Warning: Spoilers ahead! If you haven’t watched the eighth episode of “Euphoria” Season 3, proceed with caution.
What started as a series exploring the challenges faced by high school students has transformed into an intense crime saga in its third season, culminating in the shocking demise of Nate Jacobs, played by Jacob Elordi.
The pressing question remains: Did Zendaya’s character, Rue, survive the season?
Midway through the extended 93-minute episode, Rue succumbs to a drug overdose, marking a pivotal and heartbreaking moment.
The devastating scene unfolds when Rue, in a moment of desperation, takes a bottle of pills from her employer, the notorious drug lord Alamo, portrayed by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and tragically overdoses on fentanyl.
Her mentor, Ali (Colman Domingo) finds her dead on his couch.
Before that, Rue goes down memory lane, recalling standing in a field with Fez (Angus Cloud, who tragically died in real life in 2023 of an overdose). Cloud is shown onscreen with Zendaya, in what’s clearly archival footage taken before his death. They stand in a field with their arms around each other.
Rue then has an extended dream sequence where she goes back to her childhood home and visits her mom, Leslie (Nika King) who is reading the Bible.
The camera cuts to a distraught Ali trying to wake Rue up on his couch, and finding her unresponsive.
An unspecified number of months later, Ali to one of his support group meetings, as he talks about right from wrong, and says this will be his last meeting, because he will find another way to be “of service.”
Jules (Hunter Schafer) is shown crying while finishing a painting of Rue. It’s Jules’ only appearance in the episode.
Rue’s friend, Lexi (Maude Apatow) tells Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) that Rue left behind her Bible, and she ended up reading it after Rue’s death. It’s unclear how much time has passed, but it’s been at least a month. Lexi admits that she has “a lot of guilt about how I left things,” with Rue.
She says she learned from the Bible “bad things happen, so why have anxiety about it? No matter what, you have to just keep going.” She adds that she thinks that’s the “point” of it.
Ali later goes on a revenge mission for Rue. He puts on his old military uniform, goes to Alamo’s strip club, and starts shooting. The two men have a stand-off that ends with Ali fatally shooting Alamo.
The episode ends with Ali visiting the “homestead,” the religious family whose lifestyle impressed Rue at the beginning of Season 3. He calls Rue his “daughter” and says he wanted to come, because she remembered it as the most peaceful place they ever visited. The family and Ali say a prayer over Rue, and Zendaya’s voice says, “May God bless us all.”
The show first premiered in 2019, and in the first two seasons, Rue was a teenage drug addict. She overdosed several times, got indebted to shady dealers like Laurie (Martha Kelly), had a toxic romance with Jules, and engaged in a lot of self-destructive behavior.
The role won Zendaya two Emmys, and helped put her on the map.
At the end of the episode, footage is shown of Zendaya giving a speech thanking the crew, saying “many of you have been here since the beginning, and watched me grow up,” and calls it an “honor.”
The “Dune” star, 28, was already famous after a Disney Channel career, but “Euphoria” positioned her for the more adult roles she’s taken on in recent years, like “The Drama.” The show didn’t launch her, but it did heavily contribute to her current superstar status.
Rue never had much in the way of self-preservation instincts, but Season 3 tossed that out the window even further.
In Season 3, after a five-year time jump, Rue was working off her debt to Laurie by trafficking drugs, along with her friend Faye (Chloe Cherry). She got out of it by jumping to work for the strip club kingpin, Alamo – but that didn’t turn out so well for her, either.
Rue initially had fun working for Alamo and his henchmen, which included Bishop (Darrell Britt Gibson) and G (Marshawn Lynch). She managed his strip club, and had a fling with the stripper Angel (Priscilla Delgado).
But, she got caught by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and forced to spy on Alamo and Laurie for them, so that they didn’t throw her in prison.
She also got disillusioned after noticing that strippers didn’t have a good time working in Alamo’s club. In general, Rue spent most of Season 3 in hot water.
After talking it over with her sponsor, Ali (Colman Domingo), Rue turned to the Bible to try to find redemption. At the beginning of Season 3, during her time trafficking drugs, she also got intrigued by the “homestead” that she briefly stayed in. They were a religious family living a simple farm life.
She also unwisely told her friend Lexi (Maude Apatow) about working for the DEA. Lexi told Maddy (Alexa Demie), who spilled the beans to Alamo.
In the end, however, Rue didn’t die from the gang war. She died of an overdose.
Now, at least, Rue’s chaotic story is over, and it has a grim ending.
In March, “The Drama” actress told Variety that filming Season 3 was a “whirlwind,” and said, “I did what I do in eight months in like four months.”
In April, Akinnuoye-Agbaje exclusively told Page Six that Zendaya was “generous” and “very intelligent.”
He praised the actress for not being “precious” with the material.
“She can turn it on and off,” he said. “When we have to chuck mud in her face, she’s saying, ‘Chuck the mud in my face!’ That’s what you want with your scene partner – somebody who is prepared to be committed to the scene.”
Zendaya is already moving on to a big year, as she’s got roles coming up in several blockbusters, including “Dune: Part III” and Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.”
HBO has not officially confirmed whether this episode is the series finale. It’s listed as “season finale.”
In April, Levinson told Variety that he has “no plans” for a Season 4.
Zendaya also said on “The Drew Barrymore Show” that she thinks Season 3 is the end, and that it has “closure.”
