Season three of The White Lotus has had some pretty viral moments so far (looking at you, Jason Isaacs) but the fans were left with their jaws dropped after the show officially delved into incest territory this week.
In case you missed it, the series has been teasing a weird will-they-won’t-they tension between Ratliff brothers Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola). In literally the first episode, we heard Saxon describe his sister as hot, before he asked Lochlan what kind of porn he preferred and headed to the bathroom — butt naked, mind you — to jerk off.
Spoiler alert, the brothers officially locked lips onscreen in the latest episode as they partied it up with Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon). The intimacy was teased several times as the brothers drank and took drugs at episode five’s Full Moon Party and let’s just say, it was all kinds of weird.
At the after-party on their yacht, Chelsea and Chloe share a kiss, and they tease the brothers to do the same. And, instead of ignoring them like a normal person, ol’ Lochy leans in for a kiss with Saxon.
The episode’s sparked understandable backlash, leaving many fans divided on whether it’s purely for shock value or whether it could actually have something to do with the plot. (Still a weird twist, if you ask me.)
“Are we really entertained by incest?” one Reddit user questioned while another added that it was “the nastiest thing I’ve ever seen on HBO”.
Plenty of others have weighed in on the “unnecessary” and “disturbing” scene, which seems to be hinting at some kind of power play between the brothers.
According to executive producer David Bernad, we just have to be patient because apparently there’s a method to this incest madness.
“[Creator Mike White] is brilliant, and I think those big story turns are not just for shock,” he told The New York Post.
“There’s a specific reason in terms of the narrative storytelling, and the larger thematic idea Mike is trying to get across.”
Bernard explained we’ll “see the purpose of that story turn” as the season wraps up, with the show apparently going for a larger thematic idea.
“I love that family storyline, especially the brother story — and, it culminates in a very satisfying way,” he said.
This certainly isn’t the first time HBO has gone there with incest storylines (think House of the Dragon‘s Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen or the OG squirm-inducers Cersei and Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones) and the streaming giant even leaned into its infamy with an Instagram carousel ahead of the episode, captioned “family first”.
This post is certainly a… choice. (Source: Instagram)
The White Lotus even hinted at incest in season two, when fan favourite Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) catches Jack having sex with his uncle Quentin (though it remains unclear were just claiming to be nephew and uncle).
Still, it’s a trend that’s left a lot of fans exasperated. Many have also stated they’re giving up on the series entirely.
“Call me a prude, I don’t care, I’m done with White Lotus, HBO in general. They have started these tactics since Girls came out when their writing got really lazy and boring that they slot something extreme in the episode so that the press writes about it,” said influencer Cora Lakey in a TikTok video shared to her more than 115,000 followers.
“All he needed was a little bit of liquid courage and motivation. Why would they encourage brothers to kiss each other? That’s just so wild to me,” one TikTok user commented.
“I don’t even watch The White Lotus but seeing people fetishise the incest plotline makes me glad I don’t,” another remarked.
What have The White Lotus actors said about the scene?
Speaking to Vulture, Charlotte Le Bon i.e. Chloe shared some insights into how filming the scene went down.
“Well obviously they’re not brothers by blood, so that made it easier,” she told the publication. “I think for Patrick it was really difficult. For Sam, he was kind of like, ‘It’s whatever, let’s just do it well one time and it will be over.’ You know? Because if you don’t do it well the first time, then you have to do it over and over again.”
She added that Schwarzenegger i.e. Saxon’s seemingly nauseous reaction in the episode is genuine, adding “we all thought he was going to throw up”.
Meanwhile Schwarzenegger also remarked that that uneasy feeling in your stomach this season is pretty intentional.
“[Mike White] wants to leave that up to the interpretation of the audience of what is happening,” Schwarzenegger told Today. “Was a power shift happening? Is there a different power dynamic between him and Lochy? Is Lochy coming on to him? Is it the drugs? Is it the girls pressuring him? What is it? So, I think he leaves that open-ended for the audience to try to decipher.”
Now I’ll hold out hope that this creepy plotline is actually heading somewhere vaguely meaningful — but honestly, I don’t blame the many critics deciding to turn this one off for good.
Lead image: Instagram
