Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Season 3 of Euphoria.
After over four years since the release of its season two finale, Sam Levinson’s Euphoria premiered the first episode of its third season last night. And, to no one’s surprise, it is completely different. Given the absence of the glittery, neon hues that defined the show’s aesthetic, alongside several actors who made the show’s plot what it was, there was a lot to take in, and I had a lot of thoughts while watching.
For starters, the cast has dealt with some major losses over the past couple of years. Angus Cloud, who played Fezco, tragically passed away in 2023 after an accidental drug overdose. Cloud, whose breakthrough acting role was Euphoria, was discovered by a casting director who happened to be walking down the same street as him in Brooklyn, NY. Despite his passing, the show plays into the storyline that Fezco is alive and well, serving a 30-year prison sentence, with characters mentioning him and calling him on the phone. Just this past February, Eric Dane, who played Cal Jacobs, tragically lost his battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Dane was known prior to Euphoria from his role as Dr. Mark Sloan. Despite his death, Dane still shot the third season, and although he doesn’t appear in the first episode, he will make an appearance.
As I said earlier, season 3 of Euphoria is, well, weird. It starts off with Rue revealing that Laurie did, in fact, catch up to her and forced her to traffic drugs in order to repay her for the suitcase full of drugs that Rue lost in the previous season. Cassie and Nate are engaged in suburbia, with Nate having taken over Cal’s business and Cassie making lewd videos dressed as a dog for social media (a perfect way to deal with Sydney Sweeney, in my opinion). Lexi is trying to make it big as a screenwriter in Hollywood, and Maddy is also in Hollywood, working as a manager for influencers and actors. And Jules, while not shown in the episode, is apparently a sugar baby now?
Obviously, things are different since the show had a major time jump, but things feel too different. The show I watched last night didn’t have the same energy as during the last round of Euphoria Sundays. The complete lack of the show’s prior aesthetic is what I think is to blame, especially given the absence of Labrinth, who composed the show’s musical score in previous seasons. Allegedly, he left due to creative differences and because he was treated poorly by the screenwriters. Similarly, we were missing Barbie Ferreira, who played Cat, a major character in the first two seasons. Ferreira also left the show due to a feud with Sam Levinson, the show’s creator, whom she felt had dumbed down her character’s storyline to simply being the “fat best friend.” Personally, Cat was one of my favorite characters, and her absence is quite loud in the new season.
At the end of the day, the first season of Euphoria was one of the best TV shows I have ever watched. While some deem its storylines unrealistic, I find that many of the characters’ experiences in the show were extremely raw and real, especially as someone going through high school myself at the time. Season two didn’t live up to the standards of the first season for me, and now I find the show completely unrecognizable. Will I still watch? Absolutely. But will I enjoy it as much as I once did? At this point, probably not.