Euphoria

HBO

Euphoria season 3 will air on HBO this Sunday, April 12, after disappearing for four and a half years, with season 2 premiering in January of 2022. In the interim, it’s had stars in mega-blockbusters (Zendaya), one win an Oscar (Jacob Elordi) and one become probably the most talked-about actress in Hollywood (Sydney Sweeney). It also lost two cast members tragically, Angus Cloud, who died in 2023, and Eric Dane, who died just two months ago from ALS.

It is frankly a miracle this show returned at all for this, its final season, but it’s not winning critics over. Euphoria has scored traditionally pretty well among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, especially its special airings. We have:

• Trouble Don’t Always Last (Rue special) – 97%
• F--- Anyone Who’s Not A Sea Blob (Jules special) – 96%
• Season 1 – 80%
• Season 2 – 78%
• Season 3 – 45%

Oops. The time skip and departure from the setting of the original show, plus whatever happened with its writing and directing in the interim, have produced a final season that seems to end on a down note. Some of the complaints:

• New York Post: “If you want narrative coherence and character consistency, Season 3 leaves you wanting.”
• Vulture: “The episodes are overly languid thanks to Rue’s painfully expository narration and the unresolved tension between the series’ familiar character dynamics and flashy new genre vehicle.”

We also just learned of someone who left the show entirely, taking their talents with them. That would be Labrinth, who announced his displeasure with Euphoria very loudly on Instagram, but now we know that his music will not be there at all this time around, his sound helping to make the vibe of the show iconic. Now it’s…Hans Zimmer doing the soundtrack, as it was previously revealed he would partner with Labrinth. I mean, it’s Hans Zimmer, so potential upgrade, but that seems like a big departure from the Labrinth years, unless he closely emulates him. Here’s what Labrinth said about all this before it was announced, none of his music would be in the season at all.

“I’m done with this industry. F--- Columbia. Double f--- Euphoria. I’m out. Thank you and goodnight.”

It’s still not clear what happened, but it’s a big loss for the series. Euphoria has been a hugely controversial production since its inception, from its high-school-based R, sometimes X-rated storylines, to talk of how it was filmed behind the scenes. Now, it’s over, and it’s unfortunate it doesn’t seem to live up to the rest of the series, which, despite its issues, was quite good.

Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.