Remember This Feeling! What We Know About 'Euphoria' Season 3
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Filming is finally set to begin next month!
It’s really not a surprise that a show packed with sex and drugs is one of the most popular shows on television—which is why it's also not a surprise that HBO renewed its hit drama Euphoria for season 3 in early February 2022, when season 2 wasn't even halfway through.
What is shocking about Euphoria, of course, is that those engaging in graphic and often extreme escapades on the series—abusing drugs and, at times, each other—are high-schoolers. Somewhat based on the Israeli television miniseries of the same name, the show revolves around a group of teens, but particularly the character of Rue, who has already gone to rehab and relapsed by the time the series starts. This version of Euphoria is also loosely based on show creator/director Sam Levinson’s own background. “Since around the age of 18 or 19 before I cleaned up, I was always playing around with this idea of chronicling a version of myself from birth to, in its own crazy, mad way, discovering drugs and the need for it,” says Levinson, who has the sole writing credit for all but one episode. Clean now himself, Levinson (whose dad is famous Hollywood director Barry Levinson) infused parts of the story with some of his own real-life moments and memories.
Zendaya plays Rue, but Levinson didn’t even think she’d agree to read for the part because the show was too racy. “But she got ahold of the scripts and the moment I heard she wanted to meet, I was excited,” he recalls. “She came in hoodie up with her glasses and she started talking, and even though she has lived a very different life, I just immediately was like, 'This is it. She’s Rue.'"
Euphoria catapulted Zendaya from Disney child star to a bonafide A-lister. At 24, she even became the youngest actress to win the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2020. And after her blistering performance in season 2, episode 5, it was no surprise when she claimed a second Lead Actress Award in 2022.
Meanwhile, the show's popularity continues to enjoy an upswing. About 1.2 million real-time viewers watched the season 1 finale; that night, the show became the second-most tweeted about show on HBO, after Game of Thrones. When the second season premiered on Jan. 9, 2022, it was the highest-viewed HBO episode on HBO Max. The season 2 finale saw 6.6 million viewers tune in. So again, that season 3 renewal was no surprise.
“Sam, Zendaya, and the entire cast and crew of Euphoria have taken season 2 to extraordinary heights, challenging narrative convention and form, while maintaining its heart,” said HBO programming EVP Francesca Orsi. “We couldn’t be more honored to work with this gifted, wildly talented team or more excited to continue our journey with them into season 3.”
However, as popular as the show is, it can still be highly uncomfortable to watch. The show is so graphic—full-frontal nudity of both men and women, repeated drug use, revenge porn, physical and emotional abuse and more—that Zendaya has repeatedly warned viewers about the content beforehand. Season 2 “maybe even more so than the last,” she said. The season is “deeply emotional and deals with subject matter that can be triggering and difficult to watch,” she wrote on Instagram.
In early 2022, D.A.R.E. came down hard on the teen drama, saying Euphoria “chooses to misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use, addiction, anonymous sex, violence, and other destructive behaviors as common and widespread in today’s world.” Levinson, however, believes the show is realistic. “As someone who struggled with drug addiction and overcame drug addiction, I’m very sensitive to portrayals of drug addiction, and I understand that she has a large following of young people, but I do think our show is very authentic and responsible in the way in which it depicts drug use,” he said in 2019. They also have an intimacy coordinator on set for sex scenes.
Related: How To Watch All the Euphoria Sex Scenes
"Our show is in no way a moral tale to teach people how to live their life or what they should be doing,” Zendaya, who is also an executive producer on the show, says. “If anything, the feeling behind Euphoria, or whatever we have always been trying to do with it, is to hopefully help people feel a little bit less alone in their experience and their pain. And maybe feel like they're not the only one going through or dealing with what they're dealing with."
The show’s creators feel that there is a positive angle to the show, despite its darkness. "I've had a lot of people reach out and find so many parallels from all ages, all walks of life,” says Zendaya. “So many parallels with Rue and her story and Rue means a lot to them in a way that I can understand, but also maybe in a way that I could never understand, and that means the most to all of us."
So, what’s going to happen in Euphoria Season 3? Keep reading to find out what’s happened so far, how the real life Spider-Man could swing into the show and what could be in store for Rue and company.
