HBO's White Lotus Season 2 Is "Hyper-Political" And More Shocking Than The First Season, Cast Says

HBO's popular TV series The White Lotus is returning for a second season this month, and now some of the cast and key creatives have discussed what to expect in terms of tone and shock value.

Starting off, actor Theo (Divergent series) said the show's shift in location from Hawaii to Italy "changes what [the show is] existentially."

"It's about the clash of Americana meets European meets Sicilian and Italian," James aid. "It's about sexual politics, it's heavily about gender and gender roles. Obviously they were peppered in but they were different themes in the first season... It's funny but it's also quite hyper-political and very rich in social satire."

Jon Gries, who returns from Season 1, said Season 2 is "very subtle and slow--it's like taking a long walk with a pebble in your shoe." The second season is also about "the inability of people to properly communicate," Gries said.

In addition to those elements, Season 2 will up the ante in terms of its shock value, Gries said. Season 2 will "shock people quite a bit more than the first, the last two episodes particularly… a few faces are going to be frozen in total shock," the actor explained.

Season 1 contained a scene where a character pooped in a suitcase. Series creator Mike White said the shocking scenes in Season 2 might not "as scatological as that," but the actor believes the finale in particular has "some water cooler moments, for sure."

The White Lotus Season 2 premieres October 30 on HBO. Original stars Jennifer Coolidge and Gries return from Season 1, joined by a new cast made up of Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, F. Murray Abraham, Will Sharpe, and Tom Hollander.

In other HBO news, the House of the Dragon Season 1 finale has leaked, so be mindful of spoilers before the episode airs this Sunday, October 23.