'White Lotus' Winks at Jennifer Coolidge's MILF Status in Season Finale

[Editor's note: Spoilers for "The White Lotus" Season 1 follow.]

"The last thing I need in my life is another transactional relationship. It's not healthy for me," says Tanya McQuoid, played by Jennifer Coolidge in the Season 1 finale of HBO's "The White Lotus." On the show's six episodes, Tanya has been the neediest of the guests at the luxe Hawaiian resort where Mike White's series takes place; but in this moment she has a catharsis, though simultaneously dashing the hopes of the resort's gentle spa manager Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), who had hoped Tanya would come through with her promise of helping her start her own business.

Coolidge, who has long been cast in comedy roles where her sexiness and vulnerability could be played to great effect. In "Legally Blonde" she was Reese Witherspoon's BFF who learns to "bend and snap" to flirt with a UPS driver (it works). In "Best in Show" she was an Anna Nicole Smith-type trophy wife dressed in a baby pink fur jacket and dating a butch Jane Lynch. But it was her role in "American Pie" that was her break-out role where she played the seductive MILF Stifler's mom.

Much happens in the final episode of "The White Lotus," including an untimely death, much drug-taking, a teenage runaway, and various marital issues; but for Tanya she is finally living in the moment. She has found a boyfriend, he may be terminally ill, but wants to spend time with her despite a breakdown that could bring Coolidge an Emmy award. She also is able to throw her mother's ashes into the Pacific, something she had tried to do earlier in a disastrously funny sequence.

But there was a very funny and sexy "blink if you missed it" moment featuring Tanya on the finale that appears to be an easter egg to Coolidge's sexy mom role in "American Pie." In a scene where Coolidge is sunbathing by the pool while her new boyfriend swims, a bearded and shirtless hottie – played by Austin Stowell – hits on her, asking if he can sit in the empty chaise next to her. And it is clear that he has more on his mind.

"What's good?" he asks.

"Mmmm," says Coolidge, looking at him. "Sorry, that chaise is taken." She paused, adding, "But you're a very pretty man."

"Okay," he responds, before getting up to leave.

The scene-stealing Stowell�is known for his work in movies like�"12 Strong,"�"Fantasy Island,"�"Battle of the Sexes,"�"Bridge of Spies"�and�"Dolphin Tale," as well as the Hulu mini-series�"Catch-22."