I hate to say that Euphoria loses its way in season 3

This review is based on the first three episodes of Euphoria season 3.

Launching the careers of Zendaya, Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney, HBO’s Euphoria excelled in its first two seasons as a relentlessly explicit teen drama.

Peering into the disturbed lives of a group of middle-class suburban teenagers, Sam Levinson’s series overwhelmed audiences in the best way possible.

The deal was simple – strap into this rollercoaster of rampant drug abuse and hypersexualisation in a world that has failed young people, and prepare to be entertained.

However, despite my high expectations for the release of season three, this latest installment of Euphoria has not only lost its way: it’s become a bizarre parody of its former self.

Picking up the action five years after season two, Rue (Zendaya) works as a drug mule across the Mexican border, smuggling golf-ball sized wrappers of cocaine in her stomach, before she lands a job for strip club owner Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje).

Nate (Elordi), meanwhile, struggles as a construction business owner to pay for his obscenely expensive wedding to Cassie (Sweeney), who flirts with the idea of becoming an OnlyFans star.

Rounding out the rest of the cast, Jules (Hunter Schafer) works as a high-profile escort while Lexi (Maude Apatow) tries out a career in the TV industry.

On the surface, this updated storyline sounds as though it should be interesting, especially if you were a fan of the previous seasons like me. However, the transfer across to the world of adulthood falls short of its own high expectations.

A far cry away from the days when these characters could bump into each other down the school corridor, their new separate lives and the rather clumsy attempts to try and link them all back together feels tired and artificial.

Cassie and Nate’s story in particular feels like it walks down a heavily-trodden path as they clash over her potential OnlyFans career.

Not only do their conversations not have any anything new or interesting to say about the industry, but it feels at odds compared to where we last left off in season two, when Cassie appeared to be so infatuated with Nate that money didn’t matter.

Now, she is enraged at not being able to have $50,000 worth of flowers at their wedding.

At one point, Cassie’s character is told how she is a ‘big fish in a small pond’, and I couldn’t help but feel like that is the perfect analogy for this series. 

When the storyline was set back in high school, all of these character’s stories felt so huge and dramatic, as we witnessed a groundbreaking performance by Zendaya as a self-sabotaging drug addict.

But here, in this strange Western cowboy re-framing of the story, where neo-Nazis accidentally lace ecstasy with fentanyl, what made them once so fascinating has been lost, and with it any and all drama has been sucked out.

Whereas the previous two seasons effortlessly glided between each character and storyline, everything feels so melodramatic and unnatural here.

Zendaya’s performance revealing Rue’s struggles is a shining light in this disappointing return.

Schafer, similarly, as Jules provides hope for the remaining episodes as each of the characters’ lives begin to become intertwined – which is when the show has previously been at its best. 

It would also be unfair to say that this series is not at times entertaining.

Even if the lines that this star-studded cast are saying feel contrived, the likes of Elordi, Sweeney and Schafer are absolute superstars and it’s great to see them back in TV.

Additionally, there are some moments of humour throughout, despite them at times being demented.

Levinson behind the camera clearly has an eye for oddball, quirky characters and his vision for these bizarre, surrealist moments, coupled alongside his stunning cinematography, is at times magnetic.

But for every step forward that this season takes, it feels like there’s a misplaced moment, that’s unsure of what it actually wants to say, just waiting around the corner.

Previous seasons have been slow towards the beginning, so there is a chance that a stunning finale could save the day.

But even with strip club cowboys and dicey business adventures, I can’t help but feel like this latest outing – which is believed to be the last – is forced and unnatural.

Season 3 of Euphoria premieres this April on Sky, NOW, and HBO Max.

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