Hello again Wybers, We are gathered here today to figure out exactly what happened to the third (and at the time of my writing this) and final season of Euphoria on HBO. Now HBO aka Home Box Office aka HBO Max is no stranger to series that don’t exactly land their final seasons, just look at Game of Thrones for an example of that. Euphoria had the added burden of being a show that was also set in high school that decided to show its characters living life after their secondary school education. Many shows have stumbled trying to do that from Beverly Hills 90210 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to One Tree Hills and Veronica Mars because once you leave the boundaries of high school there isn’t as much of a reason for certain characters to stay in an environment with people they obviously don’t like. The drama may be fun to watch but there comes a point as a viewer where you start to wonder why these people stay around each other if they don’t have to.
Season 3 of Euphoria used this element of its time jump to explain why characters like Barbie Ferreira’s Kat Hernandez, Austin Abrams’ Ethan Lewis, Algee Smith’s Chris McKay and Storm Reid’s Gia Bennett are conspicuously absent from the show this go-around. The behind the scenes drama has been well documented to why certain members of the cast and crew said, “Miss Me With That Bull****!” to being part of the show’s final season and you can feel that tonal shift in the way the series is presented. The musical score of Labrinth aka Timothy Lee McKenzie is missed for the way it made certain scenes feel more intimate, but I will admit that the new score by Hans Zimmer adds a bombastic element that makes things feel more cinematic in an empty vessels make the most noise sorta way. Which seems to be a trending topic in what the show’s creator, Sam Levinson, has chosen to fixate on lately with shock and awe storytelling with only a dollop of substance in the plot.
Of course, if you watch the show for the performances then pretty much everyone brought their A Game to close out the series from the regulars that were there from Season to the new additions that premiered this final season. Zendaya brought Rue Bennett to her logical conclusion in a way that felt true to the character that also felt like a tribute to the loss of Patrick “Fezco” O’Neill’s actor Angus Cloud. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s portrayal of the villainous Alamo Brown fit the gritty tone of the seedier side of life that the new season put on display with gusto. Sydney Sweeney’s Cassie Howard aka Cassie Jacobs with Alexa Demie’s Maddy Perez and Maude Apatow’s Lexi Howard reminded the audience some toxic friend groups and family dynamics should have ties cut because they will weigh you down like an anchor that keep you in a place you don’t want to be or drown everyone attached to it. Jacob Elordi’s Nate Jacobs and Hunter Schafer’s Jules Vaughn felt like they got the short end of the stick this season but at least one of their characters made it out alive for better or worse. Colman Domingo’s Ali Muhammed aka Martin McQueen really got his chance to shine in a way that gave the the finale a satisfying ending while it tied up certain loose threads. Most fans are not ruling out the possibility of a fourth season but ending with this third season feels like the right choice and a solid end to rollercoaster ride that was Euphoria.
