Euphoria went out with a bang after the season 3 finale killed off an important primary character halfway into the episode.
In the course of the Sunday, May 31, episode of the hit HBO series, Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) killed Rue (Zendaya) after he discovered that she was working undercover to take him down. He gave her pain killers that were laced with fentanyl — and he or she ultimately overdosed halfway into the episode.
Ali (Colman Domingo) found Rue dead on his couch and the remaining of the episode followed his mission to get revenge on Alamo. The ultimate episode of the show was Ali on the farm that Rue hung out at within the season 3 premiere where he said grace on the dinner table in her honor.
While Rue’s death may come as a shock to some, other fans were prepared for Zendaya’s arc to get wrapped up within the presumed series finale. The actress was previously asked by Drew Barrymore in April whether the show was over for good after season 3.
“I believe so, yeah,” she said on Barrymore’s eponymous talk show. “That closure is coming.”
Creator Sam Levinson, meanwhile, was more vague.
“[I write] every season prefer it’s the last season,” he told Variety in April. “[I have] no plans [for season 4].”
He continued: “I would like to complete this as strong as I can. I’m cutting [episodes] 7 and eight still. I’m putting some ending touches. I just need to deliver a f***ing slam dunk season.”
Rue wasn’t the one major casualty within the show’s third season. Jacob Elordi‘s character, Nate, also suffered a grim fate when he was killed in a box in the bottom from a rattlesnake bite.
“That was a cool strategy to go. Nate was someone who has made so many mistakes and made so many dark selections,” Elordi explained in a segment that aired after the May 24 episode. “It’s cool to see all of it come to what it’s come to.”
Elordi recalled having to film in a coffin, adding, “My shoulders were touching the side they usually couldn’t move my arms. Then they might drill the lid on it and it will get dark. It was very nice, actually. It was quite peaceful in there.”
The stunt team, meanwhile, stressed how essential it was to make sure that the actor had oxygen. They praised Elordi for agreeing to spend “minimal time within the coffin.” Levinson, for his part, said he “desired to shoot it with an actual snake” so a rattlesnake and a boa constrictor were each featured on screen.
“Snakes were rattling, which was really alarming when you find yourself locked in a box,” Elordi noted. “That they had a boa constrictor that they put a fake rattler on the tip of it.”
He continued: “He was super cute. He was really cuddly. So he form of just sidled up next to me and it was nice. But he was really sleepy. He was a sleepy snake. I needed to form of nudge him to get him to come back up. And that was it.”
At the tip of the segment, Elordi reflected on his time playing Nate.
“It’s a bittersweet thing,” he said. “This show is a large a part of — not only my profession — but my life. It’s been amazing and I’m so pleased with being a component of this.”
Euphoria is streaming on HBO Max.
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