Euphoria is back after a four-year wait, and if early critical consensus is anything to go by, the return is not quite the triumphant finale fans had been hoping for.
Euphoria Season 3 lands a 57% on Rotten Tomatoes as critics say the five-year time jump has stripped the show of its identity
The season premieres April 12 on HBO but critics who were granted advance access to the first three episodes have already weighed in, and the general mood is one of disappointment rather than celebration.
As of writing, the season sits at a 57% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the lowest-rated entry in the show’s run and landing it squarely in “Rotten” territory for the first time in the franchise’s history.
The central complaint across reviews is remarkably consistent. Moving the characters five years past East Highland High School and into their early twenties has robbed the show of the very thing that made it feel urgent.
Collider’s Taylor Gates put it plainly, writing that the time jump “inherently strips it of its central thesis,” making it difficult to understand why the season exists at all.
IndieWire’s Ben Travers went further, calling the season “spiritually hollow” and noting that Levinson’s series “was never this spiritually hollow, and it was always more active, insistent, and ambitious.”
The Wrap’s review observed that the show “doubles down on the admittedly stylish but relentlessly bleak existence” the characters carried out of high school, while RogerEbert.com’s Brian Tallerico wrote that the season “feels more uncertain of what it’s doing or saying than ever before.”
Where almost every critic does agree, however, is on Zendaya. Her performance as Rue, now navigating addiction as a drug mule for Laurie south of the Mexican border, is being called the best of her career by more than one publication.
AwardsWatch called it one of the finest performances currently on television. RogerEbert.com described it as “another truly great turn, the best thing about the season, and again, the best of Zendaya’s career.”
That the surrounding show cannot match what she is bringing to it is the season’s most recurring and frustrating theme.
Sydney Sweeney also draws praise, with Slant’s Sal Cinquemani writing that she imbues Cassie with “a mix of glassy-eyed self-importance and pitiable self-doubt,” though critics note her arc trends repetitive. Jacob Elordi’s Nate is, by most accounts, exactly who he has always been.
The season carries real emotional weight off-screen, too. Sam Levinson dedicated it at the premiere to Angus Cloud, who died in 2023, and to Eric Dane, who completed his scenes as Cal Jacobs before passing away on February 19, 2026, following his ALS diagnosis. Both losses cast a shadow over what is expected to be the show’s final chapter.
Euphoria Season 3 runs for eight weekly episodes, with the finale set for May 31, 2026.
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