Why won't Euphoria be returning for season 4?

*Warning: This article contains full spoilers for Euphoria season 4.*

After eight episodes of extremely mixed quality and questionable thematic focus, Euphoria’s third season is now complete.

It was a record-breaking season finale and one that saw a major character killed off in a surprising turn of events, a tense shoot-out and Ali’s (Colman Domingo) ultimate search for vengeance.

Series star Zendaya had previously said on The Drew Barrymore Show that she thought this would be the last outing for Euphoria and now, creator Sam Levinson has confirmed just that.

But why won’t the HBO series be returning for another instalment and what’s been said about the decision? Read on to find out.

Euphoria creator Sam Levinson has confirmed that the HBO series is to end with season 3 and there won’t be a fourth instalment, with the series finale acting as an extended allegory about the impact of addiction.

Speaking to The New York Times’s podcast Popcast (which was released just a few hours after the season 3 finale), Levinson explained: “In terms of the story we set out to tell, which is a story about addiction and its consequences, this feels like the end to me.”

The decision to end the series doesn’t come as any real surprise for many, especially as Levinson previously said he had “no plans” for a fourth season.

Speaking to Variety at the series premiere, Levinson said that he writes “every season like it’s the last season”, adding: “I want to finish this as strong as I can. I’m cutting [Episodes] 7 and 8 still. I’m putting some finishing touches. I just want to deliver a fucking slam dunk season.”

In a behind-the-scenes video of the final episode, Levinson said: “It just felt like the honest ending. The honest ending is people like Rue don’t make it.

“People relapse. They fuck 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.”

He continued: “I can say with absolute certainly that if I was going through what I went through when I was younger now, I wouldn’t be here either.

“There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. I wanted to tell this story for Angus and for people who weren’t granted a second chance.”

“I wanted to tell this story for Angus and for people who weren’t granted a second chance,” Levinson added.

Nika King, who returned in the finale as Rue’s mother Leslie, also said: “Being a child of an addict, growing up where every adult was on drugs in my family, I always want the happy ending. And sometimes, it works out that way and sometimes, it doesn’t.

“This is a real show about a real problem that we have in this country and that’s addiction.”

While the final episode was one filled with emotion as Zendaya’s Rue sadly died, the rest of this third season of Euphoria has proven to be divisive – not least with conversations around the unfolding of Cassie’s (Sydney Sweeney) storyline and the show’s conversations around sex work.

Aside from the fact that Levinson has now stated it’s the end of Euphoria, it would also be quite difficult to envision a season past this after the deaths of major characters like Rue and Nate (Jacob Elordi), with cast members such as Eric Dane and Angus Cloud also having passed away.

Euphoria seasons 1 to 3 are available on HBO Max, Sky Atlantic and NOW.

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