The White Lotus: 11 best lines from Tanya McQuoid that had us laughing… and low-key crying

If you’ve watched The White Lotus, one character might have caught your attention due to her unusual habit of being present at the most dramatic moments of Season 1 and 2. The character I’m talking about is Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid, who visits the White Lotus hotel in Hawaii to seek inner peace as she is still dealing with her mother’s passing away.

Although a troubled woman, Coolidge’s Tanya delivers some of the funniest lines in the black comedy. These one-liners mostly arise out of awkward conversations with the other characters. While these one-liners are depicted as humorous, some of them also make us think because they are relatable and emotionally impactful.

In this article, we have listed 11 such Tanya McQuoid lines from The White Lotus that, other than making us laugh, also made us a little emotional.

Disclaimer: This article is based on the writer’s opinion. Reader discretion is advised.

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11 Tanya McQuoid lines from The White Lotus that were funny but emotionally impactful

11) “Wow, look at this view! I wonder if anyone's ever jumped from here” (Season 2, Episode 2)

Season 2 of The White Lotus is set in Italy and introduces a new set of dysfunctional characters, including our human punchline, Tanya McQuoid. The tension between Tanya and Greg is visible from the beginning of this season.

As they make way for breakfast in the lavish rooftop restaurant of the hotel, Tanya utters this line as a way of admiring the view of the mountains. Although it is hilarious, it also gives us a glimpse of Tanya’s mental health, which might have been spiralling due to the tension between her and her husband.

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10) “I'm my own v*ginal father?” (Season 1, Episode 1)

With this episode titled Arrivals, the dark and comedic twisty tales of the White Lotus’s guests and employees began. The location this season is Hawaii, and Tanya visits the hotel to make herself feel better after the death of her mother.

As she wanted to have a massage but couldn’t find one as the spa of the hotel was booked, Belinda showed her kindness and took her to give a new kind of healing massage, in which she asks her to utter the dialogue. Although Tanya does not understand any of it, she still follows Belinda’s orders and says the line, and later also chants with her. This particular scene perfectly introduces Tanya’s kind and considerate character to the viewers.

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9) “Don't spend your life chasing emotionally unavailable men.” (Season 2, Episode 3)

This episode contains one of the foreboding fates that Tanya’s character will encounter in the ending of the series. As she goes to a gypsy woman for her to read her fortune, she finds out about her impending death and also Greg’s cheating. But it's the latter that hurts her more.

These lines are actually her advice to her young assistant, Portia, while trying her best to drown her sorrows with alcohol. The tarot reading scene might have been funny, but seeing Tanya break down without talking to Greg depicts how troubled she had been lately.

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8) “At the core of the onion, Belinda, is just a straight-up alcoholic lunatic” (Season 1, Episode 5)

Since the first season of The White Lotus, Tanya has shown us how insecure she feels about herself. While she talks to Belinda about Greg not being interested in her after peeling just one layer of her, she makes this funny statement.

While it is witty and funny, Tanya's not being able to accept that someone could actually really like her, even after Belinda’s assurance, makes us feel bad for her.

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7) “Am I feeding my mother to the fishes?” (Season 1, Episode 4)

While Shane and Rachel were having a romantic date while overlooking the sunset in the ocean, Tanya disrupted it by wanting to scatter her mother’s ashes into the ocean, as she liked the ocean.

In this episode of The White Lotus, Tanya tries to eulogize her mother and reveals some shocking details about her, and begins sprinkling the ashes, but stops after one go as she is still not ready to do it. Later, during brunch, she again sits with Rachel and Shane and tells them that she had to stop because it felt like she was feeding the fish in an aquarium and utters the mentioned line. Although hilarious, this was one of Tanya’s struggles the whole season, as she just wanted to get the job done, as it made her emotional.

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6) "I dreamt that I was on the top of this beautiful mountain range in Asia...and I had a cyanide pill...." (Season 1, Episode 2)

In the episode titled, New Day, Tanya falls asleep during her massage session with Belinda, and when woken up, she shares this dream with her. Just like Tanya, her dreams are also strangely funny, which confuses Belinda.

Beyond that, it also shows Tanya’s struggles early in the first season. Quotes about death and dying are a common occurrence with Tanya, who is still grieving her mother’s death.

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5) “I’m a very needy person, and I am deeply, deeply insecure.” (Season 1, Episode 5)

Whenever Tanya is on screen, something awkwardly funny but poignant happens in the show. However, sometimes, being funny is not the only thing that our raspy-voiced character can deliver.

In this episode titled, The Lotus-Eaters, Tanya finally finds the courage and talks to Greg by confessing about being an insecure person. Even though the line came out of her comically, it was still a vulnerable moment for Tanya, which was also one of the most relatable ones.

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4) "I want you to get them out of here!" (Season 1, Episode 5)

This line is uttered by Tanya in the same scene where she bares her vulnerable self in front of Greg. After being too sentimental about her insecurities and crying her eyes out, Tanya asks Greg to take her mother’s ashes and dump them anywhere he wants.

Jennifer Coolidge can make even an emotional scene like this into a comical one as she asks Greg to get out of her room with her mother’s ashes, which she has not been able to scatter and get rid of. With an important impending job and feeling insecure about herself, the scene is more emotional and relatable rather than being only funny.

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3) “These gays! They’re trying to murder me!” (Season 2, Episode 7)

In the finale episode of The White Lotus Season 2, Tanya is in danger as she discovers that Greg has hired the gays whom she considered her friends to kill her and take her husband’s money to decorate their houses.

The scene is horrifying but since its Jennifer Coolidge, you can’t help but laugh a little on her panic state when she says this line to teh captain of teh ship who can’t speak in English and replies in Italian, which further prompts Tanya to think he is also one of those gays hired by Greg.

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2) “Whenever I stay at a White Lotus, I always have a memorable time.” (Season 2, Episode 1)

After becoming an iconic character of The White Lotus due to season 1, Tanya came back in season 2 in a new White Lotus hotel in Sicily, Italy. In the first season, she was dealing with an emotional time in her life, but in season 2, she goes on vacation with her husband, Greg.

While marking her return in a White Lotus hotel, but in a different location, Tanya McQuoid says this line. After giving so many memorable moments and quotes, it is not just Tanya having a memorable time, but also us who enjoy watching our heroine utter some strange quotes throughout the season.

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1) "Death... is the last immersive experience I haven't tried." (Season 1, Episode 6)

Greg’s effort to gain Tanya’s attention and financial help works wonders in the finale episode of The White Lotus. He reveals to her that he has a terminal illness, to which Tanya responds with this line, suggesting that she is open to trying out a new experience through Greg’s illness and death.

Although funny, this line actually foreshadowed Tanya’s impending fate in season 2.

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Also Read: 9 Moira Rose quotes from Schitt's Creek that are peak drama and should be displayed in a gallery