April 8, 2026, 5:07 p.m. ET
Good issues come to those that wait. But for critics, the brand new season of “Euphoria” simply wasn’t definitely worth the holdup.
Sam Levinson’s HBO teen drama, which launched present lead Zendaya to superstardom alongside castmates Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi and Hunter Schafer, will return to TV screens on Sunday, April 12, for its much-anticipated third season.
The newest installment of the Emmy-winning series comes after the present reportedly confronted a lot of manufacturing delays, together with the 2023 Hollywood actors and screenwriters strikes. In March 2024, HBO introduced that it was allowing the series’ forged to pursue other acting jobs amid the long wait for Season 3.
Set 5 years after the occasions of Season 2, the brand new season presents a extra grown-up look, depicting its forged of eccentric characters as twentysomethings. Zendaya‘s Rue works as an indentured servant for drug vendor Laurie (Martha Kelly), whereas Cassie (Sweeney) and Nate (Elordi) navigate severe coupledom with their engagement.
“Euphoria” turned a TV darling and pop cultural lightning rod because of its frank tackle adolescent life, together with its graphic portrayals of sexuality and drug use.
“Attention-demanding things that played as extreme and terrifying when they were happening to teenagers simply become ‘things’ when the protagonists are in their 20s,” Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter wrote. “Heightened ideas that played as gloriously melodramatic and precariously edgy expressed through high-schoolers barely count as ‘ideas’ when run through a 20-something prism.”
Here’s what else critics are saying about Season 3 of “Euphoria.”
‘Euphoria’ loses edge in ‘boring’ Season 3, critics say
“Euphoria,” as soon as identified for its heart-pounding drama, appears to have change into one thing of a snoozefest.
With the exception of Rue’s character arc, which features a seek for ethical readability via faith, the present’s plot is now “maddeningly inert,” says Ben Travers of IndieWire.
“While Rue’s position is fixed, season after season, her struggle to break free makes her compelling,” wrote Travers, who gave the brand new season a “C-” ranking.
“Most characters aren’t changing, nor are their motivations to change clear to them or novel to us. The result is a start to the supposedly final season that grows old instead of up, while evoking a once-unthinkable question: How could ‘Euphoria’ become boring?”
Even with the forward-looking time lapse provided by Season 3, BBC News author Caryn James lamented that “Euphoria” now not has its “zeitgeisty edge.”
“‘Euphoria’ has become a series with very little to say, none of it very audacious or compelling,” wrote James, who gave the present a two-star ranking. “It is a strained attempt to make the closed circle of friends it follows, now in their early 20s, somehow the same only different.”
Sydney Sweeney‘s sex-work storyline panned for ‘lazy shocks’
Cassie’s titillating new gig leaves a lot to be desired.
Some critics panned the skilled pursuits of Sweeney’s character, who works as an grownup content material creator in Season 3. Belen Edwards of Mashable known as the depiction of Sweeney’s occupation, which incorporates backlash from Cassie’s family members, an “over-sexualized humiliation gauntlet.”
“‘Euphoria’ doesn’t interrogate these biases or examine the intricacies of sex work further,” Edwards wrote. “Instead, it’s happy to keep the shame coming, using Cassie’s aspirations as a springboard from which it can launch suggestive images designed to stir up the most controversy.”
“While I clearly feel some of that outrage the show is gunning for,” Edwards added, “what I feel more is exasperation. Exasperation that a show with such incredible potential and such undeniable talent in front of and behind the camera, keeps opting for lazy shocks.”
New York Post TV reporter Lauren Sarner, who dubbed the brand new season an “unhinged disaster,” echoed the sentiment, writing, “If there’s a loftier point to be made beyond the camera ogling [Cassie], it’s nowhere to be seen.”
Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney earn reward for Season 3 efficiency
Despite critics’ disdain for the Season 3 storylines, Zendaya earned reward for her efficiency and command of the season, with The Hollywood Reporter’s Fienberg calling her a “marvel.”
“After all this time, I’m still not convinced that Rue is a good or interesting character — Levinson leans so heavily into self-destructive tropes for the character that any native personality beyond ‘addict’ gets lost — but watching that light go on and off in Zendaya’s eyes is always impressive.”
Zendaya’s costar Sweeney was additionally lauded for her renewed portrayal of Cassie, whose hypersexual femininity made “The Housemaid” actress a breakout star.
“Even if her character may not make much sense anymore … Sweeney gets a lot to work with, like a long-awaited confrontation with her former best friend Maddy (Alexa Demie), and rises to the occasion,” Variety‘s Alison Herman wrote. “‘Euphoria’ seems to unlock something in Sweeney, just as the tomboyish, deadpan-but-sensitive Rue remains one of Zendaya’s signature roles.”
Contributing: Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY
