Euphoria season 3 premiere SLAMMED as ‘humiliation ritual’ with horrified fans blasting ‘nasty’ Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney scenes

The season three premiere of Euphoria has left viewers horrified over ‘nasty’ scenes involving Zendaya swallowing bags of fentanyl and Sydney Sweeney engaging in fetish work.

The first episode of the latest season of the HBO Max show – which was created by Sam Levinson – officially dropped on the streaming site on Sunday, four years after the second season premiered. 

The timeline takes place five years after the events of season two and viewers got a closer look at where the characters are following their high school graduation. 

Zendaya’s character Rue is revealed to be a drug mule due to owing drug dealer Laurie (Martha Kelly) around $43 million while Cassie (played by Sweeney) has an interest in joining OnlyFans while planning a lavish wedding to Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi). 

In one scene, Rue had to swallow drugs – which were packed in mini bags – in order to smuggle them back into the United States. 

A montage depicted her struggling to swallow the multitude of bags, including her dry heaving. Later she brings in Faye (Chloe Cherry) in order to help. 

The scene continued as they both tried to swallow all the bags filled with drugs, which showed the characters gagging and sometimes vomiting during the grueling process.

Later in the episode, Sweeney’s character Cassie was introduced as she lives inside a large suburban home with fiance Nate (Elordi). 

She could be seen wearing a brown corset and skimpy bottoms as she posed for photos taken by a housekeeper. 

The star also wore doggy ears on top of her head as well as a collar and leash as she posed for racy photos. At one point, she also licked water out of a bowl and bit down on a shoe while pretending to be a dog. 

Nate eventually walked in on Cassie as she took more pictures on their bed which she planned to upload onto social media. 

Fans soon jumped to social media to share their thoughts on the premiere, with one penning, ‘this is basically a humiliation ritual for everyone involved…’

‘EWWWWW????? THE DOG WHAT,’ a fan added, and one commented, ‘This is so gross.’ 

Another wrote, ‘At what point did Euphoria go from Euphoria to Breaking Bad??’ while an X user typed, ‘I don’t know if I’m watching an ep of Euphoria or of Narcos..’

Another shared, ‘This nasty as hell omg,’ and a viewer penned, ‘they threw in every possible fetish all at once, euphoria you died.’ 

After both Rue and Faye swallowed the bags of drugs, the pair headed back to United States but had to get past the border. 

They could be seen driving a minivan as they were stopped by an officer who checked their passports. 

Rue and Faye were not feeling well but did their best to act normal and were able to drive through the border. 

Meanwhile when Nate walked in on Cassie posing as a dog, the pair had a serious conversation about what she was doing. 

‘How many times do we have to talk about this? I am in the real world making deals. If an investor comes across a video like this online, I’m a joke,’ he said. 

‘People make money doing this,’ she replied, adding that she was making ‘a funny video.’

Nate added, ‘You are not a doggy. You are a grown woman. So that makes you a what? A prostitute.’ 

Cassie shockingly denied she was acting like one and said that she was simply ‘growing her following’ on social media. 

He assured her that they have money before pulling her closer by the leash and said, ‘You’ve been a bad dog.’ She replied, ‘Woof woof.’

The episode kicked off with Zendaya’s character Rue driving through the desert in Chihuahua, Mexico with a large duffle bag in the trunk. 

She faced an obstacle as she needed to drive over a fence with the aid of boards but was having trouble doing so. At one point, her car got stuck at the very top and she needed to climb down with the bag. 

After walking into the state of Texas, Rue crashed inside a barn that belonged to a Christian family. 

One of the daughters gave her a ride to a bus stop nearby as she prepared to head back to California. 

She eventually arrived to Laurie’s house to deliver the duffle bug which was filled with drugs. The backstory of how she became a drug mule for Laurie was then revealed. 

After high school, Rue worked at a smoke shop when Laurie suddenly approached her and reminded that she was owed $10,000. 

However, due to interest over the years, that now amounted to $43 million. Laurie said she would drop it down to $100,000 – but the deal was that Rue would essentially became a drug mule. 

Another scene showed Rue visiting Lexi (Maude Apatow) who was living in an apartment in Los Angeles. 

It was revealed that Lexi was working on a studio for a nighttime soap opera. 

The pair were catching up in Lexi’s living room when Rue mentioned Fez, the character played by the late Angus Cloud, who died in 2023. 

It was explained that Fez was serving 30 years in prison and Lexi had yet to reach out to him. 

The episode continued with Nate now running his father Cal’s business. Cal Jacobs had been played by the late Eric Dane – who passed away in February following a battle with ALS. 

