Warning: This article contains spoilers.
“The White Lotus” scrapped an unexpected sex scene between Sarah Catherine Hook and Nicholas Duvernay’s characters in the shocking Season 3 finale.
The show’s creator, Mike White, revealed Piper Ratliff (Hook) and Zion Lindsey (Duvernary) were supposed to hook up, even though viewers never saw them cross paths at the Thailand resort in previous episodes.
“The part that was cut, which is very disappointing, is that she decides to lose her virginity in the script in the last episode, and she actually has sex with Zion, which is Belinda’s son,” the director said on “The White Lotus Official Podcast” Monday.
“The White Lotus” scrapped an unexpected sex scene in the Season 3 finale. HBO
Creator Mike White revealed Piper Ratliff (Sarah Catherine Hook) was supposed to lose her virginity to Zion Lindsey (Nicholas Duvernay). Fabio Lovino/HBO
“There’s a whole scene where she’s like, ‘It’s true. … I need to get this over with,’” White added.
He explained that Piper had an epiphany that she needed to have sex after spending the night in the Buddhist monastery.
However, the scene would have added an additional 10 minutes to the action-packed season finale. Plus, the “romantic rom-com vibe” didn’t match the overall darker tone of the episode.
“I was trying to do too much narratively,” White, 54, admitted.
White explained that Piper had an epiphany that she needed to have sex after spending the night in the Buddhist monastery. FilmMagic for HBO
However, the scene would have added an additional 10 minutes to the action-packed season finale. Getty Images
White said the sex scene in question would have come as Piper’s dad, Tom Ratliff (played by Jason Isaacs), was plotting to kill most of his family with piña coladas spiked with poisonous seeds.
Piper’s brother Lochlan, portrayed by Sam Nivola, later appears to die in the episode after he whips up a protein shake in the contaminated blender.
However, he ultimately survives and reawakens in his father’s arms.
White also said the hookup scene had a “romantic rom-com vibe” that clashed with the episode’s darker tone. HBO
“I was trying to do too much narratively,” White admitted. Getty Images for Four Seasons
However, couple Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) and Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) were not so lucky as they were both killed in the season finale amid Rick’s quest for vengeance.
“She says to him, ‘Stop fixating on the love you didn’t get. Think about the love that you have. I’m right here,’” White said in HBO’s post-episode breakdown.
“It’s a classic theme of Greek tragedy of somebody killing the thing that they love trying to get some revenge,” he added.