Euphoria Creator Breaks Silence On Season 3’s Last Ever Tragic Twist

This article contains major spoilers for the Euphoria finale.

After the penultimate episode of Euphoria season three saw Jacob Elordi’s character being killed off in the grisliest way possible, creator Sam Levinson had one more massive shock in store for viewers in the finale.

Speaking of the finale… have you watched it yet? Because we’re about to drop some major spoilers. We know we warned you once already, but we’re talking massive spoilers here, so if you don’t want to know what happens in the episode, get this bookmarked and we can reconvene afterwards.

For everyone else, here goes…

So, in the last ever episode of Euphoria, viewers saw Zendaya’s character Rue overdosing on fentanyl and dying, having struggled with drug addiction over the course of the show’s three-season run.

Appearing in a behind-the-scenes video shared after the episode aired, Sam Levinson – who has been candid about his own substance abuse issues in the past – explained: “I think, in the end, I wanted to tell an honest story about addiction. I also wanted to tell a story about grief and the emotional turmoil that it can create.”

He continued: “I’ve always been against utopian storytelling. What we’ve been known for on the show is not pulling any punches.”

Ending Euphoria on Rue’s death, Sam claimed, “just felt like the honest ending”.

“People relapse. They fuck up. They’re not ready to get clean,” he said. “And they weren’t dying like they are now, with the influx of fentanyl into this country.

“I can say with absolute certainty that if I was going through what I went through when I was younger now, I wouldn’t be here, either. So… there’s no reason to sugarcoat it.”

He added that he “wanted to tell the story for” Angus Cloud, a fan-favourite member of the Euphoria cast who died 2023 at the age of 25, due to an overdose of several drugs, including fentanyl.

Sam noted: “[I wanted to tell the story] for people who weren’t granted a second chance.”

He also praised Zendaya’s “wonderful and layered” performance as Rue.

“We fell in love with this character, this girl, who is flawed and fucked up, but has a good heart, and [is] trying to do right, at least sometimes,” he enthused.

“It’s a blessing to work with talented people, and people that you love.”

There were numerous other deaths in the Euphoria finale, including most notably crime lords Laurie and Alamo, played by Martha Kelly and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, respectively.

On his decision to end Euphoria after three seasons, Sam said over the weekend: “In terms of the story that we set out to tell, which is a story about addiction and its consequences, this feels like the end to me.”

All three seasons of Euphoria are now streaming on Sky and Now in the UK.