- Euphoria season 3 has finally started filming
- Season 2 aired on HBO in January 2022
- Season 3 appears to be releasing in 2026
After a three-year wait, Euphoria season 3 is finally filming. Yes, the highly-anticipated day has arrived. After facing rumors of cancelation, multiple delays, and demand from fans, filming has begun. In July 2024, Variety revealed that filming would begin in January 2025, which thankfully it has. Season 2 left off on so many cliffhangers: Rue’s kind of sober, a major death, the breakdown of Maddy and Cassie’s friendship, and Nate being outed, to name a few things.
Fans were worried the show was canceled, although the main cast were confirmed to return. Many things delayed production on season 3…which we will not get into. Spoiler alert: There are a lot of reasons. But that didn’t stop the demand for Euphoria season 3.
Read More: Everything We Know About Euphoria Season 3
Luckily HBO didn’t axe one of their biggest shows. When Euphoria premiered on the network in June 2019 it became a hit. Even with an almost three-year gap between season 1 and season 2, the show managed records and hit an all-time viewing high on Superbowl Sunday in 2022, it was shortly renewed after in the same month. We’re not sure if now they could do that because of the Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift of it all, though!
With season 3 filming underway and confirmed, here is everything we need to see in the new Euphoria season.
1. A Heartfelt Tribute to Angus Cloud/Fezco
Although it wasn’t part of the plot, Angus Cloud’s death threw a spanner into the works for Euphoria season 3. Cloud played Fezco in the series, the beloved nonchalant drug dealer who used to sell products to Rue Bennett (Zendaya). Quickly he became a fan-favorite character because of Cloud’s deadpan delivery and iconic lines. “You’re confused” lives rent-free in all of our heads.
Sadly, the young actor passed away in July 2023 from an accidental drug overdose.
Because of this, we need to see a heartfelt tribute to Fez in Euphoria season 3, and not just an in-memoriam tribute!
Showrunner Sam Levinson and his writers need to find a respectful way to write out Fez. The cop-out answer would be to say Fez died from being shot after the stray bullet hit him in the stomach. At season 2’s end, Fez is taken into custody by police. His adopted brother, Ashtray (Javon Walton) dies in the police raid of their apartment after being shot by an officer.
However, there are a million ways to write Fez out without him dying. For example, he could escape custody and go on the run. Additionally, we need to see a respectful ending to his story with Lexi (Maude Apatow). When romantic tension brewed in season 2 between Lexi and Fez, fans were obsessed. The writers need to find a way to conclude that story, maybe using another note or a letter to close the Fexi chapter.
2. Repair Maddy and Cassie’s Friendship
There’s no triangle like a love triangle, but no, there isn’t. Honestly, the Nate, Maddy, and Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) triangle in season 2 was interesting for five minutes. Cassie completely lost her head, and Maddy lost her best friend. It was juicy, but ruining one of the only good friendships in Euphoria is unforgivable. This isn’t the 2000s, we don’t need another Dawson, Joey, and Pacey or another Brooke, Lucas, and Peyton.
Free us from the shackles of love triangles!
That’s why in Euphoria season 3, we need the writers to repair Maddy and Cassie’s friendship. The sisterhood between them in season 1 was beautiful. It was great seeing them support each other despite their problematic tendencies and struggles.
3. Sorting out Nate’s sexuality
Nate Jacobs’ (Jacob Elordi) sexuality has been a prominent subplot throughout the show. In season 1, he slept with Jules (Hunter Schafer) a trans teenage girl. Frequently in season 1, there are hints of Nate being gay, or at least not straight, as his girlfriend Maddy finds explicit pictures of men on his phone. At one point, Maddy even asks him why he can’t keep it up – do with that what you will! In season 2, Nate is outed in a school play by Lexi, who puts on a parody play of her life in front of their entire high school.
In one scene, a certain locker room dance alludes to Nate and a preference for men. The dance performance shows an actor playing Nate dancing suggestively among other men. He reacts strongly to this and storms out of the performance.
Therefore, season 3 must address Nate’s sexuality directly. They need to define in the time jump whether he has accepted himself or not, or chosen not to label himself. While a closeted storyline for a masculine jock is interesting, after two seasons, it is overplayed. We hope adult Nate will at least have his sexuality dealt with properly in Euphoria season 3.
4. Sober Rue in Euphoria season 3
Zendaya plays Rue beautifully when she’s at rock bottom and when she’s on top, but we would like to see the sobriety of Rue Bennett. In season 2, Rue had some key moments in her journey to sobriety after her relapse. Season 2 ends and we learn that Rue manages to spend the rest of her school year sober per her narration.
However, seeing a sober Rue in the time jump would be a great way to develop her character. Many of Rue’s relapses are triggered by events, and it would be nice to see her be sober full-time without needing Jules to help her. Although their relationship was sweet in season 1, Rue became codependent on Jules to help her stay sober, which wasn’t healthy.
If the writers can use flashbacks or dedicate an episode to Rue’s sobriety journey, that would be a nice way to bring her story arc to the present beyond her drug use.
5. The Fallout of Nate and Cassie
In season 2 Cassie Howard feels like a different person, and honestly, it feels like we don’t know Cassie. It does make sense, considering Cassie has severe daddy issues and hypersexualizes herself, but it also doesn’t. That’s why we need to see the fallout of Cassie and Nate’s relationship, even if it is just in a flashback.
Maddy makes a point to warn Cassie in the season 2 finale that it’s “just the beginning” after she and Nate break up.
On the surface, this means that Maddy is warning Cassie about the toxic cycle of having a relationship with Nate, and also his abusive tendencies. Despite Cassie being aware of this fact, she still decides to hook up with her best friend’s ex, so a deep dive into the consequences of their relationship breakdown is needed.
Future Cassie
When we say fallout, we don’t mean Cassie getting her karma. At this point, she is still a teenager, so she’s still making mistakes, but it would be nice to see how the relationship affects Cassie in the future in Euphoria season 3.
If the writers are going to do a time jump, it will be interesting to see Cassie navigate future relationships with men concerning what she went through with Nate.
Homegirl was driven insane to earn his approval. Remember her 4 am beauty routine? If the writers could explore some of those complexities with adult Cassie and her self-esteem, it could be powerful.
This will also be a way to show us what happened with Nate, Cassie, and Maddy without making it a central plot point, like season 2 did. Cassie could talk about it in therapy, for example, in one scene.
There are many other things we want to see in Euphoria season 3, but this is the shortened version. Stay tuned for any more updates on Euphoria season 3.
