'Euphoria' Says Goodbye: Did the Finale Redeem a Flawed Final Season or Make Things Worse?
One good episode can't fix a bad season, but the finale of Euphoria almost did.
The final episode of Euphoria aired on HBO on May 31st, and it felt like Sam Levinson's attempt to justify the disappointing third season overall – surprisingly, it was convincing.
Many of the third season's weaknesses – the exploitation of female characters, the provocative yet shallow aesthetic, and the emptiness beneath the pretty images – were offset by a strong, albeit rushed, finale.
Levinson finally delves into the depths, formulating a bittersweet moral for each story.
The Final Episode of 'Euphoria' Is a Heartbreaking Confession
The final episode focuses heavily on Rue's loneliness, emotional torment, and loss. She is completely broken and has lost her last chance to find her way out of the darkness.
Despite Zendaya's desire to give her character a happy ending, Levinson delivers the opposite with brutal honesty, imbuing Rue with a personal story of struggle with drugs.
The conclusion of Rue's story is the most compelling part of the third season. Her mentor, Ali, guides her through the valleys of grief. His painful monologue reveals the showrunner's sincerity and compassion for the first time this season.
Levinson explained his reasoning: when saying goodbye to Rue, he primarily thought of those who die from overdoses and their families, who are left to live with guilt. He wanted to give viewers a cautionary tale about the pain experienced by families of addicts.
In the Finale, Sam Levinson Stages a Battle Between Angels and Demons
In the finale, Levinson creates unprecedented tension. He disposes of Laurie and her accomplices by tormenting them with death omens, stops playing strip games with Cassie and finally notices glimmers of maturity and longing for a lost future on her face.
Throughout the season, Levinson pits religion against a backdrop of naked bodies and life's abominations, only to reveal the final battle between angels and demons.
The climax at the Alamo strip club epically summarizes the unattainable American Dream, which none of the characters achieves.
Sam Levinson Finally Gives Us Honesty Instead of Catharsis
As the showrunner wraps up Euphoria, he lifts the curtain on the amateurish aesthetics of the third season, revealing what was sorely missing: a mournful tone, emotional depth, and honesty in his treatment of the characters, if not justice.
No longer disdaining direct expression of meaning, Levinson has embraced thoughtful dramaturgy, immersing viewers in a haze of emotion and guiding the narrative toward devastating farewells.
Scrolling through the Bible, the screenwriter finds not answers in Scripture, but rather a questionable justification for his artistic decisions – The Old Testament abounds with violence, and it is through physical trials that the path to victory of the spirit over the flesh is forged.
This is what Levinson has been trying to prove all season: tormenting characters for their final purification and seducing viewers with beautiful yet empty forms.
The cathartic finale, Rue's tragic release, and the clear conclusion of the storylines do not negate the criticisms of the season, but they prove the main point: for seven years, Euphoria served as a screen for viewers to project their deep traumas onto, revealing the abyss of reality and its dark sides.
