We’ve made it to the end of Euphoria season 3, which could very well be the end of the show’s run. The Sam Levinson-created HBO drama began back in 2019, receiving both critical and audience acclaim for its gorgeous cinematography, shocking storylines, and strong acting. But the third season hasn’t been received as well as the last two, with the years between seasons losing the show’s momentum. After a five-year time jump, season 3 sees the key players in totally new places—but still making mistakes.
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON 3 FINALE BELOW.
The main characters are out of high school and in the real world now, and with that has come marriage drama, financial woes, career challenges, and the drug trade. Rue has continued to work for big-time dangerous drug dealers, leading to major consequences. The penultimate episode saw her in a risky position; she’s cooperating with the DEA, and the people she’s been working for are starting to get suspicious.
Alamo’s pills kill rue in the Euphoria season 3 finale
A big question going into the season 3 finale is who would die and who would survive, with many people suspecting Rue might be meeting her fate. Well, we now know that she does die, sadly. After she takes Percocet for an injury, she ends up bringing Alamo’s pill bottle with her, and after an intense drug-induced dream—in which Fezco escapes prison—she overdoses while staying at Ali’s house.
Ali wakes up in the morning to find Rue dead on his couch. It’s suggested that the pills Alamo gave her were actually fentanyl, leading to her fatal overdose. Ali tests the pills before calling Rue’s mom to deliver the devastating news. We then fast forward in time, seeing Ali at a Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting, telling everyone about Rue’s death without mentioning her by name.
Rue’s dream as she passes away is a beautiful sendoff to her character, as tragic as it is. After seeing on the news that Fez has escaped prison, she decides to drive around the city to look for him, telling Ali that she promised she’d help him if he ever got out. She thinks back to a moment between her and Fez in a field, an emotional moment that features the late Angus Cloud. She also sees flashbacks of her sister Gia and of Jules.
Rue then makes it to her childhood home, sneaking in through her bedroom window. She sees her mom at the kitchen table, reading the bible, and when she calls out to her, her mom embraces her. Rue also thinks back to moments with her late dad. It’s as if he welcomes her to the afterlife as she says goodbye to her mother.
The remainder of the episode deals with the aftermath of Rue’s death, which impacts other characters like Jules and Lexi. Though Cassie doesn’t seem fazed (reminding her sister that Rue “was a drug addict”), Lexi understandably has a hard time processing it all. Ali decides to take matters into his own hands and pays Silver Slipper a visit. When confronting G about Rue, Ali is told Rue overdosed on fentanyl. Ali ends up shooting G, and he demands to talk to Alamo.
Rue isn’t the only big death in the season 3 finale
Ali makes it known he’s seeking vengeance for Rue’s death, and he ends up killing Alamo at the club. He later looks for closure by visiting the family in Texas who Rue stayed with at the start of the season, envisioning her with them at the dinner table. It’s a sentimental way to close the chapter on Rue’s storyline, with her final narration ending the episode, saying: “May god bless us all.”
But Alamo and Rue aren’t the only deaths in the episode. Earlier on, the DEA shows up at Laurie’s, and, knowing she’s caught, Laurie hangs herself from the roof.
Although it seems likely that season 3 will be Euphoria’s last, it’s not entirely surprising that Rue would be killed off, considering Zendaya’s packed schedule. Both Zendaya and Jacob Elordi have skyrocketed their careers since the second season was released, and it seemed obvious this season would be their last, whether the show is over or not.
Some of the other big moments of the third season included Nate’s death in episode 7 after he was buried alive and is bitten by a snake. There was also Cassie and Nate’s chaotic wedding and Cassie’s journey to virality through OnlyFans. After their fallout in high school, Cassie and Maddy reunited and began working together. Elsewhere in the season, Rue recruited Faye to work for Laurie with her, and later she began work for a different drug dealer named Alamo Brown.
Alamo, also the owner of a strip club, introduced Rue to a handful of dancers (one of which, Angel, she had a relationship with until she was either killed or trafficked). Maddy, a budding talent agent, later began business with Alamo.
Fans have been complaining that season 3 didn’t have enough Jules, and I definitely agree. She was such an important character in the first two seasons, and Hunter Schafer’s talent was totally underutilized this time around. Most of the characters’ storylines felt very underdeveloped.
All three seasons of Euphoria are streaming on HBO Max.
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