for her character. This article ranking her outfits is also perfect. I am not a member of Gen Z and therefore generally find all of her looks completely heinous.
Speaking of wardrobe, I missed the easter egg about Tanya’s floral dress (which I loved) in the finale. Genius.
Albie is sweet, but his naive, “nice guy” intentions to “rescue” Lucia from her circumstances after he’s known her for all of a few days and how he spoke to his father when asking him for money gave me the ick. I agree that $50K from Dom is basically a karmic payment for his shitty behavior, but Albie’s entitled “just give it” was a no from me.
If I had a casual $5,000 laying around, I would immediately buy Lucia’s charm necklace. I love it so much it genuinely became distracting.
Jack’s turn from Portia’s sexy, fun love interest to deeply messed up henchman in a murder plot was underrated. His final scene dropping Portia near the airport was stunning. Soooo creepy!
A moment for the cinematography and setting! This is the most beautiful season of TV I’ve maybe ever seen.
Tanya’s accidental death was perfect. No notes.
I liked Harper until she insisted she wasn’t a liar and doesn’t lie, and then lied in the very next sentence about what happened with her and Cameron, and then told Ethan to fuck off.
Valentina’s firing of Giuseppe was simply beautiful. She’s a woman finally figuring out what she wants, and hell yes she can fire him, “because she’s the Director.” We love a woman in power (and in a pink power suit).
Issue #1 of curious times marks the first installment of a new section you’ll find at the bottom of most issues going forward: What’s Up This Week. In this section you’ll find a few things I recommend or am reading/watching/doing that week, as well as a “wine of the week” courtesy of my partner, Paul. I hope you enjoy! :)
What’s Up This Week
Paul is an almost-but-not-quite-sommelier / wine enthusiast who regularly hosts wine tastings for groups large and small. He absolutely does take requests if you’re looking for something specific–feel free to reply to this email or DM me!
2020 Pessimist
"A Pessimist is never disappointed"
Archetype: The big, extroverted, life of the party!
Composition: Red Blend from Paso Robles, mostly Petite Syrah and Zinfandel
Availability: We’ve seen it in a few wine stores recently, also available on the DAOU website
MSRP: $22-30ish
Worth it: Absolutely
Discovered: In Palm Springs in 2021, where the heat and raucous noise of the warm November night blended seamlessly with the attitude of the wine
Appearance: Nearly black core, purple violet rim, young appearance
Nose: High intensity nose with notes of juneberry jam, acai jam, all of the berry jam, come on let's jam! Smear this wine on toast in the morning or at least try to, this one is all about the fruit.
Palate: Lordy be. Imagine all of the berries crushed and macerated on low heat in a saucepan with a little char, toss in a bit of cotton candy and a pinch of black dirt, and here we are together.
Very high intensity, sweet palate with not the greatest alcohol integration; luckily the fruit on this wine is so fat and ripe that it covers that defect up a bit. This wine is boozy as a result. Imagine the difference between a luxurious aged brandy versus a nine dollar grocery-store knock off in a plastic bottle. The fleshiness goes a long way to hide the high alcohol, but it also covers up what I crave the most: structure! Very little evidence of tannin or acid on this wine until the sweet, slightly flabby doughy finish, which is medium length due to the excessive extract.
Conclusions: If you want to buckle up and go to the carnival to have a weirdly good time, this is the wine for you, including the next morning's disorientation. Don’t even think of pairing it with food, unless it is (you guessed it!) jam. Be careful pairing this wine with an experience as well–it will dominate the environment. This is a wine that you break out for your most extreme friends, or drink by yourself during extreme times. It is not for the faint of heart, and is probably not for anyone who has ever shown a real appreciation for the wines of Europe. Simply put, the 2020 Pessimist by Daou is the life of the party. Just be careful when playing with fire.
I just finished Death In Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh. It’s a relatively short read (260 pages) that I gave a 5/10. A first-person portrait of a woman slowly losing her mind, Death In Her Hands is an unusual spin on a murder mystery that starts promisingly enough, but nothing ever really happens.
The White Lotus theme song, “Renaissance.” An absolute banger by Cristobal Tapia de Veer, a Chilean-Canadian film and television score composer, pictured below:
Neither Paul or I have ever owned a milk frother before, but we’ve had this one for about three weeks, and agree that it’s freaking amazing. All you do is press a button and it makes velvety, frothy, delicious milk to add to any coffee in about 30 seconds. Extremely impressed.
The Argentina vs. France World Cup final was one of the most intense things I have watched on television in the last decade. Otherwise, I have moved on from The White Lotus and am fully immersing myself in the Harry and Meghan documentary series. I have never had Royal Fever, but so far it’s really interesting!
That’s it! See you back here next week.
K bye,
Kelly