In creator Sam Levinson’s mind, every new season of Euphoria is the final one. He sends his lost and reckless teens on a crash course of sex, drugs, and trap music, then he hopes that he can write a semi-believable way for them to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So, when Rue (Zendaya) ended season 2 in 2022 by finding sobriety and stating that “maybe being a good person is what keeps me trying to be a good person,” it was as good a place as any to release the safety bar and disembark from the manic highs and too-often exploitative lows of Euphoria’s rollercoaster ride.
Four years ago, all signs pointed toward Euphoria’s stars calling it quits as well. Zendaya (The Drama), Sydney Sweeney (The Housemaid), and Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein) have each reached levels of fame that even the show’s greatest detractors didn’t think was possible. Levinson faced claims that the set of The Idol, his limited series with The Weeknd, was a toxic work environment. Then, the world lost two of Euphoria’s best supporting actors with the deaths of Angus Cloud and Eric Dane. (Cloud died in 2023 from an accidental overdose, and Dane succumbed to ALS earlier this year.) If there was ever a time for Euphoria’s A-listers to thank the series for jumpstarting their careers and move on, it was now. Instead, nearly everyone from the main cast returned to film Euphoria season 3, which premiered on HBO this Sunday, April 12.
The mission? Tell another fucked-up story about the power of forgiveness, faith, addiction, and most importantly, Rue’s pursuit to “try to be a good person.”
Season 3, episode 1 opens with one of the most beautifully shot scenes in Euphoria’s history. Rue drives a janky car up a ramp and across the U.S.-Mexico border after speeding through the desert blaring Christopher Cross’ “Ride Like the Wind.” The camera follows Rue as she precariously stops the car at the top of the wall and pulls off a high-wire act to make it safely across. It’s a thrilling opening, like catching James Bond in medias res—but I’m sure much will be said about how Euphoria always toed the line between showmanship and real character work.
One of the first things we learn about Rue’s post-high school life is that she just might’ve dug a hole so deep that it becomes her grave. When we pick up with the character five years later in the season 3 premiere, Rue is a drug mule for season 2 antagonist Laurie (Martha Kelly), who traps her into a life of slavery after she returns to collect her debt. Rue still owes her $100,000—and that’s Laurie being generous, apparently. So, she finds herself swallowing balloons of fentanyl and praying that they don’t pop inside of her stomach while she figures out what kind of life she’s even living anymore. It’s a decent place to start—and it’s clear from the onset that Zendaya certainly didn’t come back to the series only to phone it in.
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Jacob Elordi returns as Euphoria's Nate / photo by: Patrick Wymore/HBO
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Are you excited for Euphoria’s return? Let me know what you thought of the season 3 premiere by writing to me at josh.rosenberg@hearst.com.
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The Continuing Adventures of the Esquire Entertainment Desk
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Fiona Dourif, who plays Dr. McKay on The Pitt, talked to Brady Langmann about how her role on the HBO drama is dedicated to her late mother. “I was her caretaker for the last eight years of her life, and it was a sad, wild time of difficulty,” she says. “She would have absolutely loved The Pitt and been so proud of me.” Read the full interview here.
Ted Lasso, Rooster, and Shrinking creator Bill Lawrence told Anthony Breznican about how hard it is to be successful in the TV business—and how much fun it is now that streamers are more willing to take a risk. “I’m a dinosaur still from network television, but I think 90 percent of the streaming pitches I have nowadays, I never would’ve been able to sell ’em back then,” he says. “If anybody lets you make anything, you gotta keep going and going and going, man.” Read more from Lawrence here.
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Fiona Dourif swiftly made Dr. McKay a fan favorite on The Pitt. "To have The Pitt happen when I was 43, it just feels even luckier than if it had happened in my 20s, because I'm licking every morsel of it," she tells Esquire. / photo by: Lindsey Byrnes
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The Cliff-Hanger's Winners and Losers of the Week
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Winner: Matthew Macfadyen
The former Succession actor stars in a new Peacock comedy series, The Miniature Wife, wherein his character’s new invention accidentally shrinks his wife (played by Elizabeth Banks) down to just six inches tall. When Esquire asked the cast “How small is too small?” at the red carpet premiere in Los Angeles, California, Macfadyen laughed and joked, “It’s a great question… one that I won’t give a decent answer to because it’s quite upsetting.”
Loser: My Eyeballs
I’ll say it again: the scene of Rue forcing balloons of fentanyl down her stomach so she can traffic them across the border in Euphoria is one of the grossest things I’ve ever seen on TV.
Winner: The Studio Season 2
The second season of The Studio will reportedly poke fun at a long-standing tradition in Hollywood: reporting the length of a standing ovation at film festivals. Good! After Joker: Folie à Deux received an 11-minute applause at Venice in 2024, I’ll never trust those audiences again.
Loser: Anyone Who Bought a Cassette Player Just to Listen to the New The Strokes Song
The Strokes mailed adoring fans a limited run of 100 cassette tapes containing their new song “Going Shopping” last week. My heart goes out to any listeners who went on a hunt for a way to even play the outdated audio format. Why? Well, on Tuesday, the band went ahead and just released the song for everyone to listen to on all digital streaming platforms.
Winner: The X-Men
New reports about Marvel’s planned X-Men reboot revealed that the creative team behind the film includes Thunderbolts* director Jake Schrierer, BEEF creator Lee Sung Jin and The Bear co-showrunner Joanna Calo. Wow! Is Marvel really back? (... For real this time?)
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