Is Incest TV’s New Favourite Taboo? A Deep-Dive into The White Lotus
Image Credits: HBO
HBO’s The White Lotus’ divisive season three has aired its finale. HBO’s satirical resort drama is no stranger to taboo – from murderous gays, marital infidelity, and addiction – as afflictions of the upper class. However, season three reaches unexpected territory, with the incestuous subplot between brothers Saxon and Lochlan Ratliff sparking intense online discourse. From episode one – when Lochlan tries to watch his older brother masturbate – to their threesome in episode six, the show offers no ambiguity: this is incest, and it’s mainstream TV.
Saxon’s horror comes as he pieces together memories of the evening, while the third member of the night, Chloe, offers blunt confirmation – “I didn’t force him to jerk you off” – making clear that what happened wasn’t imagined. The finale offers the storyline an awkward closure, as Lochlan nervously explains this act to his brother: “I thought you looked a little left out.” With this conversation acknowledging the reality of the transgression, creator Mike White pushes the boundaries of entertainment and satire – raising the question of why incestuous storylines are becoming so visible in the media.
Producer David Bernad came to the defence of the Ratliff brothers’ storyline, claiming it was “not just for shock”, and arguing that Mike White has a larger thematic map for the brothers. Though, if this act of transgression was not just for shock value, then what was it for?
Incestuous relationships have transformed coded implications to explicit representation – often centring on step-siblings. These relationships offer audiences plausible deniability and cultural acceptance through the lack of blood relation. From Dan and Serena in Gossip Girl to the step-siblings in Cruel Intentions and Clueless, this territory of step-siblings is a carefully constructed narrative made to provoke without truly transgressing boundaries. Perhaps this taboo is not culturally subversive enough, as step-family pornography is still a widely searched category too.
Yet, incestuous storylines relating to blood relations have been in public consciousness for over a decade. HBO has been building a canon of transgressive familial relationships for years. Game of Thrones’ Cersei and Jaime Lannister are involved in a much more explicit incestuous affair than the Ratliff boys, with all of Cersei’s children being born from her brother. Even the spin-off show House of the Dragon features an incestuous marriage between Rhaenyra Targaryen and Daemon Targaryen – serving as a historical tradition among the white-haired family to keep their blood pure. However, now The White Lotus brings this taboo into a contemporary resort for the privileged in Thailand, stripping audiences of pseudo-comfort in historical distance or fantasy.
Mike White’s scripts are not unfamiliar with transgressive writing. Season two of The White Lotus featured a graphic scene of Quentin having sex with Jack, his ‘nephew’. It is later implied that Jack may be a sex worker for Quentin – so he was not sleeping with his actual uncle. Therefore, this was not the straightforward incest depicted in season three, making watchers a little hesitant to see how this pattern of escalation continues in the next season.
Yet, as the season has concluded, it is clear that the brothers’ incestuous exchange becomes a pointed reflection of their personalities. Saxon’s hyper-masculine and sex-driven posturing crumbles when confronted by his brother’s advances. For Lochlan, the threesome represents his pathological need for approval and to please others.
Modern entertainment exists in a paradoxical relationship with taboo subjects: constantly pushing boundaries, while simultaneously relying on those boundaries existing to deliver dramatic effect. After all, if incest were normalised, it would lose its power as a narrative device; our discomfort with this does confirm we remain far from that possibility.
The brothers' encounter becomes a microcosm of the series' larger themes: crossed boundaries, abused privilege, and power dynamics. Or perhaps it was just Mike White poking fun at Southern stereotypes.
Either way, the increasing prevalence of incestuous storylines in television doesn't indicate cultural acceptance but reflects entertainment's search for new ways to provoke audiences in an era where shocking content is increasingly difficult to produce. By pushing these boundaries, shows like The White Lotus hold up a distorted mirror to society, asking uncomfortable questions about what remains acceptable and what forms our most fundamental social taboos.