The following article contains spoilers for Euphoria season 3.
After a catastrophic start, it looks like Euphoria season 3 may be turning things around. Following a lengthy delay after Euphoria season 2 ended, the HBO show’s highly anticipated third season debuted on April 12, 2026, to dismal critical ratings. Currently, Euphoria season 3 sits at a “Rotten” 40% on Rotten Tomatoes.
This is because the once-dystopian coming-of-age show was no longer about teenagers, as season 3 featured a five-year time jump, with the Euphoria main characters now adults. Without high school keeping them in each other’s lives, the magic of Euphoria evaporated almost entirely.
That’s what made episode 3, “The Ballad of Paladin,” so satisfying. It wasn’t Nate’s bloody comeuppance in Euphoria’s “Red Wedding”; it was the characters all being in the same room together to celebrate the nuptials of Nate and Cassie (even if some were less celebratory than others).
The most recent episode, last week’s “Kitty Likes to Dance,” was an even bigger step in the right direction. Cassie decides to flee the suburban hellscape her new husband has created, with plans to get them out of debt by moving to Los Angeles and resuming her career as an online celebrity. This puts Cassie, Maddy, Lexi, Jules, and Rue all in the same city — which is exactly what Euphoria season 3 needs.
Euphoria Season 3 Finally Has The Main Characters Back Together
Though Euphoria officially went too far with a particularly brutal scene in episode 4, “Kitty Likes to Dance” also featured one of season 3’s best moments. At Lexi’s apartment complex, Maddy coaches Cassie through a photoshoot with a faulty leafblower. Meanwhile, the youngest Howard sister expresses dismay at the direction everyone’s lives have taken, and Rue pops by asking Maddy where to buy drugs. The scene is hilarious, chaotic, and reminds the audience that these characters are still very much the same people they were in high school.
It also shows how much unfinished business they all have with each other. Maddy is the MVP of Euphoria season 3 for her self-made hustle success, and while she is an incredibly helpful manager to Cassie, it’s strongly hinted that a desire for revenge bubbles beneath the surface. Right now, Maddy has Cassie right where she wants her — broke, desperate, and entirely dependent on her.
Less thrilled about Cassie’s move to LA is Lexi. After having written an explosive play about the misery of living in Cassie’s shadow, Lexi thought she was finally out from under it. However, Cassie is obnoxiously taking over Lexi’s life once again, having moved into the same apartment complex. Between that and her work struggles, there’s only so much Lexi can take, and a rage-induced meltdown would be a huge feather in season 3’s cap.
Despite being the show’s quietest character, Lexi also found herself embroiled in drama with sugar baby Jules. “Kitty Likes to Dance” sees Lexi hire Jules to do a painting for the show Lexi works on as a production assistant. What Jules produces is a penis-covered parody of Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” that is definitely not network TV-friendly and lands Lexi in hot water with her boss. This has the potential to lead to some major conflict in future episodes.
While Rue’s season 3 storyline has resulted in more Emmy-worthy acting from Zendaya, it frustratingly alienates the Euphoria protagonist from the other core characters. However, the HBO Max teaser for episode 5 sees Rue and Jules spending more time together, much to the anger of Jules’s wealthy sugar daddy, Ellis. This is exactly the kind of drama Euphoria fans expect from the show, and it looks like season 3 is finally delivering.
Nate Needs To Be In LA For Season 3 To Work
Alas, the only outlier is Nate Jacobs. While the female characters live their messy lives in Hollywood, he has a $1 million mess of his own to clean up in the suburbs. Livin’ large isn’t cheap, and Nate’s need for a flashy existence has cost him a mountain of cash, his wife, his dignity, and (almost) his pinky toe.
Euphoria Main Characters’ Jobs in Season 3
Rue Bennett
Troubleshooter/fixer at the Silver Slipper
Jules Vaughn
Sugar baby
Nate Jacobs
Real estate developer
Cassie Jacobs
OnlyFans content creator
Maddy Perez
Talent manager
Lexi Howard
Production assistant
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Euphoria season 3 is giving Nate exactly what he deserves, but it doesn’t exactly make for good TV. Nobody wants to see him destroyed by shady investors and zoning committees; they want Maddy, Jules, and even Cassie to seek much-justified vengeance and take him down in a satisfying way.
To do that, Nate needs to join the ladies in LA. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen in the next episode, as the teaser shows Naz’s goons return to Nate’s hideous mansion, ready to give him another beatdown. However, this might give Nate the motivation he needs to get out of dodge and join his wife in the City of Angels. Lexi would certainly hate that, but this is a small price to pay for Euphoria season 3 fixing itself once and for all.
Release Date
2019 – 2026-00-00
Network
HBO
Showrunner
Sam Levinson
Hunter Schafer
Jules Vaughn