Season 3 of the show Euphoria has given the main cast a lot of criticism for their writing and the lack of substance to their characters.
Euphoria ’s main cast has been massively let down by the writing in season 3 . Creator Sam Levinson has shifted the focus to a bunch of new characters in a Breaking Bad-style criminal underworld, and even when he does turn the spotlight back on his main characters, they’re being insanely underserved.
Euphoria’s cast is an all-star line-up of some of the greatest actors in Hollywood, but season 3 has given them very little to work with. Jacob Elordi had to play Nate Jacobs as a shadow of his former self .
Hunter Schafer is still bringing her all to the role of Jules, but she’s been relegated to a background part, and when she does get the spotlight, she’s forced to play unrealistic mood swings and paper-thin character development. Even the greatest actor in the world can only elevate C-grade material to a C+ at best.
So, it’s all the more impressive that, despite Levinson’s writing, actors like Zendaya and Colman Domingo and Sydney Sweeney have still managed to shine. 10 Chloe Cherry As Faye Chloe Cherry started her career in the adult film industry, but she’s proven to be a pretty great legitimate actor since making her debut on Euphoria as Faye. Throughout season 3, Levinson has been determined to make Faye do the grossest things possible, from swallowing lubed-up heroin balloons to sharting down her leg to having sex with a Nazi.
But, no matter what scenario the show puts her in, Cherry brings her all to every scene. She has a mismatched yin-and-yang dynamic with Zendaya that’s always fun to watch. 9 Marshawn Lynch As G Since he retired from the NFL for the third and final time, Marshawn Lynch has carved out a really interesting acting career as the scene-stealing comic relief.
He stole every scene in Bottoms with his hilarious one-liners, and he does the same thing in Euphoria season 3. As a member of Alamo’s entourage, Lynch brings some much-needed laughs to those long, drawn-out Alamo scenes. In every episode, he always has two or three memorable lines, delivered perfectly. 8 Martha Kelly As Laurie The character of Laurie might’ve gotten a little oversaturated in season 3.
What made her so terrifying in season 2 was that we only saw brief glimpses of her life and her business, and the glimpses we saw were horrifying enough for our imagination to do the rest. But in season 3, Rue is in business with Laurie, and she sees her all the time. Still, Martha Kelly’s performance is something to behold. She plays this ruthless drug lord like a suburban soccer mom, and it’s fascinating to watch.
Her monotonous line deliveries are as chilling as ever. 7 Darrell Britt-Gibson As Bishop Darrell Britt-Gibson is giving a performance so great, it’s worthy of a much better show. Bishop is a pure pulp fiction archetype, taken from the kind of gritty crime thriller that Euphoria season 3 clearly wants to be. He’s sort of a jack of all trades in the criminal underworld, like Mike Ehrmantraut.
If you need a fixer or a hitman or a crime scene cleaner, he’s your guy. Bishop has quietly emerged as one of Euphoria season 3’s most compelling characters, even if he’s often overshadowed by Alamo.
Britt-Gibson made a great choice with this role; he’s playing this Jules Winnfield-esque ice-cool gangster with a really subtle, understated approach. 6 Colman Domingo As Ali As we’ve seen over the past few years, Colman Domingo is one of the most dependable actors in Hollywood. He was nominated for Best Actor twice back-to-back, and even when something he’s in isn’t particularly great, like The Running Man or Wicked: For Good, you can be sure Domingo will be one of the best and most memorable things about it.
That’s certainly been the case with Euphoria season 3. Euphoria hasn’t always felt like Euphoria this season, but whenever Domingo and Zendaya shared the screen, that indescribable magic from seasons 1 and 2 came rushing back.
Domingo continues to bring a wonderfully zen energy to Rue’s long-suffering sponsor Ali, and he’s gotten the chance to dig into the character’s dark backstory this season. 5 Sydney Sweeney As Cassie Jacobs In season 1 and, to a lesser extent, season 2, Cassie was written as a human being who’d been traumatized by years of being objectified. But in season 3, Cassie just seems to keep getting objectified.
As a result, the character has become one-note and one-dimensional. But in spite of that, Sydney Sweeney is still as brilliant and watchable as ever. Her portrayal of Cassie has gotten a little cartoonish, like when she sobbed about her relatively minor nosebleed while her husband was being ruthlessly beaten and maimed behind her, but it’s still fun to watch. Sweeney nails the delusional delivery of every line, like “I’m gonna be a household name!
” 4 Alexa Demie As Maddy Perez While her castmates have gone on to become Oscar nominees and Marvel superheroes, Alexa Demie’s career hasn’t taken off in the same way. Her star hasn’t risen the way Zendaya’s and Elordi’s and Sweeney’s have. But season 3 is yet another reminder that she’s just as great as her co-stars, and deserves a spot next to them on the new A-list.
Maddy is one of the few characters who have been acting like themselves this season; she’s every bit the cold badass who called Nate’s mom the C-word and knocked over Cal’s chili and had public sex to make her boyfriend jealous. Demie recaptures that cold badassery when she threatens Lexi, and when she tricks Cassie into signing a draconian contract. But Demie has also brought real vulnerability to Maddy in season 3.
That hot tub scene with Alamo was really uncomfortable to watch, because Demie conveyed that discomfort. 3 Priscilla Delgado As Angel Martinez In the crushingly underwhelming early episodes of Euphoria’s third season, Priscilla Delgado absolutely stole the show as Angel Martinez. Angel was the cautionary tale that showed us just how dangerous Rue’s new boss would be, and Delgado nailed every tragic turn in her short-lived story arc.
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After Tish’s overdose, Angel became the first collateral damage in the ensuing street war between Alamo and Laurie. It was hard to watch, but Delgado’s incredible performance made sure you couldn’t look away. 2 Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje As Alamo Brown The big bad of Euphoria’s third season is Alamo Brown, the crime lord who’s taken Rue under his wing, gotten into a one-sided business partnership with Maddy, and essentially bought Cassie.
The writing for Alamo’s character has been pretty atrocious — his dialogue reads like a teenage edgelord’s attempt to write their own Marsellus Wallace lines — but the performance has been pretty incredible. TV veteran Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, known to Oz fans as Adebisi and to Lost fans as Mr. Eko, is doing some really interesting things with this character.
The dialogue isn’t very intimidating, but Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s magnetic screen presence really sells the hold that Alamo has on everyone around him. 1 Zendaya As Rue Bennett From the very beginning, Zendaya’s captivating lead performance and undeniable star power have elevated Euphoria to prestige television. She carried the show to blockbuster success in its first season, and she remains the best thing about it in its third and probably final season.
Like most of the legacy characters, Rue’s writing has taken a steep downturn this season. Some of her long-standing characteristics have gone out the window, and her remaining traits have been amplified and Flanderized. But Zendaya is still an endlessly compelling lead. Whatever material Levinson throws at her, however thin it is, she does something interesting with it.
I may not love Euphoria as much as I used to, but I still love watching Zendaya play Rue . 23 8.3/10 7/10 Euphoria 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-MA Drama Crime Thriller Release Date 2019 - 2026-00-00 Network HBO Showrunner Sam Levinson Directors Jennifer Morrison, Augustine Frizzell Cast See All Euphoria follows a group of high school students as they navigate complex relationships, exploring themes of love, friendships, and personal struggles in a world influenced by drugs, sex, trauma, and social media. Powered by Expand Collapse
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