Zendaya’s character was then tasked to deliver drugs to ‘a real piece of s***.’

She then drove to a mansion that was on a hill that overlooked the desert and a small city. 

She delivered the drugs but asked to use the bathroom and was told where to go by a man that met her inside a secured garage. 

However, Rue came across strippers inside and began dancing with some of them – and the man frustratingly started to escort her out. 

But they were stopped by another man who went by Alamo – a strip club owner.

He confronted her for not introducing herself but the pair began to get along as she asked him for a job in management at one of his strip clubs. 

One of the girls inside his house then overdosed on the drugs that Rue had just delivered, and it was revealed that the drugs were laced with fentanyl. 

Rue explained to Alamo during a confrontation that she had no idea about the fentanyl and then also told him a bit of her backstory. 

After an emotional moment, Rue simply added that she was hoping to someday find her own ‘slice of heaven’ and said that she believed in God. 

Alamo then decided to test if God believes in her and took her outside at night. He placed an apple on her head and was going to shoot the apple as a test. 

After he loaded a gold gun, he pointed the weapon at Rue and pulled the trigger – hitting the apple and not injuring her. The episode ended with Alamo seemingly in disbelief as Rue fell to the ground in relieved laughter. 

The first teaser for the third season of the HBO Max series was dropped late last year in December. 

Additional trailers were also released to give viewers a hint at what the new season entails. 

Most recently, Sweeney shocked fans as her character Cassie was dressed as a baby with a binky in her mouth while seemingly posing for racy photos for OnlyFans in a nearly two-minute trailer that released on Saturday.

Social media users had jumped to both Reddit and X to share their thoughts on the moment, with one penning, ‘Had to rewind the baby outfit scene because surely I wasn’t seeing what I thought I’d just seen???’

Another typed, ‘Sydney girl, you can say no to scenes,’ and a fan wrote, ‘wtf the baby scene??’

One also questioned, ‘why was she sitting like that and why was she dressed like that..,’ while another typed, ‘i wanna go back to 10 seconds ago where i hadn’t seen this wtf.’ 

Ahead of its premiere on Sunday, the third season was also torched with early reviews, with the show being labeled as an ‘unhinged disaster’ yet ‘pretty uneventful.’

It also held a 46% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes before the first episode became available on the streaming site. 

Lauren Samer from the New York Post labeled the third season – which has a five-year time jump – as ‘Breaking Bad meets Looney Tunes.’  

‘In the first two seasons, the show’s strength was how it dug into these characters’ lives. The plot got wild, but it was anchored by human drama.’

Samer added, ‘Now, as we find them as adults, it would be more compelling to see them struggle because of their flaws. Instead, many of them struggle because random criminal henchmen are after them.’

The BBC‘s Caryn James gave the first three episodes two out of five stars.

James also wrote that ‘Euphoria has become a series with very little to say, none of it very audacious or compelling.

‘Based on the three episodes, of eight, that HBO made available in advance, it is a strained attempt to make the closed circle of friends it follows, now in their early 20s, somehow the same only different.’

Alison Herman of Variety discussed the oversexualization of the characters in the series because ‘all of them are involved in sex work, crime or work that’s adjacent to both.’

During a recent appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Zendaya hinted how there will possibly not be another season of Euphoria.

When asked by the talk show host if the third season is the final one, the actress replied, ‘I think so, yeah.’ 

She also reflected on her character as well as her time on the show. 

‘Rue taught me so much about life. That crew has also seen me grow up. I owe so much to that show.’

The star added, ‘Rue taught me so much about empathy and redemption. I’m very grateful for all of it.’

Season one of Euphoria – which was created by Sam Levinson – initially premiered back in 2019, with the second season following three years later. 

And following an additional four years, season three has now become available to fans – and contains eight episodes which will air weekly until May 31. 

The show has also garnered accolades over the years including a Golden Globe for Best Actress for Zendaya. 

The new season premiered under the cloud of the tragic untimely deaths of two major players in the cast, Eric Dane and Angus Cloud.

Cloud starred on the teen drama as the drug dealer Fezco aka ‘Fez,’ who emerges as a voice of reason of sorts to the other characters.

The actor was just 25 years old when he died in July 2023 of a combined overdose of fentanyl, meth, cocaine and benzodiazepines.

However, Levinson revealed ahead of season three that Cloud’s character will remain involved in the story in a capacity he left mysterious.

Meanwhile Dane filmed his scenes for Euphoria season three before he died this February aged 53 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).