{"id":520079,"date":"2026-06-05T12:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T12:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/520079\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T12:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T12:39:14","slug":"now-that-its-over-was-the-final-season-of-euphoria-worth-the-four-year-wait-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/520079\/","title":{"rendered":"Now that it\u2019s over, was the final season of Euphoria worth the four-year wait? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou know I\u2019m envious of your generation. You guys don\u2019t care as much about the rules,\u201d Cal Jacobs tells us at the end of season two of Euphoria<\/a> \u2013 when the writing still, despite all its faults, had something to contribute to the conversation of a younger generation.<\/p>\n

Although the words may ring true, there is a rule that must be followed: if you make viewers wait four years for only eight episodes they must be of high quality or, at the very least, watchable. <\/p>\n

This rule has been broken in season three<\/a>, and viewers feel a sense of betrayal by creator Sam Levinson\u2019s lack of care when it came to the final season. <\/p>\n

Fans returned to the show for nostalgia and the intoxicating blend of drugs, identity, sex, trauma and a script that felt raw and new with a collection of glitter-streaked, morally ambiguous characters.<\/p>\n

However, they will be left waiting in the recesses of memory where the artificial rain of glitter forever falls if they are searching for the same sense of care in the new season. <\/p>\n

In the show\u2019s final instalment we instead land in the desert with cowboys, gangsters and OnlyFans<\/a>. These are elements that feel less like a story evolution and more like a high-budget excuse for Levinson to put his own fantasies on screen. <\/p>\n

There is a five-year time jump in the new season. Each character has become either too entangled with their actor\u2019s persona or become so separate from the original that it seems as though this show is trying to wrap itself in a new bow while lazily telling you it is the same. What we are left with is a saturated and distorted vision that has plenty of star power, but none of the substance. <\/p>\n

The expectation that viewers would wait this long for such a poor result is already an abuse of creative trust, and if it isn\u2019t worth the wait for us then the same should be said of the tight leash the show placed on its actors. <\/p>\n

Rewrites, scheduling delays and, most importantly, firings \u2013 or, in corporate speak, departures due to \u201ccreative differences\u201d \u2013 plagued the production of the final season. Meanwhile, as the show tugged on the leash of its breakout stars Sydney Sweeney<\/a>, Jacob Elordi<\/a> and Hunter Schafer, they have clearly outgrown the show that was the catalyst to their stardom. Several characters in the new season may be living near Hollywood, but it is clear the actors are the ones truly looking towards it and keen to put this show behind them.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Patrick Freyne: Euphoria is back, and I feel like I need to give my TV a bathOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s final episode provides the season with its most memorable and rare touching moment. We end where we begin, with Rue (Zendaya) narrating. In the first episode, back in season one, Rue says of her birth: \u201cI put up a good fight. But I lost. The first time, but not the last.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the final episode we see this last fight; her death. For the first time we see Rue at peace. Ali (Colman Domingo) claims her as his daughter and for the first time she is found and belongs. A final moment of grace.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Euphoria season 3 review: Zendaya, Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney have outgrown this seriesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

If Levinson thought less about his own desires and more about those of his characters, just think what this show could have truly become and the legacy it might have left.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cYou know I\u2019m envious of your generation. You guys don\u2019t care as much about the rules,\u201d Cal Jacobs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[265],"tags":[18,117,9540,19,17,11490,7083,4657,3970,128,18238],"class_list":["post-520079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-hbo","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jacob-elordi","tag-onlyfans","tag-sky","tag-sydney-sweeney","tag-tv","tag-zendaya"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116697547869297166","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}