Related: See Zendaya's Net Worth and How She Earned It
When will Season 3 of Euphoria premiere?
Euphoria is reportedly set to begin filming season 3 in February 2023. According to Euphoria makeup artist Donni Davy, each episode takes approximately a month to film and perfect. That means we likely won't see Euphoria season 3 until 2024.
Season 1's finale aired in August of 2019 after eight episodes, and due to COVID-related delays season 2 didn't air until Jan. 9- Feb. 27, 2022.
Related: Why Euphoria Fans Should Be Bingeing My So Called Life, Daria and 13 More Gritty Shows
What happened in Euphoria Seasons 1 and 2?
Season 1 started with an introduction of all the characters, most notably Rue, a drug addict. In a voiceover, she told the audience that as a child, she was diagnosed with panic attacks, possible bipolar disorder and other mental health issues–and her father died when she was 13. She began taking her mother’s Xanax and spiraled from there, going to rehab right before her junior year of high school. By episode 1, she has already relapsed.
Jules (played by Hunter Schafer), a transgender girl new to town, tried to to date online, first finding a much older man with the online name DominantDaddy. His real name was Cal Jacobs (Eric Dane); they have sex and he recorded the event. Jules then found ShyGuy118, or “Tyler,” who is revealed to be Nate (Jacob Elordi), the high school quarterback–and a villain. Turns out, he’s Cal Jacobs’ son. He’d seen Cal’s recording and several other things in his dad’s porn stash (Cal has been cheating on his wife with several young men and transgender women). Nate had a physically abusive relationship with his father and was abusive to his own girlfriend Maddy (Sydney Sweeney). He blackmailed Jules into keeping quiet about his dad and again to get her to name another boy as his girlfriend’s rapist.
Meanwhile, Rue had been slowly falling in love with Jules after meeting her at the end of Episode One. They’d become friends, and Jules expressed concern about Rue’s relapse into drug use. The two finally kissed in Episode 5 (couple name: Rules!) but the road was rocky, with Jules saying she was also in love with another girl and later leaving Rue at a train station. Season 1 ended up with Rue’s friend and dealer Fez’s (Angus Cloud) house being raided, Nate’s ex Maddy (Alexa Demie) stealing the DVD with Cal and Jules on it and with Rue having an extremely graphic overdose.
Related: These 8 Onscreen Roles Prove Zendaya Is on Fire!
The two standalone episodes, titled “Rue” and “Jules” respectively, focused on the two characters. “Rue,” which aired in December 2020, featured a conversation between Rue and her sponsor (Colman Domingo), and “Jules” dealt with her own feelings in a single therapy season (the episode aired in January 2021). Rue revealed she blamed Jules for her relapse and that she was suicidal, but clean at that time. Viewers discovered that Jules’ mother was also an addict who was recovering in the first season, which is why she was reluctant to get involved with Rue. Jules also admitted she was still not over “Tyler.” At the end of “Jules,” Rue appears to wish her a Merry Christmas.
Season 2 started with Rue, still doing voiceovers, explaining how Fez got into dealing drugs (through his grandmother). Rue met another drug user, Elliot (Dominic Fike), in a building where a New Year’s Eve party is going on and he met Jules. Maddy’s friend Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) secretly started seeing Nate and Jules cheats on Rue with Elliott.
Rue got a suitcase from Laurie, a middle-aged drug dealing woman (Martha Kelly), containing $10,000 in drugs that she was supposed to sell to other students–but she quietly ended up using them for herself. To hide this, Rue started telling people she was only smoking marijuana. “Now, in all fairness, I did say from the beginning that I had no intention of staying clean. But I get it. Our country’s dark and fucked up and people just want to find hope. Somewhere. Anywhere. If not in reality, then in television,” Rue explained in Episode 3. Cal gave a speech about how dysfunctional their family is after getting drunk and thinking he saw a boyfriend from his past.
Finally, in episode 5 the jig was up. Rue’s mom asked Rue about her drug use and Rue lost it, accusing younger sister Gia (Storm Reid) of telling on her and becoming irate about the whereabouts of Laurie’s suitcase. She became so agitated she destroyed a bedroom door after banging on it and kicking it in.“You wish I was different? So do I!” Rue says. “You f**king hate me? So do I!”
