White Lotus episode 5 ending: 4 theories on that cliffhanger scene

What could this all mean? Well the internet is already full of theories that track the potential storyline right to the deaths we know are coming. 

The immediate assumption is that Quentin and Jack are engaged in incest. The ultimate taboo and a subject explored in House of the Dragon recently, it's not totally out of the question given the themes of madness and sexual depravity in this season. Still, based on the previous White Lotus season and its many twists, and with two episodes to go still, chances are there is something more complex going on. 

The natural conclusion of ruling out incest is that Jack is therefor not Quentin's biological nephew. A theory circulating on Reddit is that Jack is a sex worker that Quentin invited out to Sicily for the trip. 

The evidence? Firstly that Jack's accent is completely different to his uncle, though that doesn't feel definitive. There's also the fact that he couldn't pay when Portia and he went for arancini despite his ‘uncle’ being filthy rich, plus his earlier claim that the group of gay men often “grab my ass”. 

Okay, things are about to get more tin-foil hat. 

After a moving opera performance of Madama Butterfly, Quentin and Tanya sit and discuss love. Quentin says he's only been in love once with a cowboy in America who was straight. Redditers believe this cowboy is Tanya's husband Greg, the man who abandoned her in Sicily and looks disinterested when they're together at best. 

This could mean that the phone calls Greg was making in secret were not the straightforward affair that was hinted at, but something potentially tied to Quentin. Also suspicious is the fact that Quentin befriended Tanya immediately after Greg left Sicily and moved in on her quickly.

Building on this idea, some are suggesting that Quentin is befriending Tanya in a duplicitous plan with her husband to steal her money. Don't forget that there was mention of Tanya changing their prenup agreement while they were arguing earlier in the season. 

Given the inevitable deaths we are headed toward, might this mean that Quentin is trying to push Tanya toward suicide or frame her murder as one? Users have pointed out the ongoing references to suicide in the show, not least taking her to Madama Butterfly, a play where the protagonist kills herself, and the story about an old woman who suspiciously fell from a cliff. 

Does this mean that Jack is potentially an accomplice to the plan, steering Portia away every time Quentin has a serious or private chat with her? The first episode suggested more than one person might be dead, so this could be Jack and Quentin after being busted, or perhaps Tanya and Portia after falling victim to the scam. Whatever follows, there's certainly a few whiplash twists and turns still to come at the White Lotus.