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'Euphoria' Season 3 hits series-low Rotten Tomatoes score as fans slam disturbing storyline: 'Even AI...'

'Euphoria' Season 3 opens with Rue smuggling narcotics across the border from Mexico with a dangerous network.

Putting an end to long-standing audience anticipation, Season 3 of 'Euphoria' recently premiered on HBO. Given the timeline shift between the sophomore season and the third installment, all characters have undergone significant journeys of their own. Gone are the hallways of East Highland High and the rigors that came with it, as Season 3's premiere episode featured Zendaya's Rue and the others in a remarkably California-esque reality. Right from the opening moments, the viewer is forced to take stock of the fact that Rue's life has visibly gone downhill.

After being previously tracked down by Laurie, Rue began working as a courier, transporting narcotics across the border from Mexico to the United States. She drives around Los Angeles in an Uber and continues meeting with Colman Domingo's Ali. On the other hand, the character of Lexi, played by Maude Apatow, is seen working in Hollywood under the guidance of Patty Lance. Although she is still working short-term jobs, it is a consolation to know that her creative abilities do not go entirely unnoticed by her superiors. It is through her that the audience learns of Fezco, who is now serving a 30-year prison sentence.

Sydney Sweeney's Cassie has retreated to a suburban existence and also joined a subscription-based platform to supplement her earnings and finance her wedding. Jacob Elordi's Nate moves through the drudgery of his own life, attending to his father's business in hopes of building a coastal retirement community. All in all, the third-season premiere has been mostly met with negative reviews, as several users on the social media platform X have explicitly shared their opinions. The same was echoed when the premiere recorded the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score at 44% and ranks 6.8/10 on IMDb.One user summed up the general plot of the third season by commenting, "rue and faye are drug mules, cassie is a right winged onlyfans creator, nate owns a cyber truck and failing at his dads business, maddy not getting paid what she deserves, fez in jail, jules is a sugar baby… and we still got 7 weeks to go #euphoria" 

Another user wrote, "Went in to Euphoria S3 with an open mind and the writing... my goodness. Fan-fiction levels of bad. It's actually shocking this is the same show. Zendaya as Rue is phenomenal as expected, everything else? Not so much." A third user criticized, "One episode in, Euphoria Season 3, very disappointed tbh. Writers genuinely need to do better because if this is gonna be how the entire season is playing out, then I genuinely do not want a piece lmao. Even AI cannot write this kind of slop, Sam Levinson, tf you doing???" A fourth user remarked, "20 minutes into the season 3 premiere, I’ve decided I’m not even going to recognize this as part of the lore of the series. The story ended after season 2."