Euphoria Season 3 has been quite the rollercoaster with it’s blend of emotions and the completely different route it has taken after two seasons. But apart from that, the show carries the heavy grief of loss for two beloved stars on the show; Eric Dane’s Cal Jacobs and Angus Cloud’s Fezco.
Cloud died in 2023 from acute intoxication at just 25 years old and watching the show now means watching it through that grief, and the creative team has clearly felt it too. With episode 3 on the horizon, fans are convinced this is the one that brings Fezco back into the centre of the story, and the evidence behind that theory is genuinely compelling.
Episode 3 is titled The Ballad of Paladin, which is the name of a song from the film Stand by Me. In season 2, Fezco and Lexi spent some of their closest moments together watching that exact film, and it was also a direct inspiration for Lexi’s famous school play. The title alone is almost a love letter to their storyline and add to that what we already know from episode 1 of this season: Rue visits Lexi and tells her to call Fezco, who is now serving 30 years in prison.
Lexi clearly still carries feelings for him but hasn’t reached out since his arrest. Episode 3 feels like the moment that changes and creator Sam Levinson has also confirmed that Fezco has a great arc this season, and that he kept the character alive because if he couldn’t do it in real life, he could at least do it in the work.
More details about Fezco’s arc before Euphoria Season 3
Angus Cloud was one of the breakout stars of Euphoria from the moment it premiered in 2019, having been famously scouted off the streets of New York City with no prior acting experience.
Fezco was tough and a little dangerous but achingly kind. He showed up for the people he loved even when everything around him was falling apart and fans saw themselves in that contradiction and they held onto it.
By season 2, Cloud had built real momentum, and his character’s storyline culminated in one of the most gripping season finales the show had ever produced, with the SWAT raid leaving Fez’s fate completely unresolved. The wait for Euphoria Season 3 was supposed to include his return, and as fans grieve his loss, hopefuly the show will do justice to his character this season.
Euphoria Season 3 isd now streaming.
Edited by Nibir Konwar