The 5 Most Shocking Moments from the Euphoria Finale And watch out for spoilers

If you haven't watched the last episode of Euphoria, which is also the series finale, stop reading beyond this point because there will be spoilers for all the characters. That said, for the conclusion of its long and strange story, Sam Levinson managed to do what few of us were sure he would: create a finale that not only brought (almost) all the various characters' stories to completion, but did so in a way consistent with the aesthetic shift of the show's final season.

Indeed, leaving behind the adolescent world and the saturated high-school atmospheres of the first two seasons to conclude the story with a third that shifted the teenage drama toward decidedly more crime and noir territories. Between loan sharks, drug and human trafficking, drug transport across the border, and dubious mixtures between show business and prostitution, Euphoria stopped telling the life struggles of teenagers to project its characters into an infinitely more dangerous world.

Yesterday's concluding episode was, in fact, the most tragic of all. And these are the five most devastating details that, if you haven't seen it, we invite you not to spoil.

1. Rue as Moses

Throughout season 3 Rue has been associated with Moses: there were more indirect references like the song Go Down Moses heard in the credits of one of the last episodes, up to the vision of the burning bush that closes the third-to-last episode. The title of the finale In God We Trust somewhat represents the fulfillment of this arc: just as Ali had reminded her in the penultimate episode, Moses never reached the Promised Land, because he died before. So it was for Rue. Sam Levinson told Variety that he «went back to the Old Testament because that's where we are, as a society». In the finale, Ali, Rue's counselor, returns to the Christian farm from the beginning and sees Rue sitting at the table like in the Last Supper; the message seems to be that death gave the character the peace she never found while alive.

2. The tribute to Angus Cloud

The most devastating moment of the episode is the sequence (it's unclear how much is a dream) in which Rue sees on the news that Fez has escaped from prison. Fez's character thus appears for the last time together with Rue (unused footage from 2022 was used in which Angus Cloud was still alive) even if only in a moment that is the emotional climax of the show. Levinson explained to The Hollywood Reporter that «Angus didn't make it in real life, so at least in the fictional world of Euphoria he is still alive». On social media, the clip of the tribute moment went viral in just a few hours.

3. The western theme

Just like the penultimate episode, with Nate's death, made it clear in retrospect why there was a snake in the foreground on the season poster, the last episode also closed the circle with the western theme of the season. From the desert settings to the many references to western films, through the villain Alamo Brown and his obsession with cowboys born during his childhood seen in one of the best flashbacks of all three seasons, the series finale ended with a duel. After Rue's death, in fact, Ali decides to take matters into his own hands and challenges Alamo to a duel. The outcome of this scene will lead to the conclusion of the entire series.

4. Cassie and the triumph of temptation

As the conclusion of her storyline, Cassie turns the house she lived in with Nate into an OnlyFans content house for creators. She pays off her dead husband's debts with the money earned from her career, creating a symbolic short circuit with the beginning of the season: the same dynamic of economic dependence that had trapped her now becomes her “emergency exit”. In the diner scene, when Maddy wonders what to do with her future, Cassie sits next to her and tells her «We'll figure it out together». At the end of the story, the two frenemies lay down every weapon and ally forever.

5. The “waste” of Jules and Lexi

Obviously we had already said that the show as a whole is not perfect. The stories of Nate, Jules and Lexi confirm it. Nate spent the season as a prisoner and then simply died in the penultimate episode. At least he had something to do. For Jules and Lexi the finale was in fact disappointing. Jules didn't even have a line of dialogue, we saw her painting in tears a portrait of Rue (presumably after learning of her death) but her situation hasn't changed, she remained the kept woman of the plastic surgeon. As for Lexi, the fact that she starts reading Rue's Bible indicates a kind of spiritual enlightenment that however doesn't make much sense. But we can say that we weren't really that interested in her character anyway.