He’s duking it out.
“The White Lotus” star Jason Isaacs isn’t backing down after the university slammed the hit HBO series.
On Sunday, as Season 3 came to a shocking bloodbath conclusion, several cast members attended a panel at the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village in California.
Isaacs, Aimee Lou Wood and Patrick Schwarzenegger were among the Season 3 cast in attendance, and in a cheeky move, Isaacs, 61, wore a Duke T-shirt under his blazer.
Each season of the hit Mike White series follows a different cast of characters at a branch of the title fictional resort – until somebody dies at the end.
Spoiler alert: Season 3 killed off Rick (Walton Goggins) and his much younger girlfriend, Chelsea (Wood), as well as several resort security guards, and resort owner / Rick’s secret father Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn).
Before the shoot out, dysfunctional Southern family Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs), his loopy wife Victoria (Parker Posey) and their three college-aged kids — Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), Lochlan (Sam Nivola) and Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) — seemed like likely contenders as the characters who might kick the bucket.
Timothy had been suicidal over getting caught committing white-collar crimes — a fact which he hid from his family as he spiraled. Unbeknownst to the rest of his family, Timothy will go to jail and they’ll lose the lavish lifestyle they’ve been accustomed to post-vacation.
In one episode, Tim went so far as to hold a gun to his head while wearing his alma mater’s shirt.
The university didn’t appreciate that.
“‘The White Lotus’ not only uses our brand without permission, but in our view uses it on imagery that is troubling, does not reflect our values or who we are, and simply goes too far,” Frank Tramble, Duke’s vice president for communications, marketing and public affairs, said as part of a statement released on March 27.
He added, “Suicide is the second-leading cause of death on college campuses. As imagery from the show is being shared widely across social media, we are using our brand to promote mental health awareness and remind people that help is available.”
The statement concluded: “Duke appreciates artistic expression and creative storytelling, but characters prominently wearing apparel bearing Duke’s federally registered trademarks creates confusion and mistakenly suggests an endorsement or affiliation where none exists.”
Isaacs clearly wasn’t cowed by that public reprimand, since he wore a different Duke shirt to the cast party.
During the panel, Wood said about her character’s death, “Obviously, being the one that dies, this whole time I’ve been like, ‘So sad, Mike kills hope. Because Chelsea is hope, and he kills her.’”
The “Sex Education” actress added, “And it’s like, yeah, but then what I saw just then was like, there was so much love in it! That’s why it’s so much more painful, because you have to hold it all at the same time.”
Before Rick and Chelsea’s demise, the show briefly made it seem like Timothy would kill his entire family. He believed that grisly action would “save” them from suffering the trauma of losing their money and watching him go to prison.
Earlier in the episode, he even served them drinks that he put poisoned fruit in.
But, he changed his mind at the last-minute, slapping the drink out of Saxon’s hand.
In the morning, Lochlan made himself a smoothie without washing the poisoned fruit sludge out of the blender. He convulsed on the deck, and for a while appeared to be a goner.
An emotional Timothy discovered Lochlan and cradled him in his arms. But, Timothy’s son later opened his eyes and vomited, unwell but still alive. So, his “death” was a fake-out.
The Ratliff’s plot line ended with the family alive and well, and Timothy finally confessed that they were about to face “challenges.”
“The White Lotus” has been renewed for a Season 4, but a premiere date and location haven’t been announced.
