‘Euphoria’ Series Finale Review: Well, That Was Weird

InnovationGaming‘Euphoria’ Series Finale Review: Well, That Was WeirdByPaul Tassi,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.Follow AuthorJun 01, 2026, 10:18am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.EuphoriaHBOFor some baffling reason, HBO and Sam Levinson refused to actually confirm that what we saw last night, the season 3 finale of Euphoria, was in fact the series finale, which became fairly obvious given the events in question. Now that it’s over, I think we can collectively look at the season and go, “What was that?”That was never more true than in last night’s Euphoria finale, which was almost 100% devoted to just Rue and eventually, Ali, previously a third-tier side character but ultimately made the most important person in the finale. Mercifully, Ali is played by multi-Oscar nominee Colman Domingo, and if there was a saving grace last night, it was him.But to what extent the show ignored essentially all of its other characters was rather terrible, especially given that, at 90 minutes, it tied maybe one other series in HBO history for the longest finale ever.Cassie, despite being a huge focus of this season with Sydney Sweeney probably giving its best performance, had about three minutes of screen time, her story effectively ending last week after Nate’s death. Her sister, Lexi, had a single mini-monologue about the bible. Maddy’s story ended up linked almost exclusively to Alamo and the final showdown, though at least it was more substantive than the others.Easily the worst-handled moment, and really the worst-handled character in the entire show, was Jules. She almost never left a single room this season, outside of a bizarre detour where she inexplicably painted a pornographic painting for a TV show. Here, in the grand finale of a series she practically co-le...