'White Lotus' S3 E6 recap: We need to talk about the incest storyline
| 03/23/25
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Episode 6 shows the White Lotus guests spiraling!
Editor's note: This article contains spoilers for episode 6 of The White Lotus season 3, titled "Denials."
The White Lotus season 3 episode 6 makes it clear that it has now entered the endgame chapter of the story. The episode ends with every single character facing a metaphorical precipice — prompting viewers to wonder what happens next, who is in actual danger, and how this saga will unfold in its final two episodes.
With that in mind, let's break down the main plot points that stood out in episode 6.
Timothy's "death dream."
Jason Isaacs on 'The White Lotus' season 3 episode 6.
Fabio Lovino/HBO
The opening scene of episode 6 features another "death dream" — the second time this happens within the Ratliff family. This time, Timothy (Jason Isaacs) is fantasizing about his own suicide… and, well, it's a lot.
We watch as Timothy shoots himself with his stolen security gun. Then, his wife and daughter discover the body. It's a disturbing fiction that Timothy just brushes off shortly after and goes to bed. (He should really take advantage of the The White Lotus resort's free therapy sessions. Just saying!)
Kate spills the tea.
Leslie Bibb on 'The White Lotus' season 3 episode 6.
Fabio Lovino/HBO
Spotted! Kate (Leslie Bibb) watches Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius) leave Jaclyn's (Michelle Monaghan) suite in the wee hours of the morning, and she doesn't hesitate to report the tea to Laurie (Carrie Coon).
While Kate expected the news to be something the girls could giggle over, Laurie isn't amused. "Did you see how she was pushing him on me? And all that time, she wanted him." Laurie feels mystified. "She has not changed at all."
"It's sad," she says. "She's an aging actress."
Valentin picks this moment to stop by the girls' breakfast table, and Laurie icily dismisses him. And the drama doesn't end there! When the girls head to the pool, Laurie's ready to confront Jaclyn.
"So what, you and Harrison have an open relationship or something?" Laurie asks Jaclyn, who just slaps down the cheating allegations entirely despite them being 100% true.
"Well, don't worry. It's like you said: what happens in Thailand stays in Thailand," Laurie says.
"I told you nothing happened," Jaclyn insists.
"Jaclyn, get real." Laurie continues to push the topic. "Why'd you keep pushing him on me when it was always your plan to hook up with him yourself? Nobody ever changes. We're still the same people we were in the tenth grade. It's funny."
Laurie's ire isn't reserved for just Jaclyn either. At one point she says, "Shut up Kate, have a drink for fuck's sake." And after the confrontation, she takes aim at Kate's sneaky tendencies. "I'm not like you," she says. "Sometimes I just have to be honest."
Heads are butting, but they still decide to go to the Russian boys' boxing match later that evening. Perhaps their friendship will enter the ring as well.
Tensions are high between Lochlan and Saxon.
Sam Nivola on 'The White Lotus' season 3 episode 6.
Fabio Lovino/HBO
So... they hooked up. And by they, I mean Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), Lochlan (Sam Nivola), and Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger). All of them together. And we all saw it. To make matters even worse, new flashbacks show that Saxon wasn't just a passive observer like we thought in episode 5.
The boys try to be cordial on the boat deck the next morning.
"Can't remember last night at all," says Saxon.
"We both blacked out," Lochlan shifts.
Right... But we know what went down. To be quite explicit, Lochlan jerked Saxon off while having sex with Chloe. To completion! The two even made eye contact a couple of times.
"You okay?" Lochlan asks.
No one knows the answer to that question, made all the more evident when Saxon runs below deck to throw up.
Piper's parent-teacher conference.
Sarah Catherine Hook on 'The White Lotus' season 3 episode 6.
Fabio Lovino/HBO
Victoria (Parker Posey) is still in meltdown mode over Piper's (Sarah Catherine Hook) revelation that she wants to stay in Thailand to study at a monastery, and after a melodramatic family meeting she decides that "if that strange man is going to have my baby, he better be the best Buddhist teacher I know."
Piper, Lochlan, Victoria and Timothy decide to head to the monastery and check out the vibe while Saxon stays back. Saxon is cold toward Lochlan afterward, blending smoothies loudly and avoiding eye contact for the rest of the day until the Ratliff family leaves. It's unclear if he truly blacked out or he's in a deep state of denial, but he's clearly off his game. And the vibes don't improve much for the Ratliff family over at the monastery.
"I know I complain about him a lot but this is a good situation."
Jon Gries and Charlotte Le Bon on 'The White Lotus' season 3 episode 6.
Fabio Lovino/HBO
Despite her carefree attitude the night prior, Chloe is so worried she's going to lose Greg, err, Gary (Jon Gries) that she pays off the deckhand to keep quiet.
Gary, however, seems to know something deviant went down.
"Tell me you did it," he says to Chloe. "Tell me which one you fucked."
Surprise, it's both!
In a move not at all about jealousy or vengeance, Greg then decides to invite the brothers to dinner at his mansion that night.
Saxon, on the other hand, bumps into Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) down at the pool and is not understanding pretty basic concepts like consent and fidelity.
"I just don't understand why you wouldn't hook up with me," he pleads with Chelsea.
"Because I have a boyfriend."
"Whatever," he responds.
Then Chelsea makes the reason clear. "Hooking up with you would be an empty experience."
Saxon replies, "And how would you know that?"
"Because I know. Because you're soulless. Sad."
Damn.
Belinda's son Zion finally arrives!
Natasha Rothwell and Dom Hetrakul on 'The White Lotus' season 3 episode 6.
