This review contains spoilers for Euphoria Season 3 Episode 2.
After a premiere that already made it clear this season was going to be louder, messier and a lot more chaotic than before, Euphoria Season 3 Episode 2, “American Dream,” pushes even further in that direction. It doesn’t really try to pull anything back or settle into it. If anything, it leans into it more, making things more extreme, more uncomfortable, and at times just harder to properly engage with.
There is a clear idea running through the episode, though. Everyone is selling something. Bodies, image, intimacy, identity. Whether it’s Maddy (Alexa Demie) figuring out how to place herself around people willing to exploit themselves, Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) fully leaning into OnlyFans, or Rue (Zendaya) existing somewhere between sex, drugs and survival, everything comes back to that. It’s a strong idea in theory, but here it feels a bit too obvious, like the episode keeps pointing it out instead of just letting it be.
Maddy takes up most of the focus, and her storyline is probably the most interesting one. What works is how quickly she understands how all of this operates. She’s not just part of it, she’s shaping it, placing herself right in the middle of it in a way that benefits her. There’s something quite calculated about it, which fits her character. She sees the opportunity straight away, especially with how she pushes Kaitlyn further and further. Alexa Demie plays that really well. But even then, it feels like the episode doesn’t fully go anywhere with it, it just keeps circling the same idea of her being smart enough to see it.
Rue’s storyline is probably the most watchable part of the episode, even when everything around it starts to feel a bit much. There’s something about her arc that still feels grounded compared to everything else. The strip club setting is intense, and while some of those scenes do feel drawn out, there are still moments where you can see something more real underneath it.
The flashbacks stand out the most. Seeing Rue clearly not in a good place, and then that voicemail to her mum, those moments feel real in a way a lot of the episode doesn’t. You get a much clearer sense of how far she’s fallen, even if the present version of her seems more functional. Then, in the present, when she goes to visit Jules (Hunter Schafer), there’s that same sense of distance but also clear chemistry between them. It doesn’t feel like high school anymore, and you can feel how much has changed without the show needing to over-explain it. That moment works because it’s quieter, and it actually sits with the emotion instead of pushing it. You can tell Rue isn’t actually okay, even if she seems more functional on the surface. Things are going to go wrong for her again, and probably quite badly. Zendaya still carries that really well, even when everything around her feels a bit too much.
Cassie’s storyline leans fully into performance. She’s completely committed to this version of herself on OnlyFans, and it’s very clear how much she ties that to validation. But again, it feels very surface-level. The visuals are pushed quite far, but it doesn’t really say much beyond that. It becomes more about how far the show is willing to go than what it’s actually trying to explore about her. Even her scene with Maddy, which should feel big considering everything between them, doesn’t fully land. There’s tension, but it feels more like something that’s being set up for later rather than something that actually hits in the moment. It ends up feeling a bit underwhelming.
Outside of that, the episode just becomes quite difficult to sit through. Not because it’s saying something particularly deep or challenging, but because it feels very aware of how extreme it is. The slurs, the imagery, even small things like the animal moments, it all adds up. It starts to feel less like it’s pushing boundaries for a reason and more like it’s trying to get a reaction out of people. Jules’ return is interesting, but again, it feels more like setup. There’s something there with how distant she feels from Rue now, but it isn’t really explored enough here.
The issue isn’t that Euphoria is pushing boundaries. It’s always done that. It’s that here it feels unfocused. It touches on a lot, but doesn’t really sit with anything long enough to fully explore it. It just moves from one moment to the next. Because of that, “American Dream” ends up feeling quite empty. Some parts work, especially with Maddy and some of Rue’s moments, but they get lost in everything else. It’s not unwatchable, but it’s hard to properly connect with. And for a show that usually relies so much on that emotional pull, that stands out quite a lot.
