Ashtray killed, Fezco shot. Rue (hopefully) sober, ended relationship with Jules. Cassie’s memorable outburst and Maddy chasing her, a silent moment in the bathroom. Nate gives his father to the police, still with Cassie. Four years ago, in winter of 2022, we saw all of these moments from HBO’s Euphoria. Now, in just a few weeks, we will be rekindled with all of these characters once again, but in a completely different context–both onscreen and in the real-world.
In the series, we left off with all of the main characters still in high school. The new season, set to air on HBO on April 12, 2026 with eight episodes. This season is a five-year time jump, meaning we are no longer seeing the characters in high school and actively dealing with the events we have seen, but we will be seeing the aftermath and what happened to our crazy, unhinged favorite characters. A time jump allows the audience to see how early trauma and the extensive teenage drama affected each of the characters and their early adulthoods. Production also chose to incorporate a time jump due to the extended length of time between the last season and the newest, as strikes and writing made the gap longer than usual. Rather than having full-grown adults pretend to be teenagers, again, production took the opportunity to show us a whole new side of Euphoria.
Like we always have with this chaotic series, we were only given one short trailer to see what is in store for us this season. However, the trailer gave us a pretty good glimpse at what everyone’s been up to. Rue is still in trouble with the drug trafficker, Laurie–that damn suitcase. It also seems that Rue has taken the time to explore faith and religion, and working to maintain her sobriety. Nate and Cassie are still together somehow, getting married actually, with Nate working in construction, and Cassie as an OnlyFans model, despite Nate not particularly supporting her online income. Jules seems to be succeeding, either in art school or pursuing a career with art, all the while contributing to the high-end sugar babying industry. Lexi is still in the picture, along with Maddy, but we can’t be too sure what exactly they have been up to.
While their characters have all been busy moving on from the most chaotic high school of all time, the actors and actresses have experienced craziness and grief within their own worlds. Barbie Ferreira, who portrayed Kat, has chosen not to return for the show’s third season, as she disagreed with how the producers wanted to develop the character. There have also been two devastating deaths of actors of the show, Angus Cloud, who portrayed Fezco, and Eric Dance, who portrayed Cal Jacobs. Angus Cloud tragically passed away before production began on season three, and producers most likely had to write-out his part in the season. Eric Dane was able to film his part for season three before his devastating death this year, and while suffering from ALS. Both of these individuals are beyond loved by not only fans of Euphoria, but by the entire world that was lucky enough to witness the immense talent they both possessed.
This season is most likely going to be much different than what the audience is used to, but we will be able to see the characters develop after what they have all been through. Good or bad, tragic or not, each of them have seen the highest of highs (mainly drug-induced) and the lowest of lows. In just a few weeks, we will all feel euphoric again–or sad, or angry, or everything in between, this show makes us feel as crazy as all the characters are.
