Did Harper Actually Cheat On Ethan In The White Lotus Season 2 Episode 6?

Season 2 of "The White Lotus" is all about strained relationships. One of the most troubled marriages on the show is between Ethan and Harper Spiller, portrayed by Will Sharpe and Aubrey Plaza. Tensions have been building all season long between Ethan, Harper, and Ethan's college roommate Cameron, played by Theo James. Things start to come to a head in episode 6 when it appears that Harper may have cheated on Ethan with Cameron. Harper and Ethan were always faithful and transparent with one another, but when Ethan's loyalty was called into question, things got more complicated. So, did Harper really cheat on Ethan with his old friend? The answer is a little more complex than meets the eye.

The Spillers are adjusting to their newfound wealth on vacation with Cameron and his wife Daphne, played by Meghann Fahy. Their commitment to companionship and honesty is contested by the hedonistic indulgences that their new tax bracket encourages. What once made them excellent partners has since made them bored, bickering, and rigid, with zero sex life. "[T]hey've very much found their comfort zone, but that comfort zone is starting to feel uncomfortable and they're in a bit of a rut," Sharpe explained to Collider.

A seed of sexual tension is planted between Cameron and Harper in the first episode when Cameron gets naked while he and Harper are in a hotel room alone. Harper later alerts Ethan, who brushes it off. "It's the beginning of a series of events that start to expose the cracks in their relationship," Sharpe explained. "[I]t forces them to confront their underlying issues in their marriage." Cameron flirts with Harper more and more overtly as the season goes on and, by episodes 5 and 6, Harper seems to be entertaining it — and Ethan is catching on.

Cameron makes his most overt move on Harper in episode 5 of "The White Lotus" season 2 when he places his hand on her leg. Harper moves away after a moment's hesitation but doesn't call him out. Why would Cameron make a move like that on his friend's wife? And, more importantly, why would Harper entertain that move?

In Cameron's male-dominated finance bro universe, infidelity is totally normal. "Everyone cheats, E," he condescendingly explains to Ethan in episode 3. This philosophy is intrinsically linked to his wealth. "His sense of entitlement is so rich that he thinks he should be able to do whatever he wants," Theo James explained to HBO. Cameron almost indoctrinates Ethan completely with molly and sex workers but ultimately fails. He does, however, leave his used condom behind in Ethan's room for Harper to find in episode 4. When she questions Ethan about what happened, he does not reveal the whole truth. She confronts him with the condom in the following episode and he finally reveals what happened, but her trust is broken by then.

Harper truly does believe that Ethan didn't cheat on her, as she tells him in episode 6, but he still lied to her. She feels like she has been toyed with, and she wants to toy with Ethan in return. It seems like she might have slept with Cameron, but that's exactly what she wants Ethan to think. After all, it seemed a lot like Ethan had slept with someone else when she found a condom in their hotel room, and she is getting even with him for breaking her trust by recreating the same paranoia that she endured.

Harper purposefully leans into Cameron's advances in episode 6 of "The White Lotus" season 2. She has a drink with him, puts on a happy face, and disappears up to the room with him, all to bait her husband into following her. After texting Ethan to let him know where she'll be, she locks the front door by its hinge and opens the first door to Cameron's adjoining room. She knows it will look like the front door was locked in a rush and Cameron had just disappeared. Ethan immediately gets suspicious, just as Harper knew he would.

Ethan confronts Cameron for flirting with Harper in this episode, but he didn't even have to. He already made it clear that he knew Cameron was hitting on Harper in episode 5 when he accused him of having a "bad case of mimetic desire" and sleeping with all the girls that he liked in college. It's obvious to Harper that Ethan is already suspicious of Cameron, so she plays into it. But the question remains, why does Harper want to play games with Ethan when she once prided them on having a healthy and honest relationship?

Daphne tells Harper that she is fully aware of Cameron's infidelity and that in return she cheats on him with her personal trainer. At the same time, she and Cameron are very affectionate and have an active sex life, as Harper and Ethan are constantly hearing through the door of their adjoined room. Harper wants to get Ethan's attention by making him jealous while still retaining a moral high ground that Cameron and Daphne don't have. If you ask me, she's purposefully fooled her husband into thinking she and Cameron are having an affair — and Ethan is falling right into her trap.