The White Lotus remains a major success story for HBO and HBO Max.
HBO has announced that The White Lotus Season 2 Episode 5 — the most shocking episode of the series to date — logged a series high among total viewers.
The new episode checked in 2.3 million viewers, more than any episode this season.
The number also eclipses the previous record holder, the freshman finale, with 1.9 million viewers.
Vs. The White Lotus Season 2 Episode 4, the latest episode surged 28%.
The season premiere has reached 9.5 million viewers, meaning many people watch the series post-airdate.
The numbers will likely continue to climb for the final two episodes of the season because they are poised to be filled with big reveals.
Sunday’s intense episode found Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) and Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) away from the exclusive White Lotus resort for a trip to Palermo.
Quentin (Tom Hollander) set the trip up, but fans were gobsmacked when Tanya walked in on Quentin having sex with his nephew Jack (Leo Woodall).
There’s no telling what will happen next, but for now, it looks like Quentin could be trying to con Tanya out of money.
Given that we know there are multiple fatalities by the time the vacation ends, there are many questions about how this season will conclude.
Woodall told Variety that he didn’t know about the scene until he got the script weeks after accepting the role.
“When I found out about the scene, I was speechless for a while,” Woodall said in an interview with Variety.
“I’m such a huge fan of Tom’s, and when I heard that he was going to be playing my uncle, I thought, ‘That is unreal.’ And then when I found out that I was going to shag him as well — that was kind of surreal.”
“Anything that Mike White does with this show is kind of perfect, so there were no reservations about it,” he added.
“It felt like an incredibly ‘wow’ moment.”
What are your thoughts on the impressive numbers?
Hit the comments below.
Catch the sixth episode of the season on Sunday.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.