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Episode 3 “The Ballad of Paladin” Recap and Details
- Director(s): Sam Levinson
- Writer(s): Sam Levinson
- Public Release Date (HBO Max): April 26, 2026
- Check out more of our “Euphoria” coverage.
- Images © of HBO
Don’t You Know Everyone’s Invited?: Cassie, Jules, Cal, Nate, Maddy, Rue, Naz
Cassie’s wedding becomes the reunion of the year. BB shows up, Nate’s brother Aaron, but the major shocks are Maddy and Jules. Maddy, for the most part, may meet eyes with Cassie and Nate, and Nate’s parents, but she stays to herself. Tempted to congratulate the couple, but overwhelmed by the time the festivities die down.
Jules? She was Rue’s plus one, and she had a moment with Cal about them having sex and him recording it. With Nate? It is less vulgar but still nostalgically hints at past chemistry. And maybe that is for the best.
For while Jules and Maddy may think about what could have been, Cassie experiences what is – and what Nate is, is a man deeply in debt. The kind where Naz decides to tease during the wedding, what’s to come, and before the night is over, he has cut off Nate’s pinky toe.
Cowboys and Rednecks: Rue, Laurie, Bishop, Alamo
Unfortunately for Rue, she couldn’t stay for the reception as Bishop called her to come pick up some drugs from Laurie, and help provide some cover for him poisioning Laurie’s bird. Note: Alamo is getting really tired of Laurie not knowing her place, and Laurie’s people feel the same about Alamo. So, things are likely to continue to escalate.
The problem is, Rue is in the middle, and at the end of the day, she is going to focus on the best opportunity she has to survive. So while Alamo is the best boss and mentor she has ever had, that doesn’t mean she won’t do him dirty, as she has so many others in her life.
Going Legit: Rue, Ellis, Jules, Alamo, Suze
She even says to his face that she wants to go legit. Which, for Alamo, felt insulting, but this episode has a lot of people predicting what’s to come. Suze, Lexi, and Cassie’s mom damn near predicted Cassie’s life would peak during the wedding ceremony. Rue? She knew something bad was coming, that something was off, and as Nate loses a toe, Rue is getting pulled over by the DEA.
As for Jules? As shown in episode 2, she got out. Through Rue, she might be close enough to be aware of what’s happening, but also far enough to be insulated. After all, she is a sugar baby now – with one client, Ellis, who is a plastic surgeon. One who may have a wife and family, a few odd kinks, but he pays well, is relatively normal, and can hold stimulating conversation.
So while Rue and everyone else may make Jules nostalgic, like Maddy, it seems there is more of a desire to focus on the life they built than ever to become nostalgic about the life they were forced to abandon.
New Characters in Episode 3
Ellis (Sam Trammell)
- Character Summary: A plastic surgeon who has his kinks, but is relatively normal compared to the other men Jules was once a sugar baby for. But now she is his exclusively, and the payment for that is a penthouse suite and all the time and money she needs to paint her days away.
Collected Quote(s)
- You marry the best parts of a person. Hopefully, you can tolerate the worst. — Ellis
Review and Commentary
Highlights
Their Downfall Was Foretold [82/100]
Increasingly, it seems season 3 wants you to know, well ahead of time, how bad things are going to get – especially for those overdue for a comeuppance. Cassie screwed over her best friend and may have gotten her ass beat in the process. But, she double-downed and didn’t learn her lesson. Nate? He didn’t pay the piper for his sins either. His father did, but Nate got the nice house, the cute girl, and it seems he was meant to have a fall from grace as high as Lucifer’s.
Suze predicted this, laid it out like she cursed her own child, and it makes you wonder, how obvious will future tragedies be, and how many of them would have been foretold? Rue spoke about going legit – could the DEA provide that for her by removing everyone who gave her access to the criminal underworld?
As normal as Ellis seemed to be, he did wrap Jules up and made it clear him being able to carve women up has made it so it is difficult for him to be uncomfortable. Add in that she is in a penthouse where he could do things to her, and no one may find her? I am not saying I wish bad things on Jules, but Euphoria being what it is, I do wonder who might get sacrificed for the sake of causing a commotion online?
