THIS ARTICLE CONTANIS SPOILERS
Although we all could’ve seen the writing on the wall with Euphoria, HBO has confirmed the show is officially over, not returning for a fourth season.
Sam Levinson made the announcement Sunday night on the New York Times’ music podcast Popcast, hours after the Season 3 finale aired on HBO. The network confirmed the news shortly after. Seven years, three seasons, 24 episodes, and two pandemic-era specials: that’s the full run of one of television’s most talked-about dramas.
The finale, titled “In God We Trust,” turned out to be the series finale, though HBO never labeled it as such heading into the night. By the time the credits rolled, it was clear there was nowhere left to go. Zendaya’s Rue Bennett died of a fentanyl overdose, a death that mirrored how cast member Angus Cloud passed away in real life in 2023. Levinson told the Times it was his way of honoring Cloud. “It was a way of honoring Angus and saying a prayer for the future,” he said. The penultimate episode had already killed off Jacob Elordi’s Nate Jacobs, making the finale a brutal one-two punch for fans.
On why the story felt complete, Levinson was direct: “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.”
The ending didn’t catch many off guard. Zendaya had essentially said as much in an April interview with Drew Barrymore, telling her “I think so, yeah” when asked if Season 3 was the last. “That closure is coming,” she added. HBO declined to comment on her remarks at the time, but the writing was on the wall. There had been a four-year gap between Seasons 2 and 3, production faced repeated delays, and the cast had transformed into some of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the interim, making the logistics of a fourth season increasingly complicated.
Levinson himself had said earlier this year that he had “no plans” for Season 4, telling Variety at the April premiere that he was singularly focused on sticking the landing. “I want to finish this as strong as I can,” he said. “I just want to deliver a f—ing slam dunk season.” He had also noted he writes “every season like it’s the last,” a philosophy co-star Colman Domingo echoed. “If it’s the end, I know that I gave it my all,” Domingo told The Hollywood Reporter.
Season 3 took the show in a new direction, jumping five years forward to find the characters navigating young adulthood, including drug dealing, sex work, marriage, Hollywood, faith, and sobriety. Rue’s entanglement in the criminal underworld and her fraught spiritual journey anchored the season, while Cassie and Nate settled into suburban life, Maddy chased a career in the industry, and Jules wrestled with anxiety and her future in art school. Levinson told the American Cinematheque earlier this month that it was “hands down our best season.”
The show’s road to completion was far from smooth. Beyond the years-long gap between seasons, production was rocked by the deaths of both Cloud and series producer Kevin Turen in 2023, the Hollywood strikes, and the challenge of scheduling a cast that had become in-demand movie stars. HBO programming executive Francesca Orsi acknowledged the difficulty but said enthusiasm returned once Levinson laid out his vision. “When Sam began sharing how much more expansive the world of the show would feel this season, there was genuine excitement about returning,” she said.
Euphoria leaves behind a significant legacy. The show put Zendaya in a category of her own, as she won Emmys for her performance in each of the first two seasons and is considered a strong contender again this year. It also launched or accelerated the careers of Elordi, Sweeney, Alexa Demie, and Hunter Schafer, among others. Its visual style, soundtrack choices, and unflinching portrayal of teenage addiction left a mark on prestige television that will be hard to replicate.
There had been a brief flicker of hope for more. In January, HBO chief Casey Bloys told Deadline that he and Levinson would have a conversation about what comes next once Season 3 wrapped. That conversation, it seems, reached its conclusion Sunday night.
The series is done. Rue is gone. And for a show that always felt like it was living on borrowed time, maybe that’s exactly how it was supposed to end.