'White Lotus' Has Finally Crossed the Line

Spoilers for this season of White Lotus

HBO has a long history of pushing boundaries when it comes to taboo subjects, but this week’s episode was just plain wrong, folks. Everything about it was wrong, wrong, wrong. I could handle Lochlan sneaking peeks at his brother Saxon’s ass. The kiss between the intoxicated brothers last week was queasy but tolerable. But nothing — and I mean nothing — could prepare me for … the brojob. That is not OK! Brothers are not meant to give each other handjobs! I will never unsee it. You’ve gone too far, Mike White! Too far!

So, yes: That’s the fallout from last week’s drunken escapades between Saxon, Lochlan, Chelsea, and Chloe. When things started spiraling sexually, Chelsea bailed, while Chloe stuck around for an incestuous threesome featuring Lochlan having sex with Chloe while simultaneously giving his brother — HIS BROTHER — a handjob.

The next morning, Saxon is not OK. Regrets? He’s got them — plus the mother of all hangovers. He can’t get it out of his head, and rightfully so, while Lochlan — at least initially — remembers nothing. Not until later in the episode, when he’s meditating with his sister and the memory resurfaces. How these two brothers are supposed to live with that for the rest of their lives is beyond me. It’s so hard to fathom that I’m elevating them to the top of the dead body list. Saxon killing his brother out of shame and self-hatred, especially once he learns the family fortune is gone, feels like the most likely path toward either a self-inflicted gunshot or fratricide.

And the way Chelsea and Chloe so casually discuss it with a visibly repulsed Saxon — with Chloe even threatening to out his “kink” (THAT IS NOT A KINK) if he doesn’t attend Greg’s party the following evening — was stomach-turning. Speaking of which, the season’s big climax appears to be building toward a party at Greg’s house. He insists Chloe invite both brothers, and she seems to think Greg knows she had sex with them and is strangely into it. No, I don’t think so. But I also don’t think Greg is planning to kill anyone. I think he’s ready to let Chloe go, to free her to be with men her own age. I think the money he took from his dead ex-wife is weighing on him, and he plans to give some of it to both Chloe and Belinda — to ease his guilt and keep Belinda quiet about what she knows. That money could go a long way toward opening her spa.

Not that she seems all that interested in doing it with Pornchai anymore. She’s clearly not as bad as the other Americans, but after sleeping with Pornchai, I worry she thinks he’s disposable. She showed zero interest in starting a spa with him when he mentioned it. That said, her exchange with Fabian was gold: “Are you OK?” “Not really.” “Break a leg. No, break two legs.” Alas, no one will be there to see Fabian sing that night because everyone will be at Greg’s.

That likely includes Timothy and Victoria, after Saxon invited them. I really hope Victoria doesn’t find out about the brojob. It might be even more devastating than losing the family fortune — the mere thought of which, Victoria confessed to Timothy, would drive her to suicide. Tim, who fantasized about killing himself at the start of the episode, had elevated that fantasy to murder-suicide by the end — taking his wife with him. When Victoria said she couldn’t live without the money, I briefly thought it might snap Tim out of it — that he’d finally see his wife for the shallow, empty woman she is and maybe confess out of spite. She basically admitted she only loves him for his wealth.

You know who else has money? Greg. He and Victoria might be a perfect match. Victoria is just an older version of Chloe, after all.

As for Piper, she met with the guru and doubled down on her plan to live in Thailand for a year. But you know what? Despite Tim’s blessing, I think Victoria might be right. Piper wants to be different from the rest of her family — she doesn’t want to be addicted to their lifestyle — but one night in the meditation center might be enough to get it out of her system. She’s still a Ratliff, and Ratliffs don’t do poverty.

Elsewhere, the women. Laurie seems like the only honest one left, and she’s finally being honest with the other two. They were mean girls in high school, and they’re mean girls in their 40s. Whatever they’ve done in their individual lives, when they’re together, they revert. At least Laurie sees it now. And I don’t think Kate will be willing to play mediator anymore — not after Jaclyn accused Laurie of being the gossip, and definitely not after Kate overheard them gossiping about her. There’s a reason the three of them haven’t maintained a strong friendship, and for their own good, it’s time to let it go.

And is it just me, or did Jaclyn’s husband on the phone sound like Luke or Owen Wilson?

Finally, Walton Goggins’ Rick is following through on his plan to confront his father, Sritala’s husband. He convinces Sritala to invite him — and his “writer” friend, played by Sam Rockwell — to her home so he can confront his dad, who appears to be played by Scott Glenn. Excellent casting. I don’t think Rick kills his father, but I do think he finds peace in the confrontation. If there’s one happy ending this season, it might be a newly restored Rick leaving Thailand with his soulmate, Chelsea, after shedding his emotional baggage.