‘Euphoria’ Season 3 review: Zendaya and Sam Levinson sign off with a grim, inevitable series finale

The third and final season appears as scattered as its characters. Rue (Zendaya), the unreliable narrator struggling with opioid addiction, is now a drug mule for the teacher-turned-drug dealer, Laurie (Martha Kelly). Her sponsor, Ali (Colman Domingo), directs her to the Higher Power, to find meaning.

Rue’s best friend, Lexi (Maude Apatow), works as a production assistant for Patricia Lance (Sharon Stone) at Warner Bros. Lexi’s sister, Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) lives with manipulative Nate (Jacob Elordi) in a huge, ugly mansion. Cassie wants to become an adult content provider online to have a grand wedding (with $50,000 worth of flowers).

Nate, who is in dire straits financially having borrowed money from the decidedly wicked Naz (Jack Topalian), to get the family business up and running, initially resists Cassie’s erotic ambitions and later agrees on the condition that she does not show her face.

Cassie’s best friend, Maddy (Alexa Demie) arrives in town with “no money, a suitcase full of clothes and a plan”, which involves making a bold cold call to a high-powered executive. “I know my generation is entitled but I believe nobody owes me anything. I am not a victim, I won’t be an HR nightmare and I believe in capitalism.” She gets the job as an executive assistant to a talent manager.

A still from ‘Euphoria’ Season 3
| Photo Credit:
HBO Max

Jules (Hunter Schafer), the trans woman Rue is in an on-off relationship with, is studying art and “sugaring”, being a mistress to a successful, married plastic surgeon. Rue sees Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) who runs a series of strip clubs, as a way out of Laurie’s clutches. Naturally, it is a case of from the frying pan into the fire and she is soon involved in arms dealing and becomes an informant for the DEA.

While beautifully shot with all those saturated and stark frames, and lovely clothes adding layers to the characters, Euphoria is not very well written.

Some characters are dwelt upon in great detail for no apparent reason, while others have little time spent on them. Of all the characters, Nate’s transformation from a controlling jock in the first two seasons to a passive, screaming man-child losing digits in Season 3 is the most inexplicable.

Pushing the female characters into some form of sex work as a chance for the camera to leer at their bodies, and the extended sequences at the strip club, are exploitative.

While the first two seasons were contained in the school ecosystem by exploding outward in Season 3, the energy and anxiety have dissipated to a great extent and one is left with a string of disjointed happenings.

A still from ‘Euphoria’ Season 3
| Photo Credit:
HBO Max

Religion and faith play a big part in the season, with Rue even seeing God in a burning Joshua Tree. Acting wise, Zendaya continues to anchor the show with her intense performance — that phone call to her mother is guaranteed to raise goosebumps.

After British composer Labrinth, who had scored music for Seasons 1 and 2 very publicly walked out, composing duties fell to Hans Zimmer, whose music signature is very different from Labrinth’s dreamy sound.    

At the end of 93-minute finale, what will remain is the stunning imagery, including Cassie as the 50-foot fantasy woman; fabulous, if slightly unrealistic, clothes and make-up; the shocking character deaths; Alamo’s enforcer; Bishop’s (Darrell Britt-Gibson) meticulous prep to torture some poor soul; and Steely Dan’s ‘Do it Again’.

Euphoria is currently streaming on Jio Hotstar