On 'The White Lotus,' a Kiss is More than a Just Kiss

In "Full Moon Party," the fifth episode of "The White Lotus" Season 3, at least half the guests are getting high and getting laid, even the fragile and threatened Belinda is in the latter. It is the titular event that brings most of the younger characters to clubs and wild street parties to celebrate. Taking advantage that their daddies are elsewhere, Chloe and Chelsea pair up with the Ratliff brothers to party with Chloe latching onto the amateur magician Lochlan she met earlier on Gary's yacht; and Saxon going after Chelsea because she's more of a challenged. As they hit the streets, Chloe drops a party drug into Lochlan's mouth; Saxon is reluctant to take the drug. "Saxon doesn't do drugs," he declares. "I AM THE DRUG!" But peer pressure prevails.

When the four return to the yacht for more serious drinking, Saxon encourages Chloe and Chelsea to kiss, which they do; then Chloe challenges Lochlan and Saxon to do the same. Initially hesitant, Lochlan drops a brief peck on his brother's lips, then returns for a longer, more passionate one, which leaves the women laughing and Saxon disturbed.

Was the kiss there to simply shock? Not so, says executive producer David Bernad, who spoke to Page Six about the brotherly love plot meme. ""No, in terms of that – that's all [creator Mike White]. Mike is brilliant, and I think those big story turns are not just for shock," he exclusively told The Post.

Bernad added, "There's a specific reason in terms of the narrative storytelling, and the larger thematic idea Mike is trying to get across."

He explained, "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."

Throughout the season there have been boundary issues between the siblings. In Episode One, Lochlan stared a bit too long at the naked Saxon; and for this part, Saxon tells his brother that he thinks his sister Piper is a virgin, which she gets wind of. And, for that matter, Saxon is coaching Lochlan to lose his virginity.

Patrick Schwarzenegger, who plays Saxon, told the Today Show that this fifth episode is when "everything is beginning to unravel."

Schwarzenegger went on credit the show's creator Mike White with how he shot and filmed the kissing scene to create a sense of unease among viewers.

"He wants to leave that up to the interpretation of the audience of what is happening," Schwarzenegger says of White. "Was a power shift happening? Is there a different power dynamic between him and Lochy? Is Lochy coming on to him? Is it the drugs? Is it the girls pressuring him? What is it? So, I think he leaves that open-ended for the audience to try to decipher."

And he adds, "One of the themes really is you enter the White Lotus as one person and you leave as another," he says. "Who are you when everything that you thought you were is taken away?

"And I think that's something that's really relevant and prevalent for Saxon. Him walking into the White Lotus as the most confident and sure person of who he is, and everything gets completely questioned in his experience there," he adds.

Sam Nivola, who plays Lochlan, opened up to GQ about the kissing scene, describing his character as "obviously awkward and virginal and young. It's definitely in my wheelhouse." He added that "Lochlan is a really, really insecure guy who is stuck between his siblings and just wants to be loved and will do anything to achieve that. I really relate to that. I mean, maybe not as desperately as him, but I think it's a very, very universal experience."

He also described the kiss as Lochlan's "big turning point" in the series.

After that, I mean, without spoiling too much, everything changes for my character. It was basically like there's two versions of me. There's before that and after that, and that was a really important thing. But other than that, I don't think that is something that is a defining aspect of my character, of Lochlan. Of course, the way it's edited and the way it looks, it is really sort of raunchy and there's moments leading up to that are really sexually charged. But I think really that's supposed to be a red herring for the audience where really it's just [that] Lochlan just wants attention and he just wants his brother to like him. He gets really fucked up and does something terrible. But Mike and I weren't looking at my performance leading up to that through the lens of, How does this relate to that moment?

As for the kiss itself, Sam they "shot it a few different ways" and 'talked about it a lot." Adding: "I think at the end of the day, it was supposed to just be like they're all really f–ed up, and, of course, kissing your brother is incredibly wrong and weird and gross."

Here is some of the response on X: