The Euphoria Creator Explains *This* Death In The Season 3 Finale

Spoiler warning: This post contains spoilers for the finale of Euphoria Season 3.

After three seasons, Euphoria has officially come to an end. In its final season, which wrapped up on May 31, the hit HBO show took a few major casualties — including Nate Jacobs in Episode 7 and Rue Bennett in its finale. Although fans were bracing themselves for Rue’s likely end, it still hit hard to see the show’s main character die of an overdose in the last scenes. But creator Sam Levinson couldn’t see the series concluding any other way.

“The honest ending is that people like Rue don’t make it,” he said in a behind-the-scenes video that aired on HBO Max after the finale credits. Levinson reflected on his personal history with addiction and the loss of Angus Cloud, who died from an accidental overdose. “There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. I wanted to tell the story for Angus and for people who weren’t granted a second chance,” Levinson said. “People relapse and they f*ck up. They’re not ready to get clean. And they weren’t dying like they are now with the influx of fentanyl into this country,” he said. “I could say with absolute certainty that if I was going through what I went through when I was younger now, then I wouldn’t be here either.”

Levinson also credited Zendaya’s acting chops with bringing Rue to life. “Zendaya’s performance has been so wonderful and layered over the course of these seasons. We fell in love with this character — this girl who was flawed and f*cked up but has a good heart,” he added. “It’s a blessing to work with talented people and people that you love.”

“In the end, I wanted to tell an honest story about addiction. I also wanted to tell a story about grief and the emotional turmoil that it can create,” Levinson added.

In a May 24 interview with Esquire, Levinson also explained why Nate died in the show’s penultimate episode. Apparently, it wasn’t a difficult creative decision to make — per Levinson, he “knew from the get-go that Nate was finished this season.”

“There’s this kind of funny thing where I know what the audience wants in terms of justice or karma and with that in mind, I always think, ‘Well, how can I give it to them?’” he said. “How can I give them what they want, but make it so horrific and anxiety-inducing that by the time it happens, the audience isn’t so sure they wanted it?”