White Lotus Exec Producer Talks About THAT Controversial Kiss

Episode 5 of The White Lotus Season 3, titled Full-Moon Party, marked a pretty big turning point for the season. In the words of Saxon Ratliff himself, “Shit’s about to get crazy!”

In this episode, we got to see Saxon, Lochy, Chloe, and Chelsea get high and drunk on their boat as they start daring each other to kiss. Eventually, Chloe dares Saxon and Lochy to kiss each other and they do. It’s not just a simple peck either, Lochy straight up makes out with his older brother.

Now, HBO is no stranger to incest. Exhibit A: Jaime and Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones. However, this is completely new territory for The White Lotus, a series that isn’t afraid to talk about difficult social issues, but has never strayed too far in taboo topics before. The kiss between Saxon and Lochy implies that there’s some sort of incestuous dynamic between the two brothers, and while it could be seen as a play for shock value, The White Lotus Executive Producer Dave Bernad says that isn’t the case in an interview with New York Post:

” No, in terms of that — that’s all [Mike White]. Mike is brilliant, and I think those big story turns are not just for shock. There’s a specific reason in terms of the narrative storytelling, and the larger thematic idea Mike is trying to get across. As the season wraps up, you’ll see the purpose of that story turn. The show goes there for a larger thematic idea. I love that family storyline, especially the brother story — and, it culminates in a very satisfying way.”

To be fair, the show has been building up to this incestuous dynamic since the very first episode. I mean, Saxon clearly has no problem sexualizing his younger sister and talking about it with his brother, nor does he have any issue with making inappropriate sexual remarks in front of his mom. Even Victoria has a weird story about her brother pinning her down when they were kids and dangling spit in her face. The entire Ratliff family is weird as hell, so Saxon and Lochy kissing doesn’t feel shocking. On the contrary, I’ve just been waiting for something like that to happen. All that remains is to see where the show is actually going with this.

The White Lotus is now available for streaming on HBO Max.