After six episodes of ‘will they won’t they?’ between brothers Lochlan and Saxon, The White Lotus has gone there.
It takes a lot to shock someone who writes about television for a living but The White Lotus is trying its very best with… incest.
From the get-go of the third season of Mike White’s ludicrously camp whodunnit, the sexual tension has been palpable – between brothers Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan Ratliff (Sam Nivola).
Saxon is a hypersexual, hyper-masculine ‘finance bro’ determined to rid his sheepish younger brother of his virginity during their family trip to Thailand, specifically with some girls they’ve spotted at their resort, The White Lotus.
During their first night sharing a room, Saxon is horny. He can’t stop talking about how horny he is. In fact he’s so unbearable horny that, mid-conversation with his brother, he has to masturbate immediately.
He dashes to the bathroom, leaving the door suspiciously ajar to jerk off in front of Lochlan who is transfixed, staring at his brother’s penis for much longer than could possibly be an accident.
The latest episode, on the way back from Thailand’s infamous Full Moon Party, the brothers got drunk and took part in a threesome with a girl called Chloe on her boyfriend’s luxury yacht.
The next morning, battling the worst hangovers, hazy memories of the night began to break through the cobwebs.
It happened. Lochlan had given his older brother a hand job while making out with Chloe.
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Since the episode’s release, viewers have threatened to boycott and said the storyline has gone ‘too far’.
The White Lotus has never been a wallflower – and I don’t really have an issue with tackling incest. But does it have to be done with gay undertones?
Incest is having its moment. Jaime and Cersei Lannister set the trend in Game of Thrones and just last year Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: Eric and Lyle Menendez showed the titular homoerotic killer brothers showering together.
For better or worse, television is there to cover taboo issues – and to be clear, I am thoroughly enjoying The White Lotus season 3. It’s debaucherously mischievous and if it’s the most fun we’ll have on television this year then great – I’ll go into 2026 toasting another satisfying year of TV.
But according to The White Lotus, gay men have two things in common – we’re either perverts or we want to kill Jennifer Coolidge, or both. In reality, I like to think most of us have more depth and would quite literally die for Jennifer Coolidge.
And of the many couples who have checked into The White Lotus for a romantic getaway, not one of them has been LGBTQ+ – at least, not openly.
The first time The White Lotus showed gay sex, it was punchy, unapologetic and genuinely felt ground-breaking with hotel manager Armond (Murray Bartlett) aggressively rimming staff member Dillon (Lukas Gage). It was great work all around to see that level of gay sex on a television series not specifically categorised as LGBTQ+.
Then season two came – where, once again, there was a gay sex scene clearly intended to rock the boat when Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) caught Jack (Leo Woodall) hooking up with the man believed to be his uncle, Quentin (Tom Holland).
It transpired that Jack and Quentin had been lying to lure Tanya on to a luxury yacht and dump her body in the sea. The storyline was a work of art and produced one of the most meme-able moments in living memory with the killer line: ‘These gays, they’re trying to murder me.’
But, while it was unmissable television, there was a slight discomfort that gays were reduced to being horny killers without any conscience – and that, once again, sex between two men was clearly used for shock value.
Then just a couple of weeks ago, the sun rose on The White Lotus again and alluded that, if there is more gay sex this series, it’s going to be between two brothers.
The White Lotus is the brainchild of openly bisexual former reality star-turned TV guru Mike White. I’m sure his intentions are good, that more gay representation is a wonderful thing – and that’s true, of course.
Granted, no one comes off great in The White Lotus with the exception of hotel manager Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell). Everyone is deeply troubled and their greed, trauma and absurdity is what makes The White Lotus so irresistible.
But there’s a distinct trend around the wrongness of its gay characters, which always boils down to sex – in a way that it doesn’t with straight guests and staff of various The White Lotus resorts around the world.
This season, could The White Lotus have confronted incest with a brother and sister? Easily.
Not to mention, there are so many fascinating dynamics this season alone that don’t revolve around sex. The three best friends who can’t resist bitching about one another as soon as one of them is out of the room; the blossoming romance between a security guard and another hotel staff member; the couple with an age-gap.
None of these relationships are driven by sex – or at least it’s not the sex that makes them interesting – but all of them could have been storylines revolving around LGBTQ+ characters.
White could easily throw us a bone and not a boner, but every single time it’s the latter.
After three seasons of The White Lotus now, it’s a trend which isn’t just becoming a bit tedious – there is also significant potential to cause so much more harm than good to our community, which is already being demonised as perverts and paedophiles without any rhyme or reason by the loud and increasingly powerful right-wing.
Right now, is a gay incest storyline particularly helpful? No. It’s not even particularly entertaining.
Of all the things to love about this series of The White Lotus – which is essentially every single woman in it – the potential for gay incest is right at the bottom of the list.
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I really do love The White Lotus; but if White could write gay men and give them the same respect he does to women, it would be the perfect TV show.
Perhaps in season four, we’ll get there – because if not, reluctantly, I might have to check out of The White Lotus.
The White Lotus is available to stream on NOW.
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A version of this article was originally published February 27, 2025
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