The eagerly anticipated third season of Sam Levinson's Euphoria commenced with a somber introduction, as an in memoriam tribute appeared on the screen, dedicated to the late star, Eric Dane. The tribute, featuring the Grey's Anatomy alum's image and birthdates, mirrored the one HBO Max previously posted for the late actor Angus Cloud. At the conclusion of the premiere episode, just after the credits, there were dedicated tributes to Dane, Cloud, and producer Kevin Turen. During the presentation of the season's first episode at the TCL Chinese Theatre last week, the creator commemorated "those who we lost."
"Some people ask why it took so long between seasons two and three," he said. "There were obvious factors - the strikes, trying to make a schedule work with our very in-demand cast, but the real time was spent trying to figure out how to pay respect to those who we lost."
Cloud, who portrayed Fezco in the first two seasons of Euphoria, passed away in 2023 from "acute intoxication" at the age of 25 in Oakland, Calif. Turen unexpectedly died a month later, at the age of 44. Dane was able to reprise his role in the third season of the HBO drama before his death in February; the actor died of respiratory failure with ALS as a contributing cause.
While Cal (Dane), Nate's (Jacob Elordi) father, does not appear in the season premiere, he will be featured later on. Though it's unclear how the show will address the character's departure, Levinson told Extra that he adjusted his writing in real-time to factor in Dane's health. "He showed up and I could tell he had a slight slur in his voice and he told me that. I said, 'Don't worry. We'll just put, like, five beer bottles in front of you and you've been drinking all night.' He was like, 'Perfect, perfect.' And his character, it was such a gift."
In contrast, Season 3 includes a scene where Rue (Zendaya) visits her former high school friend Lexi (Maude Apatow) in Los Angeles, where she now works as an assistant to a famed TV executive (Sharon Stone). While there, she urges Lexi to call Fez, with whom it seemed she would embark on a romance last season. In the show's canon, Fez is serving a 30-year prison sentence but still misses Lexi despite not having been in contact for years.
Regarding the decision to conclude Fez's journey that way, Levinson told Entertainment Weekly: "I fought very hard to keep him clean when he was alive, and losing him was really tough." He added, "I felt like if I couldn't keep him alive in life, then I could keep him alive in the show."
