The White Lotus‘ shock incest storyline has gotten the internet talking as season three continues.
READ MORE: Did Saxon and Lochlan have sex in ‘The White Lotus’?
One of the most-talked-about aspects of the current run episodes is the odd dynamic between brothers Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan Ratliff (Sam Nivola).
After last week’s episode, which saw the two characters share a kiss during a Full Moon Party, the storyline ratcheted up in last night’s (March 23) outing, in which the brothers woke up naked in bed together.
With vague memories of what happened, flashes appear throughout the episode as the brothers and audiences discover that Lochlan had sex with Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) while Saxon masturbated next to them. At the end of the episode, Lochlan is shocked to remember that he reached over and gave his brother a handjob.
Many viewers have taken to social media to talk about the storyline’s latest development, sharing their reactions to the turn of events.
“Watching episode 6 of White Lotus and the incest somehow gets WORSE,” one viewer wrote, another adding: “Oh so the White Lotus will ACTUALLY lean into this incest shit? sigh.”
“7 minutes into the new White Lotus what the FUCK did i just witness with the brothers,” a third said, while a fourth wrote: “THE BROTHERS ON THE WHITE LOTUS DID WHAT??????”
Sharing a picture of Saxon realising what happened, a fifth joked: “If I ever send you this picture just know that I found out that I did something terrible at a party and learned things about myself that I never should have.”
Watching episode 6 of white lotus and the incest somehow gets WORSE pic.twitter.com/OyVr3kndFf
— finnmac06 (@finnmac06) March 24, 2025
oh so the white lotus will ACTUALLY lean into this incest shit? sigh. pic.twitter.com/ITLAcMou1l
— lexi lottiepilled (@cuntyrhae) March 24, 2025
If I ever send you this picture just know that I found out that I did something terrible at a party and learned things about myself that I never should have#TheWhiteLotus pic.twitter.com/RYjlo3fXvn
— Ericka ♡ (@NeonTravesty) March 24, 2025
7 minutes into the new white lotus what the FUCK did i just witness with the brothers pic.twitter.com/NbQeaJZgMW
— eli (@emcfeli) March 24, 2025
THE BROTHERS ON THE WHITE LOTUS DID WHAT?????? pic.twitter.com/7BP1OKVCVA
— Sid | (@sid_balenka) March 24, 2025
Nivola and Schwarzenegger have since opened up about the storyline, Nivola explaining that filming felt “fucked up” as he and his co-star had established a brotherly relationship behind the scenes.
“It would have been easier if that was the first time we were meeting,” he told Variety. “Weirdly, it was easier to do things with Charlotte because there were no stakes. It’s just this person I’ve just met. But Patrick was already like a brother to me. It felt sort of fucked up.”
Addressing the dynamic, the star suggested that it was “something else” other than sexual attraction, revealing: “I think it comes from a sense of insecurity. He really looks up to both of his siblings, not from the point of view of a physical attraction.
“It’s more curiosity, and trying to figure out which kind of person he is going to become. He tries to connect with him in whatever way he can. I think Lochlan is a people pleaser, who will try to get people to like him by any means necessary.”
‘The White Lotus’ season 3 Patrick Schwarzenegger as Saxon Ratliff. CREDIT: HBO/Sky
He added: “I think he’s incredibly misguided, and his circumstances have put him in a bad spot, but I don’t think he’s evil or malicious in any way. It’s important to the story that he’s not some psychopath.”
Schwarzenegger told The Hollywood Reporter that the storyline isn’t for shock value, saying: “There’s some sensationalism, but then there’s also the stuff behind the wall of the character and what he’s dealing with in the conflict of what just happened.
“What is that going to do to who he thinks he is? His thoughts on, what is it like to be a man? What is a man? What makes all these different things that he thought he stood for in the episode and the days before?”
He added that it “has to do a lot with the pilgrimage of the characters’ story and where he’s going”, continuing: “With the relationship Saxon has with his little brother, there’s always more than what just meets the eye of the shock value on the screen.”
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