One of the biggest surprises at the end of The White Lotus season 1 finale was when Rachel (Alexandra Daddario) returned to Shane (Jake Lacy). The newlyweds’ relationship certainly seemed doomed to fail throughout all six episodes, with Shane quickly becoming the most loathsome of the main characters due to his self-centered, bratty behavior. When Rachel finally stood up to Shane a collective cheer surely reverberated throughout the audience, leaving their abrupt reconciliation at the end all too bittersweet.
The White Lotus followed the journeys of multiple groups of affluent guests on vacation at a luxury hotel in Hawaii. While each of the star-studded guest groups at The White Lotus Hotel shared their portion of spoiled, diva-like behavior, none proved quite as dysfunctional as that presented in the marriage of Shane and Rachel. With each new episode, Shane’s actions steadily ate at Rachel, creating doubt in the young online journalist that she’d made the right decision in marrying him.
From Shane increasingly becoming antagonistic against the hotel’s manager, Armond (Murray Bartlett), to Rachel being told she didn’t need to work because she was rich now, it became clear her identity was at stake in this toxic relationship. When Shane’s mother joined the couple in the middle of their honeymoon and both made clear to Rachel a life of charity work and social functions was her future, Rachel’s rebellion seemed inevitable. But when left to the loneliness of her own devices, Rachel ultimately decided a life with doors opened to her outweighed the inconvenience of losing herself within a soul-destroying marriage.
In a moment of clear self-awareness, Rachel confessed to spa manager Belinda she didn’t know if she could love herself if she made a Faustian bargain to become a trophy wife. Perhaps it was when Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) rejected the notion that Rachel’s strife even merited investment on her part that forced Rachel to finally face facts. Belinda was a woman willing to become anything potential business investor Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) needed of her in order to get a break like the one Rachel already had, so the new bride’s crisis from the outside appeared nothing more than a privileged outrage most could not afford.
Add to that the fact Rachel never quite proved confident in the notion of being alone, despite telling Shane that when she was with him she felt nothing but. In fact, when Shane leaves the dinner table so Rachel can be on her own, his wife looks around the dining venue seemingly uncertain what she’s supposed to do now. When we next see her, she isn’t on the phone confiding to a family member or friend but is instead seeking support from a hotel staff member she’d only just met earlier that day. Like it or not, but Rachel had apparently made her bargain long ago, and had no one in her life outside of Shane’s sphere to rely on.
When the couple finally came back together at the airport in the final moments of the season, Rachel’s promise she would be happy with Shane appeared an obvious contradiction to the reality she faced. Rachel had chosen a path with built-in advantages, even if it meant sacrificing her potential self-actualization. With The White Lotus already picked up for a second season featuring new characters at a different White Lotus hotel property, Rachel’s future may seem bleak but the series itself has earned new opportunities to shine.