Euphoria creator speaks out on 'sadistic' main character death in new episode
Major shows like Stranger Things have been criticised in the recent past for being too scared to kill off any of the main characters that made the show so popular. Based on its newest episode however, this is not a problem you can accuse Euphoria of.
Euphoria season three has released its penultimate episode and it continues the story of Cassie as an OnlyFans girl, Rue working as an undercover agent to try and bring down Alamo for the DEA, and Nate owing $1,000,000 to shady criminals who have cut off his extremities.
The season has had multiple viral moments (mostly revolving around Sydney Sweeney having bizarre weekly nude scenes) but the new episode has a sadistic main character death which is shocking fans.
Warning: The rest of this article contains spoilers for Euphoria season three, episode seven.
After six episodes of being near-cartoonishly beaten up by the criminals he owes money to, Nate’s time appears to be running out. Jacob Elordi’s character is kidnapped, with Cassie being given a deadline to pay the $1,000,000 he owes.
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Nate is buried alive in a coffin, with Maddy convincing Alamo to help Cassie out, finding where Nate is buried and pulling him out.
Unfortunately for Cassie and Maddy however, a snake crawled into Nate’s coffin through the air hole and kills him.
Sam Levinson revealed why Nate’s shocking death had to be so gruesome
Speaking to Esquire about Nate’s death, Euphoria creator Sam Levinson pointed to the fact that he has been a fairly universally hated character in the show.
He went on to say: “There's this kind of funny thing where I know what the audience wants in terms of justice or karma and with that in mind, I always think, ‘Well, how can I give it to them?’ How can I give them what they want, but make it so horrific and anxiety-inducing that by the time it happens, the audience isn't so sure they wanted it?”
The writer stated that they shot using a real rattlesnake, with the animal being swapped out for its non-venomous lookalike when it was put in a coffin with Elordi.
He went on to add: “It was what was exciting about the characters being out of high school.
“They're in the real world and the consequences are real. There's no safety net.
“I like this Wild West, frontier aspect to it where you can make something of yourself, but you're going to have to live with the consequences.”
Jacob Elordi spoke about the death in a behind-the-scenes video, and fans have been mixed on Nate’s ending
Elordi seemed fairly at peace with Nate’s death in the behind-the-scenes breakdown video of the episode, talking about how it was nice in the coffin with a snake because the animal was ‘sleepy’.
He went on to add: “It’s a bittersweet thing, this show is a massive part of not just my career but my life, it’s been amazing and I’m so proud being a part of this.”
Fans online were split about Nate’s death scene, with some rejoicing at a fairly hateable character biting the bullet, whilst others were simply in shock at the gruesome method it happens.
One fan tweeted: “I have to confess, this is one of the most tense and sadistic scenes I've ever witnessed in [TV]. I'm going to have nightmares about Nate's death for days.”
Another fan commented on Reddit however, saying: “Can’t stop thinking about how Nate died in an objectively insane way but it still managed to feel unceremonious to me somehow.”
A second chimed in to agree, saying: “Nate’s character was so insanely wasted man… that death felt so anticlimactic he went from genuinely compelling in S1 and S2 to a plot device that did nothing but get tortured all season.”
Euphoria season three, episode seven is available to stream on HBO Max now.
Topics: Euphoria, Jacob Elordi, TV and Film
Michael Slavin