[This story contains spoilers fromTheWhiteLotusseason three, episode six, Denials.]

You gotta hand it to Mike White. Whatever else you want to say about the Emmy winning writers work onThe White Lotus, when it comes to delivering on shock value, he does a heck of a job.

Case in point: season three, episode six. If last weeks kiss between brothers Saxon and Lochlan Ratliff wasnt unnerving enough, in comes the latest twist in their storyline, as its revealed they also participated in a threesome with Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon). Throughout this weeks episode, Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) recalls snippets from the drug-fueled bender the morning after, and just howwell, handsy it got between him and younger brother Loch (Sam Nivola). He hopes he can will it away from existence, especially since Lochlan doesnt seem to remember a thing. Unfortunately for Saxon, Chloe rememberseverything, forcing the shake-guzzling alpha bro to replay the events over and over in his head. Speaking withThe Hollywood Reporterabout the latest development, Schwarzenegger reiterates his core belief about working onThe White Lotus: nothing here is purely for shock value (no matter how shocked viewers may be by the storyline).

Theres some sensationalism, but then theres also the stuff behind the wall of the character and what hes dealing with in the conflict of what just happened. What is that going to do to who he thinks he is? says Schwarzenegger. His thoughts on, what is it like to be a man? What is a man? What makes all these different things that he thought he stood for in the episode and the days before?

He continues, Mike [White, creator] does a great job with my character with that scene, but also in past seasons of always bringing something that is really fun and outrageous and sparks a conversation that gets people talking, but also has to do a lot with the pilgrimage of the characters story and where hes going. And here, especially with the relationship Saxon has with his little brother. Theres always more than what just meets the eye of the shock value on the screen.

In terms of actually filming the threesome, Nivola says there was no way for the production to not feel at least a little bit unsettling: Its kind of impossible for it tonotbe charged when youre literally naked with all these cameras in front of you.

The morning after: Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola as brothers Saxon and Lochlan, respectively HBO We really trusted Mike, adds Nivola, because theres always a very shocking, crazy, intense moment in every season. Its never just for the sake of being shocking, it always serves the story. And that [incest] scene is really the inciting incident for where our relationship goes next. Its a great storytelling tactic. Going into this, we really trusted Mike because hes a fucking badass and a genius.

While the Ratliff brothers are dealing with the ramifications of their night out on the boat, sister Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) is focusing on her next steps: enrolling at the local monastery and furthering her Buddhist faith. In the episode, parents Victoria (Parker Posey) and Timothy (Jason Isaacs) empower Piper to stay overnight and if she succeeds, they plan to let her stay at the monastery for a year. Of course, easier said than done, in terms of them actually accepting their daughters wishes and, in Timothys case, accepting pretty muchanythingright now, given his own deep free fall.

God bless her, being in that family, Hook tells THR about Piper. She remembers her first conversations with White ahead of the season: Mike kept telling me, Shes the most normal, the grounded one. He really didnt want her to be a brat. We had already gone down that road in season one. So we wanted to keep her vulnerable. And shes also harboring this secret about why shes really in Thailand. So there were a lot of different instructions for Piper, and a lot for me to juggle.

Indeed, theres still a lot left for season three to juggle: Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) versus Greg (Jon Gries), Rick (Walton Goggins) versus the man who killed his father and the three best friends against each other, among other storylines. There are only a pair of episodes left to wrap it all up. If only it were a trio.

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The White Lotusreleases new episodes Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO and Max. Head here forTHRs season coverage andinterviews.