Fabio Lovino/HBO
Belinda's son, Zion (Nicholas Duvernay), finally arrives... and he immediately catches her in bed with Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul). It's an absolutely adorable moment on all aspects, and Belinda seems to have a real affinity for her coworker.
Pornchai feels their connection too, and presents a proposition to Belinda.
"You told me you had a dream of having your own business, your own spa," he says. "I was thinking that's something we could do together. If we did it in Thailand, not as difficult."
Though hesitant at first, Belinda seems to genuinely consider Pornchai's offer. Will she get her happily ever after in Thailand after all? Or will she exit stage right, the same route Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) took after presenting her with a similar opportunity in season one?
But as luck would have it, she bumps right into the person she's been avoiding — Greg.
"We need to talk."
Belinda's wary, as she should be, but reluctantly accepts Greg's dinner invitation for her and her son (Nicholas Duvernay). This feels like one of those moments where you're screaming at the TV character to run but they stay anyway.
Stay safe Belinda!
The monks deliver wisdom.
Suthichai Yoon on 'The White Lotus' season 3 episode 6.
Fabio Lovino/HBO
When it's finally time for The Ratliff's to meet the monks, Victoria has disappeared. So Timothy goes in alone, and learns what seem to be the central themes of the season.
People have "lost connection with nature," says the head monk Piper would be studying under. "With your family. With your spirit. What is left? The self. Identity. Chasing money, pleasure, yeah? Everyone run from pain towards the pleasure. But when they get there only to find more pain. You cannot outrun pain."
Timothy inquires deeper, interested to know how the monk thinks about death. It's a cycle, like a drop of rain, he says. We will "become one with the ocean again. No more separated. No more suffering. One consciousness. Death is a happy return. Like coming home."
Because of this, Tim gives his approval to Piper's move. Despite not meeting the monk and wandering around the premises, Victoria presents Piper with a condition.
"I will support it if you stay here for one night."
She agrees, and the parents debrief later. Victoria shares some of her beliefs that don't bode well for her future.
"She needs to fear poverty Tim. Like everyone else we know. That way she'd make good decisions." If they lost everything, she says, "Honestly, I don't know if I'd wanna live. I just don't think at this age that I'm meant to live an uncomfortable life. I don't have the will."
Reminder, Timothy is almost certainly going to jail when they go back to the States. Going off of the scattered conversations about tax fraud, the Ratliff family will soon lose everything – if their accounts haven't been frozen already. To Tim's dismay, Victoria concludes, "I just don't have it in me. I don't think I ever did."
Sweet, sweet Gaitok.
Tayme Thapthimthong on 'The White Lotus' season 3 episode 6.
Fabio Lovino/HBO
Gaitok's (Tayme Thapthimthong) boss wants to go shooting with the gun, so he's got to think of a way to get it back QUICK.
The way? Breaking and entering, of course. But at least he's not just waiting around this episode.
He plots to break into the Ratliff suite and steal the gun back from Timothy while they're out at the monastery. His frantic search has us sweating for a moment, but he successfully secures the gun and his job before heading out to the firing range.
It's almost hilarious to watch Gaitok sweat as he passes Timothy and Victoria just outside of their suite, while they don't even notice his presence. And it's clear by a later daydream that Timothy still believes he has the gun! The hubris of it all.
Meanwhile, Rick (Walton Goggins) has his gun in hand and is plotting to meet Sritala (Patravadi Mejudhon) and Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn) under the guise of a Hollywood production casting the hotel manager in a film. He once again recruits the help of Frank (Sam Rockwell) for his help and despite her husband not feeling well, Sritala allows them in.
Rick is finally face to face with the man he believes killed his father. Despite just wanting to talk to Jim and promising to leave the gun behind, this interaction doesn't bode well for any of the characters involved.
And Saxon spirals.
Patrick Schwarzenegger on 'The White Lotus' season 3 episode 6.
Fabio Lovino/HBO
Chloe finds Chelsea and Saxon and shares Greg's dinner invitation while letting Saxon know that Greg is either onto them and is insanely jealous, or he wants a threesome.
Saxon swats it down, and the girls begin to ask if he's had a threesome before.
"Of course, but not with another guy."
"What about last night?" replies Chloe.
"That wasn't a – that wasn't a threesome," Saxon panics. "What? Are you kidding me? That was my little brother?"
"Yeah, and you guys made out," says Chelsea.
"That was a joke."
"What part was a joke?" replies Chloe.
He then flips it. "You guys forced us to."
"I didn't force him to jerk you off."
Saxon laughs while a shocked Chelsea looks incredulously. "That never happened," he says with wide eyes. "I don't remember that. I blacked out."
Keep telling yourself that Saxon.
"Everyone has their thing, it's fine?" The girls giggle with laughter.
"It's definitely not a thing," Saxon shuts down the conversation. "It's not. Let's just forget about it, please. Seriously."
Yikes.
White Lotus is really pushing the boundaries of television with this already controversial incest plotline. It even made Schwarzenegger sick to his stomach, according to costar Le Bon.
"Well, obviously, they're not brothers by blood, so that made it easier," the actor who plays Chloe said. "I think for Patrick it was really difficult. For Sam, he was kind of like, It's whatever, let's just do it well one time and it will be over. You know? Because if you don't do it well the first time, then you have to do it over and over again. But Patrick's reaction in the episode is his genuine reaction. We all thought he was going to throw up. And Sam was like, 'It's fine, it's just a kiss, calm down!'"
All the drama will only make next week's episode more delicious...
HBO's The White Lotus season 3 drops new episodes every Sunday on Max.
