I couldn’t stop cringing during this one scene in The White Lotus season 3

The White Lotus season 3 premiered on February 16, 2025, on HBO and introduced a new set of guests vacationing at Thailand's luxurious hotel. Over eight episodes, the series explored the interpersonal dynamics and inner conflicts of the show's main characters.

Among the guests that stood out to me were the wealthy Ratliff family from North Carolina. From the pill-popping mother Victoria, to the suicidal father Timothy, and their hyper-se*ualized son, Saxon, the family's dysfunction is evident from the get-go. Moreover, the relationship between Saxon and his younger brother, Lochlan, is one of the most controversial aspects of the series.

The official synopsis of The White Lotus season 3, as per HBO, reads:

"This social satire is set at an exclusive Thai resort and follows the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week."

Disclaimer - This piece is based on the thoughts and opinions of the author.

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The White Lotus season 3 tackles a taboo subject involving Saxon and Lochlan

Mike White sets up the weird dynamic between Saxon and Lochlan in the first episode of The White Lotus season 3. While sharing a room together, Lochlan watches his brother's naked body with an intensity that can only be described as "inappropriate." Their interactions are also laced with se*ual undertones that I found, like most viewers, uncomfortable to watch.

In episode 5, the brothers party with Chelsea and Chloe on Gary's yacht in celebration of the full moon. When Chloe introduces drugs into the mix, I was well prepared for things to get out of hand. It's Mike White we're talking about after all! But even knowing his taste for the taboo did not prepare me for what was to come next.

After getting high on drugs, Saxon and Lochlan kiss during a game of truth and dare. As appalling as it was to watch, what followed was nothing short of absolute cringeworthy. Lochlan loses his virginity to Chloe right in front of his brother, who also hooks up with her. As Lochlan is having s*x with Chloe, he reaches over to Saxon lying nearby and pleasures him.

On March 23, 2025, Patrick Schwarzenegger, who plays Saxon in the series, told Decider that the scene was left ambiguous and open to interpretation on purpose.

"Why did it happen? Was it the drugs? Was it not? Was it the relationships leading up to it? Was it that this power shift? All these different things. I think Mike White wrote it in that specific way to have that conversation at home and to leave it up to the audiences to interpret it how they how they want."

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The White Lotus season 3 could have handled the storyline better

"Where do they go from here?" was the biggest question on my mind after watching the brothers have a threesome. In episode 6, both of them wake up with a terrible hangover and only vague memories of the debaucherous night. Their gut instinct is to avoid each other for a while. Lochlan accompanies Piper for an overnight stay at the monastery, while Saxon stays back at home with his parents.

Saxon finds out what actually went down between him and his brother from Chloe and Chelsea. Meanwhile, Lochlan's memories of the night return to him while he meditates in the monastery alongside Piper. In The White Lotus season 3 finale, Lochlan finally breaks the ice and tells Saxon that he is simply a people pleaser and did what he thought Saxon wanted at that moment (not from him obviously).

The two decide never to speak of it again and go back to pretending like nothing happened between them. After watching the finale, I personally felt a storyline of that magnitude warranted some soul-searching or se*ual epiphany on the part of either of the brothers.

In a show that loves to portray se*ual excesses and moral ambiguities, adding an incestuous storyline between two brothers felt like it crossed a moral line, in my opinion.

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All episodes of The White Lotus season 3 can be streamed exclusively on Max.