My charade is the event of the season

Finally, a  reviewer who looks beyond that kiss to the more deep-lying insecurities of Saxon and the role-reversal in this episode.

...

After a slow start, “The White Lotus” delivers Mike White‘s version of an action-packed episode with this fifth installment, and it’s the most interesting hour by far for Schwarzenegger’s character. Despite all the fronting, Saxon isn’t taken seriously by most of his nuclear family, which probably extends to a lot of people elsewhere in his life. His attachment to Lochy is entirely contingent upon the younger brother hanging on his every word and twisted idea — or at least putting on a convincing show of it. Lochlan’s “One day, I’m gonna take you down” is so disquieting, dismissed no sooner than it’s uttered, but definitely worth noting. He plays the baby brother card strategically, and no one ever suspects him. When he takes the drugs, he follows up by telling Saxon, “Don’t be mad.” Not “Please don’t be mad,” and not a question: a statement. A command.

So while Saxon thinks the full moon party is his chance to take control and finally be the respected older brother, the sexy desirable guy, he’s at Lochlan’s mercy, which is terribly fascinating. There’s a moment on the beach when Lochy ruffles his brother’s hair, and Saxon closes his eyes almost as if Lochlan’s a lover. Whether this came from Schwarzenegger or White, it’s masterful. Saxon has spent so long projecting who he wants to be that he probably can’t tell how much of it is real. His deluded swagger masks deep insecurity, and if the audience sees through it, we can bet that people in his life do, too. He’s constantly talking and bragging about sex but not necessarily having any (and pointing the finger of involuntary celibacy at his sister). All of this comes through in that hair ruffle, a rare moment of authenticity for him. He’s rightfully uncomfortable when Lochlan kisses him later, but Saxon has been projecting some weird sexual shit on his siblings this entire time.