The White Lotus exec producer explains that bizarre incest twist: Not just for shock

They really went there. Spoilers ahead for the fifth episode of “The White Lotus” Season 3. In the fifth episode of “The White Lotus” Season 3, the show took a shocking turn with a bizarre incest plot. During the episode, brothers Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan Ratliff (Sam Nivola) are partying with two women they want to impress, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon). Everyone is drinking and doing drugs, and Chelsea and Chloe share a quick smooch before Chloe gestures that the brothers should also kiss.Instead of ignoring her like a normal person, Lochlan then lays a lingering kiss on Saxon. “The White Lotus” executive producer David Bernad revealed if there was any behind-the-scenes discussion about whether an incest plot was going too far. “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.”  Each season of the Emmy-winning HBO dramedy follows a different cast of unhappy rich people on vacation at a branch of the fictional “White Lotus” resort. In Season 3, which is set in Thailand, Schwarzenegger, 31, plays Saxon, a twentysomething frat boy type who seems to believe that the sole purpose of vacation is to sleep with someone.Lochlan is his younger brother who is about to go to college. Their sister Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) is more spiritual.

Meanwhile, their mother Victoria (Parker Posey) is frequently on drugs, and their father Timothy (Jason Isaacs) is lost in his own world, as he’s under inves...