Euphoria Goes Full Noir (and Partial OnlyFans Ad) in Its Final Season: Review

The first two seasons of Euphoria were a ride, as creator Sam Levinson spotlighted the inner lives of its central suburban teens in all their hypersexed, overwrought glory. Every scene felt like it was dialed up to 11, each character marinating in extreme emotions and the terrible choices that ensued. So it’s a bit of a relief to dive into Season 3 of the HBO drama and find that age has mellowed out both the show and the chaotic adolescents it was once about. The result: A sprawling crime tale with dashes of Hollywood glamour. People still have big feelings and make bad decisions. But it sure beats high school.

When the season begins, everyone’s in the full bloom of young adulthood, for better and for worse. Lexi (Maude Apatow) and Maddy (Alexa Demie) are both forging separate paths in the entertainment industry. Nate (Jacob Elordi) has fully taken over his father’s construction business — a far bigger challenge than he ever realized it would be — and Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) is looking to exploit social media in order to fund their dream wedding.

Zendaya’s Rue, meanwhile, has continued to struggle with her addiction issues, a problem not helped by the fact that she’s been basically working as an indentured servant for drug dealer Laurie (Martha Kelly). Remember how in Season 2 Rue took that suitcase full of drugs from Laurie and then Rue’s mom flushed them? It’s okay if you don’t remember that, since Season 2 aired four years ago, but it turns out Laurie wasn’t willing to let that loss of product slide, and Rue’s now a part-time Uber driver/part-time drug mule for Laurie’s operation.

Because of the direction her life has taken, Rue’s on a search for meaning, which translates into continued conversations with her sponsor Ali (Colman Domingo) and listening to the Bible on audiobook as she Uber-s. Alas, as good as her intentions are, her worst instincts remain present — especially when she falls in with Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje of Lost), a new crime boss who helps her uncover an untapped potential for illegal acts. Between Rue’s storyline and the nefarious actions of a few other characters, there are so many scenes in this season that feel like they could have come directly from an Elmore Leonard or Carl Hiassen novel — complimentary, though Euphoria could perhaps use a little more of those authors’ humor.

Still, it really can’t be overstated how well the time jump works, especially since the series pilot established that Rue was born in September 2001, it’s natural for her to be hitting her quarter-life crisis in a contemporary, post-pandemic setting. Having just witnessed the end of Stranger Things, a series that insisted on its 20-somethings playing teenagers to the end, it’s a relief.

The time jump does mean that most of these characters are off in their own separate storylines, living their own lives. However, Nate and Cassie’s aforementioned nuptials do bring a lot of them together, and even without that element, each individual narrative features its own unique sparks. For example, I haven’t seen nearly enough of Lexi’s boss, a “legendary” showrunner played by Sharon Stone, and I can’t wait for more of her and the nighttime soap opera where Lexi is now thriving as an assistant.

There is the occasional sad reminder of the losses associated with this show. Not the absence of original cast members like Barbie Ferreira, Storm Reid, Nika King, and Algee Smith, though they are missed to varying degrees. But Eric Dane returns as Nate’s disgraced father, having finished filming his scenes before he passed away two months ago. And Angus Cloud, who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2023, remains a living presence: Season 3 reveals that Fezco is in prison, and so he’s still able to occasionally call Rue up and make her laugh. (We never hear the voice on the other end of the phone.)

There’s much less nudity than Seasons 1 and 2, but one unexpected theme of the first three episodes — a celebration of sex work. It comes at you from all angles: There are multiple characters exploring the social media/OnlyFans line between full-tilt porn and less explicit erotica. (Sweeney gets put in a wild array of get-ups as part of this.) There are the dancers who Rue meets in her underworld dealings, wearing the finest spandex stripperwear. And there’s Jules (Hunter Schafer), paying for art school with some help from her much older boyfriend, whose wife “understands.”

These facets of sex work are not glamorized, exactly, but they are presented in a largely positive light, with OnlyFans in particular getting mentioned frequently. This is far from new material for Euphoria as a whole, considering how teenage Kat became a camgirl during the third episode of the series. However, it’s so pervasive this season that it almost feels like things are building up to a bigger point — one not revealed in the three episodes provided to critics. (Hopefully there is a point, beyond “do sex work, it’s awesome!”)

Along these lines, let’s take a moment to shout out Rosalía, who shows up relatively early as a stripper who goes by the name of Magick and has her reasons for wearing a bedazzled neck brace on stage. She slips so seamlessly into the ensemble that you’d have little idea she happened to release the best album of 2025 just a few months ago. Also livening things up are limited appearances from the reliably hilarious Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch (as he’s listed in the credits), as one of Alamo’s loyal lieutenants.

Euphoria can’t really be considered a revival, since the second season only ended in 2022. However, its return has a similar air of “consider yourself lucky we were able to get all these actors back” — which, fair, considering that at least three of them have blossomed into legitimately huge, award-nominated stars. To their credit, the returning cast all feel committed to their now-familiar characters, while the new blood — both in terms of characters as well as in narrative focus — adds a lot.

This is still an odd mix of soapy twists and classical cinema touches, with the potential for serious pretension occasionally lurking at the edges of the screen. Yet the show has, like its characters, grown up a lot. It’s a little sad that this has happened just in time for the show’s likely conclusion, but should this level of quality hold for the remaining episodes of the season, Euphoria might just go out on an, um, high note.

Euphoria returns for Season 3 April 12th on HBO and HBO Max. Check out the latest trailer below.