Substances. Sex. Secrets. High schoolers doing the most adult things someone could think of. This premise is what gave birth to HBO’s “Euphoria” and what caught the attention of 5.6 million viewers when the show premiered in 2019.

The show’s premiere season won three Primetime Emmy Awards. The second season was released in January 2022 after significant delays due to Covid-19.

Fast forward another four years. After the death of major cast members Eric Dane and Angus Cloud and the attempted cancellation of other cast members, season three has finally arrived. The final season’s first episode released April 12, reviving the pop culture discourse that surrounds the show.

But does “Euphoria” still have the wide appeal it once had back in 2019?

“I’m one of those people who loves ‘Euphoria,’” said DePaul junior Makayla Lawson. “Even though I understand it’s kind of bad, I’ve always loved it.”

DePaul junior Tanner Crowley said he’s lost excitement about this upcoming season due to cast deaths and many stars not wanting to return to the show. “It’s kind of bad, but I was looking forward to it.”

Chicago resident Sophie Hawkins said that many fans have “moved on from ‘Euphoria’” after so much time has passed since the last season. “Since the second season was so long ago, everyone who watched it is at a completely different phase in their life,” she said.

Many fans believe four years is too long for a show to take a break — especially for one so reliant on its young viewers finding the show relatable. For most of the current DePaul students, the last season of “Euphoria” came out before they were even applying for college. 

“I was a junior in high school, and I was very much in the drama of my high school, so I felt very connected to the ‘Euphoria’ characters,” Lawson said, noting that she would get dressed up to watch the show.

Crowley, who was a junior in high school when the last season came out, said the show “used to be a huge point of discussion” for students. “I remember going to school on Monday after ‘Euphoria’ Sundays and people would talk about it in class. So many people were watching it.”

Despite the lack of enthusiasm towards the new season, some people are still planning on tuning in, like DePaul student Keilly Kilpatrick. “It’s one of those shows where I was like, ‘I’m not watching that,’ and then my roommates started watching it ,and I’m sat everytime.”

Lawson agreed.

“I got hesitant to be excited for it, but I still will be watching every episode,” Lawson said.

This new season is also very different from the past two seasons, with a five-year time jump into the future that takes the characters out of high school and into the real world.

“To me it’s a completely different show than the first two seasons, and I feel like a lot of people feel that way in pop culture because of the time jump,” Hawkins said.

Despite the mixed emotions and intense discourse surrounding the show, 8.5 million viewers tuned into the season three premiere. Even though engagement is strong, the show has garnered mixed reviews on its return season.

“I think it’ll always be popular, but it clearly won’t always be good,” Crowley added.

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