Sarah Catherine Hook on Alternate Endings & Deleted Lochlan Scene (Exclusive)

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The White Lotus Season 3 Finale “Amor Fati.”]

The White Lotus may have wrapped up its Season 3 story in Thailand, but there are still details to uncover as star Sarah Catherine Hook dropped by TV Insider’s studio to discuss the shocking finale.

As viewers will recall, Hook’s character, Piper Ratliff, decided to turn her back on the Buddhism journey she’d set out to experience when the trip started, realizing she wasn’t equipped for the minimalist lifestyle it afforded. But Piper’s retreat into comfort doesn’t promise financial stability as her father, Timothy (Jason Isaacs), almost murdered his family with poisoned pina coladas to save them from potential destitution amid his work and legal crisis secretly unfolding back home.

By the time the Ratliffs are aboard their departure boat, Timothy finally faces the music, confessing his predicament to his family, but was this always the intended ending or were the Ratliffs facing a potentially deadly ending? “I have been hearing [people say we] filmed several different outcomes and Mike [White] just chose the one that he felt was [right], but no… It was always gonna be Chelsea and Rick,” Hook reveals of Season 3’s finale deaths for Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins‘ characters, who went out in a hail of bullets after Rick killed Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn).

HBO

In other words, Hook is debunking any theories that Season 3 had an alternative ending. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t cut scenes. “It was so fascinating for me to watch it as well,” Hook admits of tuning into the finale.

“There was a whole scene that was missing where she’s talking about the family being like a cult in and of itself, like she’s having all of these realizations about her family,” she says of a missing scene from the finale between Piper and her brother Lochlan (Sam Nivola) as they walk back to the resort after staying overnight at the monastery.

As Hook recalls it, Piper was trying to make Lochlan understand, “It’s not the meditation center [that’s a cult], it’s the family… we’ve gotta fix the family, and then I’m saying… ‘It’s like borderline incestuous,’” Hook reveals. Then she adds that Nivola would have responded with something along the lines of, ‘Did he say something?’” referring to Lochlan’s problematic moment with brother Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) in Episode 6.

“It’s so funny,” Hook says, adding, “I understand why [Mike] took it out… I actually appreciated the way that it ended. But there are so many things going on in [Piper’s] head where she’s like, ‘I’m feeling uncomfortable in this place. Now my brother wants to come with me… We are too close. I have so many things that need to be fixed right now. And I’m trying to find answers in Thailand, and that’s just not the case.’”

Whether she’ll find answers at home is a mystery for now, but one thing is for certain: The Ratliffs’ lives are about to change drastically.

What do you think of the cut scene between Piper and Lochlan? Let us know in the comments section, below, and stay tuned for more finale coverage.

The White Lotus, Seasons 1-3, Streaming now, Max