Between their very casual attitude to nudity, their inappropriate bedtime chats and those dubious lingering gazes, it’s clear there’s something rather iffy going on with that new family on The White Lotus.

Patrick Schwarzenegger and The Perfect Couple’s Sam Nivola play a pair of brothers in the latest season of the award-winning drama, who are spending their Thai holiday with their family, portrayed by Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs and Sarah Catherine Hook.

That final scene between the two brothers getting ready for bed has already generated a lot of conversation on social media among White Lotus fans, with Patrick weighing in on their relationship during a new interview with Radio Times.

He explained that he and his on-screen family worked hard to hone what he described as the characters’ “weirdness” towards one another, which they consider to be “normal”.

“But I think that Saxon actually really does care about his brother,” the star of The Staircase insisted. “He cares about his sister. He loves his mum and his dad. He looks up to his father like no one else.

“And I think that the relationship with his brother – although it’s very odd and weird, which is what Mike [White, the writer of The White Lotus] wanted – it’s still very loving.”

He added: “Saxon has this false perception and idea of what he thinks makes a man and who he thinks he is, and he’s trying to groom his younger brother to become that.”

During a separate interview with Vanity Fair, Patrick teased there’s plenty more weirdness to come from the Ratliff family, with the story set to take us “way beyond where your imagination would think it would go”.

“[Mike is] setting up just these little Easter eggs of what is odd and off about this family, which is fun,” he claimed.

“The end of the first episode, that scene was one of my favourite scenes. I just thought it was so awkward and brilliant at the same time. And it just showcases who my character is.”

Episode one of The White Lotus’ third season is available to watch on Now and Sky, with new instalments coming every Monday, after they air on HBO in the US.