It’s been almost four years since the second season of Euphoria made its debut on our screens. Since then, fans have been eagerly awaiting the third and final season of this high-school drama that has captured the hearts of many. Now, after years of waiting, the much-anticipated season is finally here. However, this time around, things are different — the characters we once knew as teenagers are no longer in their teenage years.
In a December 2025 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, show creator Sam Levinson revealed that Euphoria’s third season would feature a five-year time jump. This decision was made to move the story forward and allow the characters to step out of the “safety net of school” and into the real world.
“Many shows have had 30-year-old high school students, but we’re not doing that,” Levinson said. “Five years felt like a natural place [to jump] because if they had gone to college, they’d be out of college by now.”
In May 2025, Sydney Sweeney shared with Empire magazine that the upcoming season will be the most “unhinged” yet. She described the experience of playing Cassie as thrilling, saying that she and Levinson often push each other to take the character even further.
“It’s so much fun to play a character that is as crazy as she is,” Sweeney said. “Sam is such a brilliant filmmaker to work with, because I’ll read something, then I’ll call him, and I’m like, ‘Let’s go crazier.’ And he’s like, ‘I’m all in.’”
“This season is unhinged.”
With the release of the third season, fans are eager to know what critics are saying. While the audience is excited, some critics have not been impressed. According to Judy Berman from Time Magazine, the first three episodes of the new season lack the introspection that one might expect from characters who have spent five years outside of high school. Meanwhile, The Telegraph’s Eleanor Halls called the series a “sex-obsessed fantasy” and criticized the portrayal of female characters as being overly misogynistic.
“Once beloved by Gen Z, Levinson’s ultra-stylised aesthetic now feels tired and dated, while an attempt at Breaking Bad-lite violence borders on parody,” Halls wrote.
“Euphoria may still have the gloss, budget and star power of prestige TV, but it’s no longer enough to disguise what increasingly feels like the misogynistic fantasies of a creepy old man.”
So, what can viewers expect from the plot of Euphoria season three? The setting has shifted away from East Highland High School. Rue (Zendaya) is still struggling with addiction, but her life has taken a darker turn as she travels to Mexico to pay off a debt to her drug dealer Laurie (Martha Kelly).
Meanwhile, Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) and Nate (Jacob Elordi), who were once secret lovers, are now engaged and living a more suburban life. However, according to Levinson, Cassie is still drawn to her former classmates through social media.
“She’s very addicted to social media and envious of what appears to be the big lives that all of her high school classmates are living at this point in time,” he said.
Jules (Hunter Shafer) is studying art in New York and working as a sugar baby on the side. Maddie (Alexa Demi) is now a talent manager in Hollywood, while Lexi (Maude Apatow) works as an assistant to a showrunner.
Fans are also curious about the trailer for Euphoria season three. A trailer has been released, offering a glimpse into the characters’ lives five years later.
The cast for the third season includes most of the original actors, including Zendaya, Alexa Demie, Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer, Jacob Elordi, and Maude Apatow. Additional returning cast members include Eric Dane, Martha Kelly, Chloe Cherry, Colman Domingo, and Dominic Fike. Unfortunately, Angus Cloud, who played Fezco, passed away in July 2023, and Barbie Ferreira will not return as Kat.
New cast members include Sharon Stone, Rosalia, Marshawn Lynch, Kadeem Hardison, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Toby Wallace, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Priscilla Delgado, James Landry Hebert, and Anna Van Patten.
The third season of Euphoria is set to premiere on April 12, 2026. Production began in January 2025, and the release date was delayed due to the 2023 Hollywood strikes, rewrites, and scheduling conflicts.
In Australia, the first and second seasons of Euphoria are available to stream on HBO Max. Initially, they were available on Binge, but HBO launched its own streaming platform in March 2025.
For those who need a refresher, the second season ended with a dramatic finale. After a series of betrayals and emotional moments, Maddy finally confronts Cassie, leading to a powerful showdown. The season also saw the tragic deaths of Fezco and Ashtray, as well as the revelation of Cal’s secrets.
Fans can watch the first and second seasons of Euphoria on HBO Max.
