Warning: this article contains spoilers about Euphoria through episode 2 of season 3.
The third season of Euphoria has probably been one of the most anticipated shows this year, and I have mixed feelings about the season so far. I believe that it does some things well but is inconsistent on other things.
To start off, I don’t think either trailer has accurately represented the season so far. The first trailer has a significant amount of religious imagery and Rue’s dialogue has significant religious undertones. Based on the trailer and Sydney Sweeney’s comment that Cassie Howard needed to “find God,” I believed this would be a more significant part of the season and be an arc of multiple characters. But we have only seen it through Rue, when she discusses her belief in God with Ali and tells Alamo Brown that she believes in him before he shoots an Apple off the top of her head. My point is, for religion to be so emphasized in a trailer, I’m surprised that we haven’t seen more of it in the first two episodes.
I feel like the second trailer lacks a clear direction of what it’s saying about the show. It feels like a bunch of different scenes cut and pasted together, and it doesn’t adequately reveal what the plot is going to be about. I have only begun to understand it once I have watched the show, which I don’t believe is what a trailer is supposed to do.
One thing does not surprise me about this season: Rue is still in active addiction (as she discusses in episode 2), involved with dealing drugs, and has little contact with her family. In season 2 episode 5, Rue runs around town as her family and friends stage an intervention. But Jules flushed her suitcase of drugs that she bought from Laurie, so she was in debt to Laurie. This made it so that Rue couldn’t completely escape drugs, even if she stopped using them, because Laurie was intent on getting her money back. At one point, Rue’s mother said that she would rather save her sister, Gia’s, life over Rue’s. It’s not surprising to me that her mother has barely spoken to Rue after that comment.
What does surprise me is that Maddy seems to have drive and ambition now as a manager. At the beginning of episode 2, she approaches an executive in public and tells her that she wants to work for her, including answering the executive’s phone as a receptionist. I feel like this is a significant contrast from season 1 episode 5, where we see Maddy’s backstory and learn that she realized that she never wanted to do anything. If you are a manager for actors and social media stars, you are in charge of crafting their public image, which is a significant amount of work. I feel like the show has not shown how she developed this drive and ambition, and I hope they somehow show how in future episodes.
Unsurprisingly, this season has also stirred controversy: before episode 1 came out, images of Cassie dressed as a baby for OnlyFans were posted on social media. This was universally condemned on the internet, including by Sophie Rain, one of the biggest OnlyFans creators. I have to say that I’m glad that an investor couple condemned this scene in episode 2, despite the fact that Cassie Howard tried to convince one of the other characters that this was okay because it made money. I feel like the scene itself treated the situation like it was normal OnlyFans content, and I am glad that the other characters did not see it as normal.
Finally, I believe that the show could have done better to honor both Angus Cloud and Eric Dane. I like the fact that Fez is alive and in prison, and that the characters talk to him over the phone. Levinson said that he wanted Cloud to have a significant role in the original scripts of season 3, so I feel like keeping him alive would be the best way to honor him. I also like that the first episode opens with a tribute to Eric Dane.
But I question why the first episode opened with a tribute only to Dane and not both him and Cloud. It doesn’t make sense to me, especially since Dane’s character isn’t mentioned at all in episode 1, while Cloud’s is. Additionally, Cal Jacobs is written as a drunk character throughout the season because of Dane’s progressing ALS throughout filming. On one hand, I believe that this was an accurate way to portray Cal Jacobs, especially after the scene where he walks around his house drunk in season 2, episode 4, and the fact that he narrowly avoids prison for sex crimes. On the other hand, this is Dane’s final appearance in a show as an actor, and I don’t feel like portraying him as a drunk does justice to his respectable acting career.
The remainder of the season premieres on Sundays at 9 p.m., and despite my mixed feelings about it, I intend to watch it every week. I believe that the later episodes will have twists and turns that I don’t expect.
