Euphoria Season 3 Premiere: Fezco's Fate Explained After Angus Cloud's Death
Stop reading now if you haven't watched "Ándale," the season 3 premiere of "Euphoria." Spoilers ahead!
Sam Levinson's doggedly "transgressive" HBO series "Euphoria" depicts some pretty dark stuff, but it's also been hit with some very real tragedies, including the death of one of its young stars, Angus Cloud. So how did the season 3 premiere of the show, titled "Ándale," handle Cloud's passing as it pertains to his character, Fezco O'Neill?
Honestly, the answer is pretty surprising, but here's how it all shakes out. We learn, in the first few minutes of the premiere, that Zendaya's protagonist Rue Bennett is working as a drug mule for Laurie (Martha Kelly), a dangerous drug dealer that Rue inadvertently crossed during season 2. Between trips across the Mexican border, Rue visits friends like Lexi Howard (Maude Apatow) and crashes on couches. During a scene between Lexi and Rue in "Ándale," we definitively learn what happened to Fezco.
Fans of "Euphoria" know that, in season 2, a romance started brewing between Lexi and Fezco. In their season 3 conversation, Rue tells Lexi she should call Fezco, who misses her. Lexi demurs, and we learn that she's been avoiding his calls ... from prison. That's right: canonically, Fezco is serving a 30-year stint in prison.
Cloud's presence on "Euphoria" was always welcome, and I honestly missed it during the premiere. I was also admittedly a little confused by the choice to keep his character alive but firmly offscreen — if "Euphoria" even continues into a fourth season, I doubt we'll get a time jump big enough to see him released from prison — but with that said, I don't know if there was a "good" way to write Fezco off.
Angus Cloud's Fezco was an unforgettable presence on Euphoria throughout its first two seasons
There's no "good" way, especially on a show that can feel as heightened as "Euphoria" (and, more to the point, a show that handles "tough" topics in such a blunt way), to write off a character after the actor dies in real life. It's particularly fraught for two reasons. One, Angus Cloud was only 25 years old when he passed away in 2023, making the entire situation unbelievably tragic. Two, Cloud — who played a drug dealer on "Euphoria" — struggled with addiction in his personal life and passed away due to a lethal overdose.
"Euphoria" is, in my opinion, a show that desperately wants to say a lot and often ends up saying very little. That was never true, though, when Cloud was on-screen as Fezco. Yes, Sam Levinson wrote him a stereotypical "drug dealer" character, but Cloud's sensitivity and thoughtful nature as an actor elevated the character. Pairing him with Lexi, the show's only main character who doesn't consume illicit substances or really get into very much trouble at all, was a rare stroke of genius on Levinson's part. As he got closer to Lexi, we saw Fezco's softer side emerge — something we also saw in his dealings with Rue, who bought wares from him but whom he also saw as a sort of sister figure. I think the show is sorely missing Cloud's performance in season 3, but at least the show confirmed his character's fate.
"Euphoria" airs new episodes on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. EST.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).