Did you think that little make-out session in Episode 5 was all the incest you were going to get this season on The White Lotus? Ha, you poor thing. The brother-on-brother action continued in Episode 6, “Denials,” as flashbacks showed Saxon and Lochlan in bed together during their drug-fueled night with Chloe and Chelsea. As the reality of the situation settles in for the two brothers on screen (and for the audience at home), actor Sam Nivola wants to make one thing clear: Lochlan, the youngest Ratliff brother, isn't the creep you think he is.
“At the end of the day, Lochlan is not a creep, necessarily,” Sam said in an interview with Variety. “Of course, I have to say that. You have to love your character. So, fuck it, I'll defend him!”
Lochlan isn't a creep who is sexually infatuated with his brother, he's just...confused. “I think he's incredibly misguided, and his circumstances have put him in a bad spot, but I don't think he's evil or malicious in any way,” Sam continued. “It's important to the story that he's not some psychopath.”
For Sam, Lochlan's interest in Saxon isn't necessarily sexual, it's about a desire for acceptance. “I think it comes from a sense of insecurity. He really looks up to both of his siblings, not from the point of view of a physical attraction. It's more curiosity, and trying to figure out which kind of person he is going to become,” Sam explained. “He tries to connect with him [Saxon] in whatever way he can.”
And, given that Saxon doesn't really care about anything other than money and sex... “The thing on the boat is Lochlan's tragically misguided attempt at being like, ‘So, you're the sex guy. Let's do something in that realm and try to connect in some way.’ It's obviously a big swing and a miss.”
As for how this affects their relationship going forward, Sam says the brothers will be more at odds than ever, with Saxon unable to even be around his little brother. “I think Lochlan regrets everything that happened, and he's also like, ‘Fuck, everything I do is in service of trying to get my brother to like me. And now I've pushed him further away from me,’” Sam told Variety. “Lochlan is the orchestrator of his own downfall. The last two episodes are him grappling with that.”
So Lochlan is isolated, unsure of himself, frustrated, and self-hating? Sounds like someone just went up on the list of possible White Lotus killers.
