Every season of The White Lotus so far has featured some version of the Douchey Rich Guy archetype. There was Shane in Season 1, Cameron in Season 2, and Saxon Ratliff seemed like the obvious pick for Season 3.
We always need one of these guys in a White Lotus season. They’re entertaining and easy to hate, but it looks like Season 3’s finally flipped the script on what we’ve come to expect from that archetype.
I feel like I should preface this by saying that Saxon is still very much a creep. He’s still a weird dude who loves making inappropriate sexual jokes and comments about his sister, in front of his own mother. Super weird.
But what’s really disturbing in Episode 5 is the possibility that Lochlan, whom we’ve been led to see as Saxon’s innocent, naive younger brother, may not be so pure-hearted after all.
Saxon Ironically Gets Taken Advantage Of
During the full-moon party, Chloe shows up with drugs, and while Saxon is initially against the idea of taking them, he relents when everyone else does so. He swallows the pill and jokingly tells the girls not to take advantage of him.
Meanwhile, Lochy, who was shown to be the first one to take the pill, actually looks like he may have spit it out as the other three were walking ahead of him. It’s not clearly shown on camera, but we linger on him for just a second longer than necessary, and it’s entirely possible he may not have taken the drug at all.
Towards the end of the episode, Saxon, Lochy, Chloe, and Chelsea are all drunk and daring each other to kiss. Things take a bit of a turn when Chloe dares the two brothers to kiss, and at first, Lochy just goes for a small peck, but then straight up makes out with Saxon immediately after that.
During this entire time, poor Saxon’s just sat there, high off of his mind, looking incredibly confused, while Lochy’s clearly quite pleased with himself. While we could just brush this off as the brothers being silly while under the influence, I think The White Lotus Season 3 has actually been building up to something like this for quite a while.
Lochy’s Attraction to Saxon
From day one, it was clear that the Ratliff siblings had an incredibly strange and creepy dynamic. Saxon was the hypersexual older brother, while Lochy has been shown staring at his brother’s bare ass in bed and his naked form in the bathroom. Piper continues to be the only normal and well-adjusted sibling in comparison, though admittedly I don’t think she’s really thought through her whole one-year monastery plan. But I digress.
I still think Lochy’s struggling with his sexuality and maybe even his own gender identity, but it looks like all of that is also getting wrapped up in his increasingly obvious attraction to Saxon. It would explain why he’s so eager to follow Saxon around instead of Piper, and to take his side when Piper expresses her disgust at the things he’s said.
There’s a reason why we’ve barely heard anything from Lochy as well, especially considering his entire family is so outspoken. Lochy brushes this off as just him being more introverted in the face of these strong personalities, but maybe it’s because the show’s been hiding this more complex side of him behind an unassuming mask. Once you add some drugs and alcohol into the mix, though, that mask comes off pretty quickly.
What Happens Now?
Well, if the Episode 6 preview is any indication, it’s possible we could see the incestuous dynamic between Saxon and Lochy go even further than just that kiss on the boat. It could also be a bait-and-switch of course, but I expect this relationship between them to develop even more in the coming episodes.
Right now, though, it’s clear that Lochy’s pretty into Saxon, while the latter’s just having these things happen to him while he’s in a drug-addled state. It’s pretty poetic for the walking red flag creep to end up being the one who gets taken advantage of, but at the same time, it’s impossible not to at least feel a little icked out by the guy who’s actually taking advantage. Especially one who’s been doing his best to look so innocent this entire time.
The White Lotus is now available for streaming on HBO Max.