Let the speculation begin—who’s going to die on The White Lotus this season?

For a minute there, at the beginning of season two, you might have forgotten you were watching The White Lotus. After a new opening credits scene that replaces last season’s tropical wallpaper with images from an Italian fresco, we meet Daphne Sullivan (Meghann Fahy) as she strikes up a conversation with a couple of new arrivals (played by Survivor alumni Kara Kay and Angelina Keeley, who competed alongside White Lotus creator Mike White in the “David vs. Goliath” season back in 2018).

Daphne’s vacation is coming to an end in a few hours, and she promises they’ll love it there. “We had the best time,” she gushes. “The hotel’s perfect and the staff’s excellent. The food is amazing.” Before leaving them to take one last dip in the Ionian sea, she adds without a hint of irony, “You’re going to die. They’re going to have to drag you out of here.” Soon after that, Daphne’s last swim is ruined when a dead body comes floating up to the surface, right in front of her. Oh, right. It’s that show.

Raising the stakes—and the body count

Before the requisite rewind to the beginning of the week we get a conversation in Italian between resort manager Valentina and her subordinate Rocco. He breaks the news that one of the guests has drowned, but she shrugs it off, noting “the ocean is not hotel property.” But then comes the real bombshell: this isn’t the only body found recently at the resort. The exact words he uses are: “Other guests have been killed.” So now we know to be on the lookout for more than one death by the end of the season.

Is The White Lotus a particularly deadly hotel chain or does this kind of thing happen all the time and we don’t hear about it? Except maybe on Daphne’s favorite show Dateline (another link between Daphne and death, hmm). She specifically mentions that a lot of husbands murder their wives on vacation. Is this foreshadowing? Should we be paying close attention to Daphne? Sure, but also everyone else too. We’ve only had one episode to meet these characters, but why not start tracking them now?

There may be some clues to be found in the setting itself. First, there’s the legend of the “teste di moro,” a Moor who was beheaded by his lover when she found out he was married with children. Then there’s the island’s famous volcano Mt. Etna, always rumbling in the background. In between scenes we get images of the rocky coastline and shots that dive under the surface of the water, accompanied by an eerie musical score. Relationships will be tossed against those rocks this season, tested by the island’s seductive yet dangerous waters. Some are bound to shatter.

Who’s in danger?

Since we’ve been told that the victims were hotel guests, we can rule out the locals among the dead. Bert Di Grasso is a reasonable candidate for a natural exit—considering he’s 80 years old and took a pretty bad spill—but Rocco used the term “killed,” so it’s more likely foul play than not.

We also have to consider Portia as a potential casualty. She’s effectively traveling alone now that Tanya has exiled her to her room for the trip. We’ve already seen her on her own at the pool and at dinner, so she’s not one for following orders. You can’t blame her, but it would be ironic if that’s what puts her in jeopardy.

With the clues we’ve been given about infidelity and revenge, though, the ones most at risk have to be the male characters. This includes Dominic, but also Cameron and Ethan. We know Daphne makes it all the way to the end of the trip, but why was she on the beach alone without the rest of her party?

Emerging suspects

Last season, we took Shane for a rich, entitled mama’s boy, but we didn’t immediately take him for a killer. The culprit may come out of nowhere this time too. After all, it wouldn’t be much fun if we guessed it easily after episode one. So we can’t rule anyone out, but there are a few suspects who are starting to stand out.

Going back to the legend of the “moro” and the rage of a scorned woman, we have to keep an eye on the married characters affected by infidelity. Dominic’s wife was pretty pissed with him over the phone, and she was originally supposed to be on the trip, so it’s not out of the question that she could hop a plane and surprise him. After what he’s gotten up to with Lucia, it wouldn’t be the good kind of surprise. We’re also not ruling out Mia or Lucia as the perpetrators, either. Not that they seem like they’re capable of such a thing, but when you’re in a rough trade things happen, and sometimes those things look intentional when they aren’t.

We’ll be keeping tabs on all of this as the season goes on. It’s easy to get caught up in the drama and the characters and forget that we’re basically watching a subtle murder mystery disguised as a social satire. Or maybe the other way around. Either way, we can’t wait to see what Sicily has in store for these characters this season.