Jules and Elliot, who, unknown to Rue, had been sitting in the living room, revealed that the drugs in the case are gone, as they flushed them down the toilet. Rue recognized that the others were staging an intervention of sorts and insulted them. She ultimately agreed to go to the hospital–but bolts out of her mother’s car in the middle of traffic once rehab is mentioned. She went on the run, finding herself at friends’ houses, outing Cassie’s relationship with Nate along the way, and attempted to steal drugs and valuables everywhere she went. She even had a run-in with cops. Finally she showed up at Laurie’s.
She gave Laurie everything she’d stolen and explained the situation. Laurie drew her in a bath, injected her with morphine to deal with withdrawal and told Rue that there are other ways girls can pay off their debt. Later, Rue woke up in bed later and tried to leave, discovering the windows and doors were locked but managed to escape. At the end of the episode, Rue’s mom heard knocking at the door–but viewers didn’t see who it is.
“I think in this show, and this season more specifically, [Rue] hits rock bottom,” Zendaya said in a message she posted to Instagram ahead of Episode 5’s airing. “It’s my hope for people watching that they still see her as someone worthy of their love… and that we still see the good in her even if she can’t see it in herself.” Zendaya hopes that if people can see that in a fictional character, they can extend the same feelings to people in their own lives who may be suffering with similar issues. “I think it’s important that we have characters that are flawed….and that redemption is possible.”
The season ended on a major cliffhanger, with a SWAT team storming Fezco's house. Ashtray, Fez's protective kid brother may have met a terrible end.
Are there Euphoria Season 3 spoilers?
Not yet, but the Maddy/Cassie/Nate situation is far from over and that Maddy has that Jules/Cal DVD to use against Nate and Cal.
And even though Cal has seemingly left his family, Dane says he’ll be back. “I happen to know that’s not the end,” he’s said. Elordi adds, “The boys are just getting started.” Could he also be alluding to Nate’s second brother, who has never appeared in the show?
As for Euphoria Season 3, there are things still left up in the air. Will Laurie go after Rue for the missing drug money? Is Laurie attempting to force Rue into prostitution or sexual slavery? Will Nate ever be punished? Will Rue ever be able to stay clean? How will Rue’s actions affect her younger sister and mother? How much further down can Rue go?
"It's really important that there's light at the end of the tunnel for her,” Zendaya has said about her character. “Because I think she has a lot of beauty inside of her. Whether or not she quite sees that yet, is her own thing."
Which cast members and characters are returning for Euphoria Season 3?
In addition to Zendaya and possibly Colman Domingo, who plays her sponsor, the returning cast will probably include:
Hunter Schafer (Jules)
Jacob Elordi (Nate)
Alexa Demie (Maddy)
Angus Cloud (Fez)
Algee Smith (Chris)
Sydney Sweeney (Cassie)
Maude Apatow (Lexi)
Dominic Fike (Elliot)
Martha Kelly (Laurie)
Storm Reid (Gia)
Nika King (Leslie)
Related: Who Is Dominic Fike? All About the Actor and Singer Who Plays Elliot on Euphoria
There’s one more face that might show up next season: Tom Holland. Marvel’s Spider-Man has been openly dating Zendaya since they were caught kissing last year and they just bought a house together, apparently. He’s been seen on set, worked himself into a cast photo and really, really wants to do a cameo—he's even begged for one while doing Spider-Man press!
For her part, Zendaya says she's mentioned it to Euphoria producers. “I mean, listen, we've talked about it all the time,” she explained. “We're like, ‘Let's just sneak him in the back of a shot or something!’”
Who's not returning for Euphoria season 3?
Barbie Ferreira (Kat)
In August 2022, Barbie Ferreira announced in an Instagram story that she would be leaving the show. Her departure is not a surprise considering the lack of a storyline for Kat in the back half of Euphoria season 2.
Is there a teaser or trailer for season 3 of Euphoria?
Not yet; a teaser should appear a few weeks before the season is set to start.
Where to watch and stream season 3 of Euphoria and past episodes
Euphoria is available exclusively on HBO and HBO Max, so when season 3 is ready, that’s where it will be. In the meantime, you can catch up on Euphoria seasons 1 and 2 on HBO apps.
