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‘Euphoria’ Season 3 pays one final tribute to Angus Cloud’s Fezco in emotional finale episode

Angus Cloud played Fezco O'Neill in the first two seasons of the award-winning series

'Euphoria' Season 3 Episode 8 delivered an emotional farewell to Rue Bennett and offered a fitting tribute to her close friend, Fezco O'Neill (Angus Cloud). The finale, titled 'In God We Trust,' dropped on May 31 on HBO and HBO Max. Amidst all the chaos and drama, the episode included a poignant moment involving Rue and her former dealer, Fezco. In the show's first two seasons, he appeared as Rue's friend, confidant, and, at times, a big brother who looked out for her. Sadly, actor Angus Cloud passed away from an overdose on July 31, 2023, at the age of 25. But showrunner Sam Levinson chose not to end Fez's storyline in Season 3. Instead, he kept Fez alive and out of sight for most of the season. That changed in the finale, where he appeared on screen in an emotional flashback scene that will stay with viewers for a long time.  

Fezco's name is peppered throughout Season 3, as he is locked away in prison following the events of Season 2. He frequently calls Rue from behind bars and tries to establish contact with Lexi, whom he fell in love with in the second season. In the finale, Rue relapses after Alamo offers her fentanyl (under the guise of it being Percocet) as revenge for betraying his trust and selling him out to the DEA. She stays over at Ali's house and slips into unconsciousness, but not before dreaming about the people she loved most in her life. In her hallucination, she sees on the news that Fez escaped prison and takes off to meet him at the convenience store where he previously worked. During the car ride, she passes by her younger self and also encounters her mother, sister, and Jules. The sequence ends with Rue and Fez together in a field, looking content as they smile into the distance.

Fans were curious about how Levinson was able to bring Cloud back on screen since he died years before Season 3 went into production. Levinson told Esquire that he found old footage of Zendaya and Cloud, which he had filmed years ago with no intention of ever using. Levinson also shed light on Fez's prison escape storyline, in which the character escapes by scaling the facility's high walls using parkour. After the finale aired, the 41-year-old creator told the publication that he based the storyline on a real-life prison break from 2023, which made headlines. "It was in Pennsylvania, where the guy climbed out of the prison and ran into the woods. It's sort of loosely inspired by that," he told the outlet. 

In the video above, Levinson shared that he wanted to pay tribute to Cloud by highlighting the impact of substance abuse, as tens of thousands of lives are lost to fentanyl overdoses each year. "This is a real show about a real problem that we have in this country, and that’s addiction. People relapse. They f*** up. They’re not ready to get clean. And they weren’t dying like they are now with the influx of fentanyl into this country. There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. I wanted to tell the story for Angus and for people who weren’t granted a second chance," he said. Viewers can watch all episodes of 'Euphoria' on HBO Max.