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After a four-plus-year absence, Euphoria<\/em> made its much-anticipated return to HBO April 12 for a third and likely final season of watching Zendaya\u2019s Rue Bennett make horrifying decisions. Reviews haven\u2019t exactly been warm and fuzzy for the nine-time Emmy winning drama. Though creator Sam Levinson managed to lure back most of his mega-wattage cast that includes Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney, Colman Domingo and Hunter Schafer, critics have been mostly frustrated with the series\u2019 inability to share anything entertaining or insightful. In other words, it may have lost that buzzy feeling.<\/p>\n Once considered a revelation for its raw depiction of teenage sexuality and drug use, the latest iteration asks us to vibe with Rue as she returns from an off-the-grid odyssey in Mexico to finally pay the piper. She\u2019s still on the hook for $100,000 to Martha Kelly\u2019s Laurie, the lethargic drug dealer from season 2, so she tries to reduce the debt by working as an Uber driver and smuggling narcotics across the border. \u00a0Spoiler alert: it involves swallowing golf ball-sized bags of fentanyl and discharging them later in Laurie\u2019s bathtub. Hashtag gross<\/em>.<\/p>\n More from Gold Derby<\/strong><\/p>\n Now sober but not opposed to the casual cocktail or joint, Rue thinks divine intervention has led her to Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje\u2019s Alamo, a cowboy hat-wearing strip club owner who shoots an apple off Rue\u2019s head with a gold-plated revolver when he doubts her motive for delivering what ends up being some deadly drugs. She survives the bizarre, western-themed stunt, still seeming to want to find new employment with Alamo.<\/p>\n In the meantime, we catchup with her former classmates. Lexi (a prim Maude Apatow) works as a glorified assistant for a nighttime soap producer played by Sharon Stone \u2013 one of several high-profile celebs that include Rosal\u00eda, Natasha Lyonne, Kadeem Hardison, Super Bowl champ Marshawn Lynch and Trisha Paytas who are joining this season. Domingo is back, too, as Rue\u2019s ever-patient sponsor Ali, though he\u2019s skeptical about her quest to find God.<\/p>\n Lexi is not the only one trying to make it in La-La Land. Now freed from her toxic relationship with Elordi\u2019s Nate, Maddy (Alexa Demie) toils as a Hollywood manager representing influencers and \u201cheartthrobs of L.A. nights\u201d while her ex prepares to marry (seriously<\/em>?) Sweeney\u2019s Cassie. His dream is to build a coastal retirement facility for aging boomers (6,000 of whom die off each day, he says) while Cassie\u2019s wish is to fund their nuptial\u2019s $50,000 flower bill by creating \u201cpretty\u201d pictures for All Fans. Nate\u2019s not happy about her flirting with porn, but he resigns himself to Cassie\u2019s entrepreneurial spirit.<\/p>\n Sadly, the third season will be missing a few familiar faces. Barbie Ferreira, who played the adventuresome Kat in the first two seasons, announced via Instagram that she won\u2019t be donning her signature feline mask. \u201cAfter four years of getting to embody the most special and enigmatic character Kat, I\u2019m having to say a very teary-eyed goodbye,\u201d wrote Ferreira.<\/em>\u00a0\u201cI hope many of you could see yourself in her like I did and that she brought you joy to see her journey into the character she is today. I put all my care and love into her and I hope you guys could feel it. Love you, Katherine Hernandez.\u201d<\/p>\n Also missing is Rue\u2019s sister Gia (Storm Reid), Kat\u2019s former boyfriend Ethan (Austin Abrams), and the soulful Fezco, masterfully played by the 25-year-old Angus Cloud who died of an accidental overdose in 2023. At the drama\u2019s Los Angeles premiere, however, Levinson promised that Fez\u2019s presence will be felt in the new episodes.<\/p>\n \u201cI think when he passed away, it made me sort of step back and go, what is the story I want to tell, what is it I want to say? What matters in life?\u201d he told\u00a0The Hollywood Reporter<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI couldn\u2019t keep him alive in real life but I could keep his character alive in the show. I kept him alive and the character has got a great arc. I think he\u2019d be very proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n The late Eric Dane, however, will appear as Cal Jacobs in the final season. Levinson said Dane \u201cshowed up every day with such grace and dignity,\u201d despite his fatal diagnosis of ALS. The actor died in February at the age of 53.<\/p>\n \u201cEric called me before we started shooting and told me that he had been diagnosed with ALS,\u201d the showrunner recalled to Extra earlier this month. \u201cWe had a lot of conversations about just life and what that meant. I loved him very deeply, and I said, \u2018Eric, whatever shape you show up in, we\u2019re gonna make it work. I have faith that it\u2019s all gonna work. He showed up and I could tell he had a slight slur in his voice and he told me that. I said, \u2018Don\u2019t worry. We\u2019ll just put, like, five beer bottles in front of you and you\u2019ve been drinking all night.\u2019 He was like, \u2018Perfect, perfect.\u2019 And his character, it was such a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n At the L.A. premiere, Levinson told the crowd he is dedicating the season to \u201cthose who we lost\u201d (including producer Kevin Turen, who died in 2023) and said he hopes the next eight episodes will offer \u201cthe meaning beyond the absurdity.\u201d<\/p>\n Kookiness is fine as long as it\u2019s not a big yawn. <\/p>\n Best of Gold Derby<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Gold Derby’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n