Apr 19, 2026 5:18pm IST
‘Euphoria’ Season 3 Is Clearly Having An Identity Crisis
Anyone who has watched the first episode of "Euphoria" Season 3 is bound to wonder if they’ve somehow put on the wrong show. The trance-like “Euphoria” aesthetic is missing. There’s a clear shakedown of who the primary characters are (barring Zendaya’s Rue), with some great ones being relegated to second fiddle. Its female characters are victims of bad writing. And, what? Is Nate Jacobs a soft boy now?
What made Sam Levinson’s “Euphoria” such a phenomenon when it arrived was how it spoke the visual and cultural language of its subject and target generation, in a way that no other film or series would. It wasn’t afraid of delving deep and uncovering the dark, all while its aesthetic mirrored that of Gen Z’s whimsical and pretty Instagram and Pinterest feeds. As if to say, we see you, but all of you, even the parts you hide behind the hazy filters. And we don’t judge.
But “Euphoria” season 3 looks and feels different. There’s a technical reason for that. Season 1 was shot digitally, but Season 2 was shot on Ektachrome 35mm film. For Season 3, the choice has been the 55mm and 65mm versions of Kodak’s VERITA 200D film stock, which offers higher color saturation, warmer tones, and a cinematic old Hollywood feel that reminds you of classic Westerns. But there’s more to it than just the change in the film that it's shot on by cinematographer Marcell Rév.
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With its cast finding their footing in the industry and moving on to bigger projects, something has shifted, giving “Euphoria” a clear identity crisis in its final season. The acting isn’t bad, but everyone does seem a bit… checked out, with their heart barely into it. Zendaya is not even an executive producer on this season, with rumours suggesting creative differences with Levinson, while the official story is her loaded 2026 slate. And the creative choices are starkly different in terms of where each character is going.
If your biggest concern as a fan was how aged the characters would look after a long break between Seasons 2 and 3, the show overcomes that with a time jump, five years into the future, and straight into adulting for its characters. But it doesn’t explain away the arcs some of these characters are on.
The biggest example is Nate Jacobs. If we had a penny for every time a Jacob Elordi character had a leash in his hand with a woman at the other end, we’d have two pennies. Which isn’t much. But isn’t it weird that it has happened twice in a year? Season 3 Nate Jacobs is declawed to the extent that he’s okay with his fiancée, Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), posting on OnlyFans. Who is this non-toxic soft boy? And even if he has evolved into one, where’s the arc that makes it make sense? And why does he get better, but the women around him get “worse”?
“Euphoria” was sexually explicit because it was about a generation that was bold in its exploration yet stifled by shame, guilt and the constant threat of exploitation. Season 3 seems over-sexualised for the sake of it. It is telling when almost all its young female characters grow up to be directly or indirectly associated with sex work. Rue is a manager at a strip club and her body is being abused as a drug mule. Cassie is an OnlyFans creator. Jules (Hunter Schafer) is a sugar baby. And Maddy (Alexa Demie) is managing a porn star.
That writing is clearly unimaginative and limited by a misogynistic world view, as if proving those judgemental Boomers right about their prediction for the young girls of the social media generation who have “too much freedom.” Maddy is a bada**, but with Sydney Sweeney’s popularity, Cassie has the eyeballs and Maddy just has one battle after another. Ironically, Cassie is the only character who is right on track; of course, she wants a $50,000 flower arrangement for her wedding and doesn’t judge OnlyFans or fetishes.
One interesting development “Euphoria” Season 3 brings is the relationship between Zendaya’s Rue and a new character, strip club owner and cowboy, Alamo Brown, played by "Oz" actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. That’s a dynamic that will lead to interesting results, especially with the season clearly setting up Rue to betray Alamo's loyalty, a sin he is not likely to forgive.
Nobody thought “Euphoria” was a fairy tale with a happy ending. It was edgy and bittersweet. But now it’s merely provocative and rage bait, as if winking at us to get mad over its hopeless read of the current generations. So until more episodes drop, we’ll be judging “Euphoria” Season 3 with the same eye as it judges its subjects. #NotMyEuphoria, anyone?
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