Is Fabian Continuing the Legacy of Gay as Hell White Lotus Managers?
Following in the footsteps of Armond and Valentina is no small task.
Before we begin, we could easily do a “we need to talk about Pam,” a “we need to talk about Victoria’s brother Babe” or a “we need to talk about Claire Popovich,” three of my favorite characters on the new season of The White Lotus — only one of whom has appeared on the show thus far. But instead, I want to focus on one of the show’s most enduring archetypes: the gay hotel manager. Now, after two episodes of the new season, I can’t confirm that Fabian, the newest addition to the canon, is gay in the way that I could with Armond, who was caught eating a male coworker's ass, or Valentina, who had a sexual awakening at the hotel with a local female sex worker. But there’s certainly, how shall we say… a vibe. Christian Friedel, who plays Fabian, describing him in a recent interview as an “awkward aspiring diva,” certainly helped build the case.
Now, there’s a viral post going around at the moment — not that one about Chris Pratt saying he was “looking at that dick, bro,” in reference to his brother-in-law’s nude scene on the show, though I could do 8,000 words on that if asked — that points out that Armond and Valentina are the superior hotel managers. Now, I know this tweet is born out of fans’ love for two of the show’s most impactful and enduring characters and is more meant to pay respect to them vs. put down dear Fabian. But I simply can’t stand for this. Let’s examine Fabian, a very worthy successor to the hotel manager crown.