Why the Euphoria finale was destined to be a disappointment

Well, after years of waiting for the third season alone, it’s now confirmed that Euphoria has truly come to an end. The season three finale aired last night and it’s fair to say there’s quite the mixed feeling among fans.

Recent episodes had brought gruesome deaths, ‘insane’ scenes and a whole bunch of wild nude moments as we said goodbye the once high school kids we first met back in 2019.

But watching the Euphoria finale last night, you couldn’t help but just notice one thing in particular – plenty of those characters barely seemed to feature.

As in feature enough in a way you might expect for the end of such a huge HBO show anyway.

The episode saw the tragic death of lead Rue (Zendaya) but we hardly got to see her once best friend Jules (Hunter Schafer) react. Plus, her death being made to look like an overdose is particularly a sore one for fans and may link back to previous reports.

Zendaya vs the script rumours

Back in 2024, HBO officially delayed the production of Euphoria season three – we’d already been waiting since the second ended in 2022.

This came following the writers’ strikes and other obstacles, as rumours spiralled that Zendaya was not so happy with the scripts.

Variety reported that the actor offered ‘significant input’ for where she’d like to see the new season go and while she didn’t have veto power, she’d pitched an idea where Rue was sober and a pregnancy surrogate.

There were plenty of rumours of tension between Zendaya and the show’s creator Sam Levinson, too, having once been ‘thick as thieves’ in the earlier seasons.

She had reportedly already rejected his idea that Zendaya would be a private detective – also apparently rejected by HBO.

And her star's absence from press and promotion for this third season (I mean, she is booked and busy) - with little posted by her on social media about it - was surprising to many a die hard fan.

So, there are signs to suggest that all was not well.

LADbible has contacted representatives for Zendaya for comment.

Rue died in the finale. (HBO)

Finale’s flaws

Having waited so long for this season, the finale was a bit of a dud, according to some.

Stars like Schafer and Jacob Elordi are huge success stories for Euphoria and yet Jules pretty much only featured in the finale episode for a minute or so.

Elordi’s character, Nate, of course had already been killed off so the most we got of him was a picture. We didn’t even get a funeral for him or Rue.

Maddy (Alexa Demie) was still hustling away but she seemed sidelined while Lexi (Maude Apatow) hardly had any kind of meaningful episode.

And after all the wild moments Sydney Sweeney’s Cassie had, this episode was relatively tame. Love her or hate her, the actor pulled through this season and she didn’t get much of a major moment in her farewell.

Instead, she’s back living in her tacky, ugly mansion, thinking about setting up some kind of OnlyFans house.

Colman Domingo's Ali had taken Rue in when she died. (HBO)

A big chunk of the finale seemed centred on Ali (Colman Domingo) avenging Rue’s death.

Having acted as her sponsor and mentor since season one, he’d only appeared briefly in the third season until the penultimate episode.

But last night, he took centre stage in a pretty insane scene as he killed Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje).

Look, Domingo is an incredible actor and his character was very important to Rue, but it seems disappointing for him to take the spotlight with such little screen time for the core cast.

Plus, there’s the point that Rue had spent the whole season sober, only for her painkillers to be laced with fentanyl, making her death look like an overdose to those who knew her.

But I mean, let’s be honest, it was always going to be hard for fans not to be disappointed by the finale when we’ve waited four years for this season. It probably shouldn’t have been but…

Maddy and Cassie move back in to the mansion together and that's about it. (HBO)

Actor ‘understands’ backlash

Toby Wallace, who plays neo-Nazi drug dealer Wayne could see why fans were frustrated with this final season, as he says the vibe was intentionally different.

And so, perhaps we could have known the finale would be disappointing all along - it wasn't what any of us had become used to.

“I remember walking on to their season going like 'okay this is definitely a little bit of a different show, like it feels different,” Wallace told BBC Newsbeat.

The British-Australian actor who joined for this season said Levinson didn’t try ‘to replicate or do something that's already been done’ for the final episodes.

“He always wants to recreate and build something original,” Wallace added.

But, despite there being quite a lot of strong criticism, the actor reckons the overall reaction ‘has been really good’.

Jules barely featured. (HBO)

Fans' reaction

Don't just take it from me, though, LADs, while there is a mixed response, there is a whole load of fans who felt let down by the Euphoria finale.

"Regardless of how beautifully it was done, the fact remains that rue died over being laced, she was sober and was free to have a good life! her dying is such a terrible ending, for a show that is meant to give hope for addicts!" one wrote on X.

But others argue that it was just as it was supposed to be: "Alamo didn't need a gun. he used her disease and waited. Levinson called it an honest ending. people like Rue don't get a second chance."

Others slammed: "And Jules STILL in that damn apartment painting…genuinely what was the point of her character this season?"

"Oh Hunter.... they underutilised you so criminally," another put.

"Euphoria season 3 ending was actually awful I'm so disappointed in this f**ka*s show," one said.

While another summed up: "All these characters had so much story to tell…and somehow this is what we got. Thankful for anything. Just a little disappointed we didn’t get the most from characters we loved. there were good moments and not so good moments. And we gotta be satisfied w/ the Euphoria we got."

And a third hit out: "We went from the perfect endings of season 1 & 2 to that, I’ve genuinely never been more disappointed in my life."