Euphoria has been pushing the envelope since its very first episode.
And now, in the show’s third and final season, Sam Levinson and his writers are understandably eager to raise the bar.
But certain scenes this season — many involving Sydney Sweeney’s Cassie character — have drawn criticism for going “too far.”
First, we saw Sydney-as-Cassie wearing a diaper and dressed up as a dog while creating content for the character’s OnlyFans page.
Those scenes led some to suggest that Levinson might be a little too fond of humiliating Sweeney on camera, but we’re not here to unpack his psychological baggage.
Instead, we’re discussing another over-the-top Cassie scene, this one taking place toward the end of last night’s episode.
Obviously, spoilers lie ahead, so if you haven’t watched Euphoria Season 3 Episode 4, titled “Kitty Likes to Dance,” then you may not want to read any further.
Having left Nate amid his ongoing financial turmoil, Cassie continued to pursue OnlyFans fame.
Under the tutelage of PR guru Maddie, she wound up at a party hosted by Brandon, a mega-influencer with more than 20 million followers.
Of course, you don’t gain reflected fame simply by attending the party, so Cassie maneuvered her way into a drug-fueled threesome with Brandon.
At one point, he insists on testing their cocaine, for fear it might have been laced with Fentanyl.
The other woman in the threeway reassures him, at which point, Cassie snorts some of the blow and briefly pretends to suffer an overdose.
That type of humor seems like a good way to ruin an orgy, but Brandon is still on board, so he hoovers up some of the powder from Sydney’s va-jay-jay area.
And naturally, Maddy and Cassie find a way to make photos from the illicit scene go viral.
Threesomes, overdose humor, people being photographed mid-threesome without their consent — we suppose it’s not hard to see why the scene ruffled some feathers.
But Euphoria is attempting more than mere shock value here … at least we think it is.
The show seems to be offering commentary on the amoral depravity of the influencer era — a time when the only way for a newcomer to get noticed is to go to extremes.
“What is wrong with you people? You’re looking for drugs, you’re selling your body on your porn site, and you’re like some internet pimp?” remarks a shocked Lexi (Maud Apatow) at one point in the episode.
Arguably the moral center of the show, Lexi’s horror at the behavior demonstrated by her friend and her sisters is meant to mirror the audience’s reaction.
And her stance wouldn’t resonate so strongly unless Levinson and company had thoroughly shocked us first.
Oh and nothing drums up ratings and publicity quite like a Sydney Sweeney sex scene.