After what feels like a lifetime of discourse, delays, and drama, Euphoria is finally back with season three and (unfortunately) I watched the first episode so you don’t have to (please, don’t). When the show first dropped in 2019, it was the talking point. Glossy, glitter-drenched visuals, chaotic teenage energy, and that haunting score by Labrinth that did at least 60 per cent of the emotional heavy lifting.
Back then, Zendaya was the centre of it all. Now, the cast has levelled up into full-blown stardom. Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi are practically bigger than the show itself. Which is partly why this season feels…off.
The signature aesthetic? Muted. The Labrinth score? Missing. Even the poster looks like it was generated in a hurry. And what you’re left with is something that feels less like Euphoria and more like a glossy crime show. Everyone is either being exploited or doing the exploiting. It’s exhausting. Yes, the characters have aged and the show has moved forward, and sure, at least we’re not dealing with the same level of teenage sexualisation anymore, which is something. But you can grow the story up without draining all the colour and personality out of it.
And then there’s everything around the show: rumours, exits, and creative choices that raise more questions than answers. Barbie Ferreira’s Kat is gone, reportedly over dissatisfaction with her arc. There have been reported feuds between Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney. There’s chatter about uncomfortable storylines, including alleged leaked images of Sydney Sweeney in a diaper with a pacifier, and a growing sense that not everyone involved is fully on board anymore. With Sam Levinson fully in charge and reportedly writing the entire show without a traditional writers’ room , the gaze feels narrower, sleazier, and increasingly misogynistic in a way that’s hard to ignore. It also raises a bigger question about why a show dealing with such sensitive topics would not actively seek more perspectives, especially female ones, given how many of its central characters are women.
The show has finally dropped on JioHotstar and, yes, people will watch it. But one episode in, this is not the Euphoria we signed up for. Below, 35 unfiltered thoughts that confirm why Euphoria S3 E1 is currently television’s biggest rage bait.
- Not Rue trying to cross an international border with full ‘haan haan gaadi nikal jayegi’ energy.
- What in the Quentin Tarantino is this…and where did all the glitter go? I want my purple mood board back.
- You’re telling me I can just abandon a whole car on top of the Mexico border and walk off…? Noted.
- I miss Labrinth’s score.
- That is a full iPhone face. Daisy’s, I mean. I refuse to believe there’s no WiFi in that house.
- What do you mean she owes Laurie $43,887,000?!? I wouldn’t even know how to read that number out loud if someone asked me. Don’t do drugs, kids.
And suddenly I’m very aware this is a Sam Levinson show. They’ve got Rue and Faye swallowing drug balloons the size of golf balls; I can’t even swallow my vitamins without gagging. This is a lot.
- This whole strainer situation… I did not consent to this level of detail. I’m unwell.
- And now they’re casually using the same strainer for food? I am genuinely going to throw up.
- Also, Zendaya’s refusal to be photographed with Sam Levinson at the premiere? Yeah…now that makes perfect sense.
- Lexi seems normal. Like, actually normal. This is very reassuring.
- So, Fez is just…in prison for 30 years now? That’s how we’re handling this? Okay.
- Okay, so I knew Cassie was a little unhinged, but the doggie costume is…an interesting choice. I’m asking this again: does Sam Levinson actually like the women on this show??
- But 10/10 to the housekeeper for fully committing to the bit.
- If I had a nickel for every time Jacob Elordi’s character was involved in some kind of dog roleplay situation this year, I’d have two nickels…which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s already happened twice.
- The Bottega placement is way too subtle.
- I really miss Labrinth’s score.
- Also, Cassie and Nate’s bedroom looks aggressively ugly. Like a knockoff version of Maddie’s season one room but with none of the taste.
- Nate making everyone pretend to work because someone important is coming is the most relatable scene in this episode.
- Are we going to see an uptick in flannel shirts?
- Wait. Maddie is a talent manager and still broke? Honestly, this feels wrong. She was always meant to be rich rich.
- Rue is now seriously considering Christianity because she wants to feel something… The Mormon family really did a number on her, eh?
- “I’m in the business of pussy.” I’m sorry, did they fire the dialogue writer?
- This has to be rage bait. I refuse to believe otherwise.
- Oh, so now we’re doing a sex trafficking storyline too. The drugs weren’t stressful enough, I guess.
- Uh oh. Fentanyl just got mentioned… I don’t like where this is going. They better not be foreshadowing anything.
- Did I mention that I miss Labrinth’s score?
$50,000 on a floral arrangement? IN THIS ECONOMY?!
- Why are there a million candles burning… Don’t they live in California? Is this a ritual or is Nate just that broke?
- “I didn’t wait my entire life to have a ghetto wedding”… Oh, she did not.
- Agreeing with Nate Jacobs wasn’t on my 2026 bingo card but here we are.
- Someone just OD-ed. Should have seen that coming.
- They will obviously not kill off Zendaya in the first episode. They won’t, RIGHT?
- Okay, they didn’t. Phew.
- I’d like to have a word with Sam Levinson. Because WTF was the vision here?
