The unexpected pair was Piper Ratliff and Zion, Belinda’s son. Creator Mike White said the season-three finale script had Piper have sex with Zion after she left the monastery—but that scene was cut and does not appear in the aired finale.
Who was in the deleted scene?
The scripted hookup paired Piper Ratliff, one of the Ratliff siblings, with Zion, Belinda’s son. White described Piper as leaving the monastery and deciding she wanted to have sex. That is a description of a planned story beat, not something viewers see happen in the broadcast finale. TVLine reported White’s account, while ELLE covered his description of Piper’s motivation.
Why did Mike White cut it?
White said the scene would have added about ten minutes to a finale that was already roughly an hour and a half. He also felt its romantic-comedy tone distracted from the Ratliff family’s danger as the episode’s attempt to kill them unfolded. In his words, it felt like he was “trying to do too much narratively.” Esquire also reported White’s explanation.
How is it different from the Rick-and-Chelsea cut scene?
There was another deleted season-three finale sex scene, but it involved a different pair. Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood said they filmed a Rick-and-Chelsea scene that was later removed; their account concerns a filmed scene, whereas White described the Piper-and-Zion moment as part of the script. TVLine reported the actors’ comments.
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