Four years after the second season, Euphoria is back with its last season this month.
Fans of the show have been waiting for ages for it to come out, and with the deaths of some cast members and alleged issues among the actors, it really felt like it wasn’t going to happen at all.
Euphoria has been a major global talking point not only for its plot and cast, but also for its creative approach to makeup, fashion, and film aesthetics. It’s one of those shows that goes beyond storytelling and really influences trends and pop culture.
Having watched the first episode last night, I think we’re in for another great season, a final chapter in the lives of these characters whom we’ve grown to both love and hate over the years.
The episode starts with Rue (Zendaya) up to no good, still in the drug business a few years after high school, mainly because of the debt she owes Laurie (Martha Kelly). She’s trying to cross the Mexican border and smuggle drugs in and out of the States.
The scene is so quintessential Rue as she’s stuck in the middle of nowhere trying to get her car up and across a ramp at a security border. She ends up having to leave it behind and makes her way on foot with a giant bag of drugs. It’s chaotic, stressful, and very on brand for her.
She ends up staying over at a Christian family’s house in the middle of nowhere and eventually makes her way back to Los Angeles, where Laurie has set up her business.
Also, Fez is in jail for 30 years, which is honestly so sad and adds a heavy layer to everything since the actor, Angus Cloud, has passed away.
We learn that Laurie finds Rue working at an ice cream shop and reminds her that now she doesn’t owe her just $10,000 but roughly around $45 m, and will settle for $100,000 if Rue helps her with her business.
It was so fun to see Martha Kelly play Laurie again because she keeps a straight face and soft-ish voice, but she’s still so scary and intimidating without even trying.
So not only is Rue working for Laurie, but even Faye (Chloe Cherry) is, and we see how they’ve been body-packing drugs together. Faye is such a fun, light, and airy character. She breaks all the seriousness of the show and makes it fun to watch any scene that she’s in.
That whole sequence of them swallowing and choking on massive balloons of drugs had me gagging. It was so horrifying to watch. That was followed by scenes of fart, poop and strainers, and pasta was all honestly vomit-inducing. Maybe I didn’t need to see all of that, but it’s also Euphoria and Sam Levinson, so what do you expect, lol.
Faye and Rue also joke about trying to escape Laurie’s business by stealing another guy’s money, which lowkey feels like it might come back to bite them later.
Moving on, when Rue isn’t dealing with drugs, she’s an Uber driver, and we see her visit Lexi (Maude Apatow), who works on a film set as a director’s assistant. She misses Fez but won’t call him, and reveals that Jules (Hunter Schafer) has become a sugar baby, a fact she learned from Maddie (Alexa Demie).
Maddie works in talent management and makes good bank. Although her life seems glamorous, it isn’t really, since she spends most of her time at a desk. It’s like that contrast between what you see online vs reality. Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), on the other hand, doesn’t make any money of her own and can be seen stalking Maddie’s Instagram, comparing their lives.
Cassie is engaged to Nate (Jacob Elordi), who has taken over his father’s construction business but hasn’t managed to scale it much. They’re planning their wedding, and of course, both of them have completely different views on it.
While Cassie wants it to be huge, with all her family and friends, and super expensive, with a floral arrangement costing $50,000, Nate can only allocate $5,000 for something that’s literally going to die in a day.
We see Cassie dressed as a “sexy puppy dog,” barking and filming videos to post online, which Nate is obviously not on board with. We also get to watch Nate and Cassie role-play; he calls her a bad dog, and honestly, in that moment, all I could think of was Wuthering Heights.
If I had a cent for every time Jacob Elordi had a scene with his co-star on her fours woofing, I’d have only two cents, but that’s still something.
While sunbathing, Cassie talks to a friend about her OnlyFans idea, and brings it up with Nate at dinner, saying that if she did it, she’d be able to chip in for the wedding, and somehow, she actually manages to convince him.
The scene at the dining table had everyone in the cinema cackling so hard. It was so funny watching the dynamic between the characters and seeing how, for some reason, Cassie just got stupider over the years, while Nate seems to be better, which was unexpected.
We also see that Rue is still having her sessions at the diner with Ali about her sobriety. They discuss religion, with Rue committing to read the Bible and choosing to go all in on her faith. Especially after meeting the Christian family, something has changed within her, or at least she thinks it has.
By the way, nobody knows that Rue is still in the drug business. She’s hidden all of this from everyone, which makes everything more intense. She then does another drug drop-off for Laurie at this shady Playboy mansion-type place.
Rue’s dancing with the girls, all of whom have had various plastic surgeries, and she ends up having a conversation with the main guy, who says he’s “in the business of p***y.” She tells him he has her dream job and tries to convince him to hire her because she wants to get out of Laurie’s business.
One of the girls overdoses on the drugs that Rue had just delivered, and the main guy blames Rue for sabotaging his business. Rue admits that she didn’t pack or touch the drugs and had no idea it was laced with anything else. She adds that meeting him was God’s plan, and gives him her whole backstory.
The episode ends with Rue standing with an apple on her head while he’s about to shoot it with a gun. She is absolutely shit scared, but he has the perfect shot. She is safe and immediately squealing with happiness and relief.
Zendaya plays Rue so well and gives a stellar performance every single time. Even in the smallest moments, her expressions and the way she delivers certain lines all feel so real and effortless. She makes you root for Rue even when she’s making the worst possible decisions, and that’s not easy to pull off.
S3 Ep1 was a refreshing start to what will possibly end up being an intense season of chaos, in true Euphoria fashion. It does a really good job of setting the tone for what’s to come while still easing us back into the world of these characters after such a long gap.
Obviously, the show has always been and still is visually stunning. Everything is shot so artistically, and every frame feels intentional. The lighting, camera work, and styling all add another layer of depth and uniqueness to the show, elevating the performances of the already-talented cast.
It feels like this season is building towards something big, and if this first episode is anything to go by, we’re in for a wild, emotional, and probably chaotic ride. I can’t wait to see what the next episodes bring.
