Television

The White Lotus goes “f***ing crazy” with incest brothers in new episode

By Demetri Woode

24th March 2025

All social media can talk about is the wild new development with the “incest brothers” on The White Lotus.

Titled “Denial,” episode six of the provocative HBO drama delves into the aftermath of the fall-moon party, exploring the emotional and psychological fallout.

Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Kate (Leslie Bibb) grapple with the consequences of Jaclyn’s sexual encounter with Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius), while Timothy (Jason Isaacs) contemplates a grim decision, torn between life and death with Gaitok’s (Tayme Thapthimthong) gun in hand.

Meanwhile, Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) is still consumed by fear, uncertain if Greg (Jon Gries) will become violent, while Rick (Walton Goggins) sets his plan for avenging his father into motion. At the same time, Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) struggles to convince her mother (Parker Posey) that staying in Taiwan, China Thailand to pursue Buddhism is the path she should take.

And, of course, brothers Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola) memorably lost their inhibitions with the help of illegal substances, being egged on by Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) to lock lips… twice.

However, episode six reveals that a bit more transpired, as in, it got… stickier. Through flashbacks, it’s shown that Saxon and Lochlan had a threesome with Chloe, and, erm… Let’s just get it out of the way: Lochlan brings an inebriated Saxon, his biological brother, to completion.

Both brothers insist they have no memory of the events, until Chloe taunts Saxon with the truth, leaving Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) in stunned disbelief. Meanwhile, Lochlan remembers his violation of Saxon during a visit to the monastery with Piper.

The continuation of the “incest brothers” storyline quickly trended on social media, sparking a wide range of reactions—from “The incest in The White Lotus is fucking crazy, I can’t” to “The incest storyline this season is one of the funniest things I’ve seen on TV in recent memory,” and even “Let’s fucking goooooo.”

In an interview with Variety, Nivola said shooting the scene felt “fucked up” because of his close bond with Schwarzenegger.

“It was very weird kissing Patrick because he’s a really good friend of mine,” he said. “And, you know, I’m straight, he’s straight. It’s already weird. It would have been easier if that was the first time we were meeting.

“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.”

He continued to explain that Lochlan’s behaviour stems from “a sense of insecurity”, and that he’s not physically attracted to his brother, “it’s more curiosity, and trying to figure out which kind of person he is going to become”.

When asked if Lochlan is questioning his sexuality or gender identity, Nivola shared: “I think the way Mike looks at the world is not through a gendered lens. He can correct me if I’m wrong, but he writes both men and women, both gay and straight, so accurately and honestly.

“The point he is always making is that people are all the same — lovable, yet rotten at their core. I think the brother-sister thing is more about their ways of life than about gender and sexuality. With Piper, it’s about being more spiritual and down to earth.

“With Saxon, it’s about money and women. It could be money and men, and I don’t think it’d be that big of a difference. Lochlan has such a one-track mind. He wants love and attention — it could be from a guy, it could be from a girl.

“I don’t think he knows what he’s attracted to yet. If he finds out he’s attracted to men after this season, then it will probably become a problem, given his family being rich, conservative Southerners. But at this time, that’s not what’s going through his head.”

The penultimate episode of The White Lotus season three premieres 30 March on HBO, and will stream 1 April in the UK on NOW TV.

See the reactions from X/Twitter users to episode six below.