{"id":595110,"date":"2026-04-09T06:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T06:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/595110\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T06:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T06:50:11","slug":"critics-call-it-well-crafted-weakly-written-nothing-despite-zendayas-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/595110\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics Call It \u2018Well-Crafted, Weakly-Written Nothing\u2019 Despite Zendaya\u2019s Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Euphoria\u2019s third season hasn\u2019t even aired yet and critics already sound like they need a cigarette and a lie-down.\n<\/p>\n

The first wave of reviews coming in are, frankly, brutal, with most agreeing the show looks gorgeous, but has lost the plot \u2014 literally and thematically.<\/p>\n

With the show due back on April 13, Euphoria\u2019s third outing is officially its worst-reviewed yet on Rotten Tomatoes. Right now, season three is sitting on a pretty underwhelming 56 per cent critics score from 16 reviews, a noticeable drop from season two\u2019s 78 per cent and the 80 per cent earned by the debut season.<\/p>\n

\u2018What is happening right now?!\u2019<\/p>\n

The New York Post<\/a> points to a scene where Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) shrieks \u201cWhat is happening right now?!\u201d and says that line \u201csums it up, as a whole\u201d, describing the season as \u201can off-the-rails roller coaster of insanity\u201d. The review calls the show an \u201cunhinged disaster\u201d and says it delivers \u201cBreaking Bad meets Looney Tunes\u201d mayhem if you just want chaos, but warns that \u201cif you want narrative coherence and character consistency, season three leaves you wanting\u201d, accusing the show of \u201clazy writing\u201d that \u201csacrifices depth for absurdity\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Provocative, exploitative, or just exhausted?<\/p>\n

The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>\u2019s take is more philosophical, asking whether Euphoria was ever truly provocative or \u201csimply an exploitative show that looked provocative because it was focusing on characters who were too young to vote\u201d and argues that season three \u201cwould seem to confirm it\u201d. Did I just get clocked? <\/p>\n

The critic calls Zendaya \u201ca marvel\u201d whose Rue belongs somewhere on TV\u2019s \u201cMount Rushmore of antiheroes and antiheroines\u201d, but says the new episodes drift toward \u201cflashy irrelevance\u201d, full of \u201clurid neon signs\u201d, \u201cSydney Sweeney in canine cosplay\u201d and even \u201cpig urine\u201d, without feeling especially timely or insightful.<\/p>\n

\"\"I will still be watching for these two. (Image: Euphoria)<\/p>\n

Vulture<\/a> goes harder, describing the season as \u201ca cannily shot phantasmagoria that\u2019s as beautifully lit as it is emotionally hollow\u201d. Its review claims that \u201cso much of this early phase of Euphoria\u2019s return feels completely airless\u201d, arguing that scenes like Rue suddenly becoming an arms dealer and images of \u201cnipples coated in ice cream and cocaine\u201d turn the cast into \u201cbodies for debasement and scintillation rather than means of storytelling\u201d.<\/p>\n

This review certainly doesn\u2019t help the ongoing rumours about show-creator Sam Levinson and his on-set behaviour, from a supposed feud with Zendaya<\/a> to complaints about the work environment. Anonymous members of the production team<\/a> have accused Levinson of demanding long working hours, committing violations of SAG-AFTRA rules and contributing to injuries on set.<\/p>\n

Most recently, Labrinth, a featured artist on the season one and two soundtrack<\/a>, posted his grievances on Instagram, condemning the show and said, \u201cDOUBLE F*CK EUPHORIA\u201c.<\/p>\n

\"\"(Image: Labrinth \/ Instagram)<\/p>\n

\u2018Well-crafted, weakly-written nothing\u2019<\/p>\n

Collider<\/a> lands somewhere between admiration and exhaustion. It praises the \u201cbeautiful\u201d cinematography, \u201cvisual feasts\u201d of production design and costumes, and says Zendaya \u201creminds you why she\u2019s won two Emmys for this role\u201d, calling her \u201cone of our greatest young actors\u201d who commits fully to every outlandish scene. <\/p>\n

Sydney Sweeney is described as \u201cadmittedly great\u201d and Alexa Demie\u2019s Maddy gets credit for a storyline that feels grounded and emotionally rich, but the review ultimately says nearly every episode \u201cfeatures a woman being humiliated, exploited, or degraded\u201d, and concludes the new season amounts to \u201ca whole lot of well-crafted, weakly-written nothing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"We had such high hopes! (Image: Euphoria)<\/p>\n

Entertaining, but \u2018fanfiction of itself\u2019<\/p>\n

Variety<\/a>\u2019s verdict is slightly gentler but still pretty damning. The review notes that \u201cvery little is the same\u201d after four years, pointing to the deaths of Angus Cloud <\/a>and Eric Dane<\/a>, Barbie Ferreira<\/a>\u2019s exit and behind-the-scenes angst over scrapped ideas like Rue as \u201ca pregnancy surrogate or a private detective\u201d. <\/p>\n

It says the first three episodes \u201cdo feel like Euphoria: bombastic, stylish and able to offset grandiosity with sly, cutting humour\u201d, but no longer \u201ctethered to the grounding ballast\u201d of its high-school roots, describing the new focus on sex work \u2014 from Rue working for a strip-club boss to Cassie\u2019s OnlyFans and Jules\u2019 (Hunter Schaefer) sugar daddy \u2014 as \u201cso total and abrupt that it can\u2019t help but feel somewhat random\u201d.<\/p>\n

So\u2026 should we still watch Euphoria season three?<\/p>\n

Across the board, critics agree on a few things: Zendaya is still doing career-defining work, the show remains visually stunning, and elements like Maddy\u2019s storyline and the handling of Fez\u2019s fate have real emotional bite. <\/p>\n

But the larger takeaway from this first batch of reviews is that, four years and a major time jump later, Euphoria season three looks increasingly like a glossy, nihilistic hangover, one that many say hasn\u2019t figured out why it exists beyond the spectacle.<\/p>\n

Reviewers were only able to access the first three episodes, so maybe it gets better from here. If you\u2019re optimistic or want to see the mess unfold for yourself, Euphoria season three premieres in Australia on April 13 on HBO Max<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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