Euphoria Season 4 - Will It Happen?

Stop reading now if you haven't watched the series finale of "Euphoria," titled "In God We Trust." Spoilers ahead.

"Euphoria" Season 3 has ended, after a rather divisive season with some pretty big moments, like a wedding straight out of "Game of Thrones." Now that it's over, the question becomes, what happens next? Where does the story go?

Well, nowhere, it turns out. On the New York Times' Popcast music podcast, "Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson announced that the show has come to an end — despite no one referring to this as the final season or the final episode as a series finale.

"In terms of the story that we set out to tell, which is a story about addiction and its consequences, this feels like the end to me," Levinson said, calling the show's story "a tragic one in the end — but it's also the truth." According to Levinson, "If you are experimenting or taking drugs today, it's very possible it'll kill you." HBO confirmed to the Times that the show is officially over.

The news is not entirely surprising, even if Levinson has spent the last year avoiding saying whether there would be more "Euphoria" after season 3. Zendaya had said in the past that she thought the show was ending with this season, and /Film's Nina Starner made the case early in the season that this very much felt like the end of "Euphoria."

As Levinson explained in the podcast, the fate of Zendaya's Rue was impacted by the tragic passing of star Angus Cloud. The creator confirmed that he "had originally written a different trajectory for the character of Rue" during the writers strike of 2023. Ultimately, he decided that this story of addiction couldn't really end happily.

The Season 3 finale of "Euphoria" sees Zendaya's Rue die from a fentanyl overdose. It's a bleak finale, though not a particularly surprising one.

According to Sam Levinson, the death of Angus Cloud made him want to change Rue's ending. "I had to reconceive the script and I thought, you can't tell a story about addiction today without the very real consequences," the showrunner said. "Most people don't get a second chance. Fentanyl can just take you out in an instant."

As Levinson puts it, the show has always been about "the seduction of drugs, of sex." But for Season 3, he wanted to show that the consequences were less temporary than they were in high school. In /Film's own breakdown of the "Euphoria" finale, Nina Starner wrote that if the episode is trying to say anything, it's "about the concept of destiny." Rue was destined to lose her life to addiction the moment it gripped her following the death of her father.

Losing Zendaya's Rue right after Jacob Elordi's Nate makes sense. They were the show's biggest and most famous names, and it makes sense they'd want to get out of the show as quickly as possible in case it would go on forever now that they have established and very successful careers. But without them, it makes little sense to continue the story either.

In a behind-the-scenes video posted by HBO on YouTube, Zendaya thanked the crew for the years of work on the show. "I'm incredibly grateful for every single one of you, and many of you have been here from the beginning, and watched me grow up. It's been such a pleasure and an honour. Thank you so much."

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).