Unpacking some unanswered Duke vs. UNC ‘White Lotus’ questions after the finale
Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of mental health and suicide. If you or someone you know needs immediate assistance, help is available. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988 or visiting 988lifeline.org.
The Southern charm — and accents — of North Carolina have been in the spotlight on the newest season of “The White Lotus.” Now, some of those connections are bringing a bit of controversy off-screen.
If you haven’t tuned in to the hit “sharp social satire” on HBO, each season is centered around different travelers and employees at an exclusive, upscale resort chain. The latest is set in Thailand, with a family of five from the Triangle.
The hit show’s finale aired Sunday, April 7.
From the banter of being a house divided — graduates of both UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke — to their iconic Southern drawls, the Ratliff family have been pretty pivotal in this season’s plot.
But one of the Triangle colleges did not approve of being in the show.
We’re unpacking all of it.
Spoiler alert: Here is a list of all North Carolina connections mentioned in the newest season of the show, which may reveal some plot elements.
Duke, UNC & NC references in ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3
Episode 1: Upon arrival, the Ratliff family talk about how they found The White Lotus thanks to their daughter, Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), a UNC senior majoring in religious studies. A true house divided, Victoria (Parker Posey) mentions how she was also a Tar Heel grad and her husband, Timothy (Jason Isaacs), and eldest son, Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), both graduated from Duke. Their youngest son, Lochlan (Sam Nivola), got accepted into both, but hasn’t yet picked a school.
Episode 4: During a boat party, Timothy tells another couple that his grandfather was the governor of North Carolina.
Episode 5: Timothy is wearing a Duke shirt while he writes a goodbye note to his family, then picks up a gun and holds it to his head. His wife Victoria walks in and interrupts him before he can pull the trigger.
Episode 6: Later, Timothy is wearing the same Duke shirt when he imagines himself taking his life and being found by Victoria and Piper. He then goes back to bed and Victoria says, “It’s gonna be OK. We’re gonna get her back to Durham and she’s gonna be happy. She’s gonna live a normal life like the rest of us.”
Episode 7: At a dinner party, Victoria asked another woman why she was with a “middle-aged weirdo” and tells her she should come to North Carolina, saying: “I could introduce you to some respectable men. They would eat you up.”
Later that night, Timothy is again wearing a Duke shirt in bed while Victoria says she is praying for Piper to be miserable in the Buddhist temple where she is sleeping over. Timothy is seen wearing that same Duke shirt again when he later realizes the gun he stole from the hotel security guard is missing from their room.
Episode 8: In the finale, Saxon is reading “Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living” by Pema Chödrön, given to him by Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood). When Chelsea marvels that Saxon had nearly finished the book in one night, Saxon says “I went to Duke” — dripping with pretension.
Duke vs. UNC: Which college did Lochlan pick?
In Episode 1, that was a big question for the Ratliffs. But by the finale, viewers were left to wonder if Lochlan would go to college at all. At the end of Episode 8, the Ratliff family learns that their father is an embezzler and they are financially ruined. There’s no money, there’s no house.
It’s hard to imagine that Lochlan would go to Duke, except on scholarship, and scholarship offers were never mentioned. UNC would be much cheaper, but it’s still not cheap if you’re homeless.
If you want to play around and really stretch the clues, you could make a case for UNC based on Lochlan’s near-death experience. When Lochlan wakes up, after being inadvertently poisoned by his father (after Timothy’s aborted attempt to murder the other members of the family), Lochlan tells his dad: “I saw God.”
Blue Heaven, perhaps? Also, Duke’s mascot is the (Blue) Devil, so . . .
Also, with the shame brought on his family by his dad’s legal troubles, it’s doubtful Lochlan would want to attend Timothy’s alma mater anyway.
Parker Posey’s Southern accent
Even those who have never seen a minute of “White Lotus” have likely heard video of Parker Posey saying “Piper, noooo!” — or heard someone else try out their imitation of her.
The internet is truly divided on whether Posey’s accent is authentic or not. Some believe it’s too exaggerated. But those who have grown up in the South can attest to knowing at least a few Southern Belles who sound exactly like Victoria Ratliff.
But whether viewers think it’s authentic or exaggerated, they love it. A writer for The Daily Beast said that Posey’s “acting choices are nothing short of a master class in character acting.” A writer for The Guardian called Posey’s “White Lotus” accent “a thing of true beauty.”
Posey, who grew up in Mississippi, said in a now iconic interview on “Today” that it all started with show creator Mike White’s dialogue and that she loves saying words like “tsunami” and “Buddhism.” She said she loves Southern women and always wanted to play this kind of character.
And lest we forget, Posey portrayed Durham assistant D.A. Freda Black — an authentic Southern woman whose accent was mocked by many following the Michael Peterson murder trial — in the 2022 Max original series “The Staircase.” (We’ll also note here that Patrick Schwarzenegger, who plays Victoria Ratliff’s son on “White Lotus,” played Michael Peterson’s son Todd Peterson in “The Staircase.”)
‘Simply goes too far,’ Duke says
The controversy over Posey’s accent is lighthearted in comparison to other reactions to local connections in “The White Lotus.”
In a statement emailed to The News & Observer, a Duke University spokesperson confirmed that the school is displeased with its portrayal in the show.
“Duke University did not approve the use of its marks in The White Lotus. 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,” Frank Tramble, Duke’s vice president for communications, marketing and public affairs, said in the statement.
“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.
“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 News & Observer reached out to University of Chapel Hill’s media team on Thursday, March 27, for a response on the university’s mention in the show, but has not yet heard back.
How to watch ‘The White Lotus’
All three seasons of “The White Lotus” are streaming on HBO Max.
This story was originally published March 28, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Unpacking some unanswered Duke vs. UNC ‘White Lotus’ questions after the finale."
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