Season 3 of Euphoria disappoints and accumulates bad reviews

If Zendaya is still unanimous, Sam Levinson’s series fails to regain its coherence and the power that made its identity. American criticism is not kind. Press review.

It’s a cold shower for Rue!

Early reviews for Euphoria season 3 aren’t good. Expected for years, this last chapter clearly does not meet the expectations of the American press and on Rotten Tomatoes, the new burst of episodes has a very low score: below 50%! A violent drop for Sam Levinson’s series, whose season 1 peaked at 80%, and season 2 at 78%. It’s even a first for Zendaya in a while: we have to go back to 2021 and Space Jam: A New Legacy (rated 25%) to find a project so poorly received critically.

The problem ? The series seems to have lost its direction. By leaving the high school setting, Euphoria loses its way, and many point to a story that has become hollow, even disembodied. If the performances – particularly that of Zendaya – remain praised, the series today appears too busy, too scattered, incapable of rediscovering the raw force of its beginnings. The observation is generally the same everywhere.

The Hollywood Reporter sums up the unease: “Zendaya still shines, but has the Sam Levinson drama lost all relevance?”

For Variety, the series now resembles “entertaining but disjointed fan fiction”. The medium even evokes a work which no longer really knows what it has become along the way.

Same disillusionment on the part of New York Magazine, which describes episodes as “excessively languid”, weighed down by “Rue’s overly explanatory narration and a dramatic tension which is never really resolved.”

IndieWire is even more blunt: “Sam Levinson’s HBO drama has gotten old…and it’s gotten boring.” And added: “The series has always flirted with nihilism, but it has never seemed so spiritually hollow, or so unambitious.”

Same story with Screen Rant, who believes that without the high school setting, there isn’t much left: “Ultimately there are only the characters left to cling to… and we have the impression that Levinson perhaps never really mastered them.”

For TV Guide, only one constant still stands: Zendaya. “Euphoria is at its best when it remembers that Zendaya is its epicenter,” writes the specialized media, while judging that this is no longer enough: “As talented as she is, she is not enough to save the series from the fate that awaits false provocateurs: lack of accuracy.”

The most violent criticism comes from the English of The Daily Telegraph who asserts: “Euphoria may still have the polish, the budget and the casting of prestige TV, but that is no longer enough to mask what looks more and more like the misogynistic fantasies of an old director.”

Season 3 of Euphoria will be available to watch in France on HBO Max from Monday April 13, 2026.