‘The White Lotus’ returns for Season 2, slowed down and sexed up for TV
The White Lotus is back, and Season 2 will be about as subtle as I could make it.
The TV series, which debuted in February, follows the real-life exploits of a drug dealer named Tommy Chong.
Chong, portrayed by Richard Jenkins, uses his drug connections in New York and Hollywood to do his own thing in a part of the world that is virtually lawless.
The series followed Chong’s journey into America after his release from jail, where he had served 18 months of a 25-year-to-life sentence for the murder of another man.
“Everything Tommy does is to try to get to somewhere he thinks he is entitled to be,” said series creator Tim Lovell, who starred in the 2000 show “Good Times,” which centered on a street-level businessman with a penchant for drugs.
“In the show, it is never spelled out, but he believes in himself,” Lovell said.
The series stars Kevin Durand, Tress MacNeille, Rufus Sewell and Mark Harelik, and is produced by Sony Pictures Television and ABC Studios.
Lovell said the series takes inspiration, as far as character development, from his own past.
“He was pretty much a wild man, and I always had him described as the black Adam Brody,” Lovell said.
Lovell said he’s heard of the show as a “fun ride” at times, but said he has no idea how he’ll make the show’s pace more realistic.
“It doesn’t even try to speed up,” he said. “If you ask me to pick a season one title, there are two that come to mind: Tommy and ‘The White Lotus.’ The pace of the show is a function of the character.”
Timing
In Season 1, the series ran about a year behind schedule because of network pressure and the complexity of its storylines.
“They were