Euphoria: the end of the series explained

What’s happening to Rue, what’s happening to Ali, what’s happening to Cassie… Sam Levinson and the cast break down the latest episode of Euphoria.

After seven years, three seasons and 26 episodes, Euphoria is officially coming to an end. Sam Levinson, creator, writer and director of the HBO series, confirmed the news in the New York Times Popcast podcast, before HBO validated the information with Variety.

The last episode of season 3, available in France on HBO Max, and entitled In God We Trust, is therefore indeed the grand finale of the series.

Warning spoilers for the end of Euphoria!

A conclusion which does not totally surprise, especially after the disappearance of Rue, played by Zendaya, killed in the middle of this very last episode, after having succumbed to an overdose of Fentanyl.

For Sam Levinson, this conclusion was obvious, to stay as close as possible to a certain truth. He confides in the making-of video posted online by HBO following the broadcast:

“I wanted to tell an honest story about addiction. And for me, Rue’s death was the most honest ending. Because the sad truth for people like Rue is that they don’t make it.”

When Ali discovers Rue’s body, there is no spectacular start or melodramatic collapse. Just a cold, lucid, almost silent shock.

In Variety, Colman Domingo describes this scene:

“I’m usually a very emotional person. Ali is more sober, more pragmatic in the face of death. It’s as if he understood in one look. He analyzed the situation very quickly. It’s an immense loss, but he remains in the action: understanding what happened, who is responsible, and why.”

Ali ends up avenging Rue and killing Alamo – who had supplied the deadly pills – in the final moments. Leaving the club, without ammunition to defend himself, he advances towards his destiny. He accomplished his mission:

“He’s not really dead, but something inside him has died down. He feels like he’s destroyed part of the system. And that frees him. But he doesn’t yet know what world he’s going to enter into. In fact, we can also imagine that Ali died the day Rue died, and that’s all from her perspective. A sort of Rue’s dream, where Ali avenges her. He finds her in a form of paradise. It’s a very surreal world.”

And what happens to Cassie in all this?

She ultimately survives. After Nate Jacobs died in the penultimate episode after being bitten by a snake, Cassie lives alone in the family mansion, drowning in debt, trying to survive as best she can. She ends up allying herself with Maddy Perez. Together, they imagine launching an activity on OnlyFans and renting rooms in Cassie and Nate’s house to other content creators. An extreme idea, at the height of their despair. Cassie even proposed the project to her sister Lexi, who refused to join in. For Sam Levinson, their relationship remains the emotional heart of the series:

“It’s the central love story of the show in a way. They’ve been through so much together. All they have left is the two of them…and a mountain of debt!”

For her part, Sydney Sweeney said goodbye to the series on Instagram, sharing several photos from set. She accompanies her publication with three simple words, which sum up her Euphoria experience: “It’s called… playing.”