Alamo As A Mentor [82.5/100]
While Ali did their best with Rue, I feel like Alamo is giving Rue what she has long needed: Direction. In ideal circumstances, Alamo has shown she takes well to the business side if given a chance to learn. The girls, the drugs, the guns introduced in this episode? She knows it all.
Heck, hearing Rue break down the features of multiple weapons like Alamo raised her from birth shows a level of adaptability that goes far beyond an addict transferring their focus from something destructive to productive. If anything, it proves Rue always had potential; it is just that low expectations, or the adults in her life being overwhelmed, meant no one giving her focus – thus causing her to meander.
And you know what they say, “An idle mind is the devil’s playground.”
On The Fence
Violence Compensating For A Weak Storyline [77/100]
I’m torn regarding the violence we see in this episode. Be it Alamo killing a pig, with its head blown off on screen, and brain sprayed upon a woman, to Nate being beaten to hell and his pinky toe cut off, it feels like a lot. Granted, pushing boundaries is Sam Levinson’s thing, and with sex, and I would submit drugs, he has taken that as far as he could.
But the violence really does present the idea we’re in for a very drastic and rough shift. For example, we’ve had Maddy get the beginning of episode 2 focused on her, and now Jules with this episode. In the past, that insight felt like it could have led somewhere. Now? Less so.
And here is the thing, their vignettes don’t provide closure. Those snapshots caught us up to what was going on, but as the crime and violence become central to what Euphoria is now about, over a dreamy, sometimes traumatic, drama, there is a need to question what will happen to those who don’t fit within that storyline?
Will it be like Cassie, where it seemed like they would be exempt, an outlier, until they are dragged in? Or may they end up like Lexi? Someone whose storyline is so far removed that it may serve to give us a break and keep us from building up too much of a tolerance to all that is being introduced and shown?
I’m not saying the show is going in a bad direction, but there is this sense that the chaos Sam Levinson is known for will be on full display, and who knows if anyone beyond Zendaya may benefit.
The DEA [75/100]
Speaking of Zendaya, and in extension Rue, the DEA storyline is what will make or break her character in season 3. Does Rue come off like the type who would be a rat? Yes. But rats like her usually aren’t the lead character, for they often get found out and killed – violently.
Now, true, luck has been on her side through her use of drugs, meeting cute girls, and even escaping Laurie’s business to join Alamo’s. However, everyone’s luck runs out, and for Rue, while her karma isn’t as bad as Cassie’s or Nate’s, she has never seemed like the type meant to live to an old age, telling her stories while smoking a cigarette.
Sad to say, Rue might be quick to learn how the system works, but she may not be privy to the politics of it enough to survive.
Overall
Our Overall Rating [79/100]
If you’re someone who craves certainty, Euphoria seems to refuse to give that. In what feels like a transition season, that might be the final one, it becomes hard to say who may adapt to the planned changes and who might be dragged into the new brand of drama Sam Levinson has for these characters and actors.
Which, in some ways, does present intrigue, but as with most media nowadays, there is the need to ask if the initial idea is strong enough to carry an entire season, or if it will run out of gas halfway.
What To Check Out Next
Visit our main TV shows page! There you’ll find other shows we’ve covered, or look below for more of our coverage for this series:
-
Euphoria: Season 3 Episode 5 – Has Alamo Finally Learned Rue’s Secrets?
As Maddy gets an unexpected opportunity from Alamo, Rue seems to be running out of time with all the men she is coerced to please.
-
Euphoria: Season 3 Episode 4 – Recap and Review
Things have to get bad before they can get better, but we’ve seen rock bottom before – does it have to get that bad?
-
Euphoria: Season 3 Episode 2 – Recap and Review
Maddy is the first character to get notable solo focus, as Rue gets promoted to work one of Alamo’s strip clubs, and Laurie questions what Rue thinks she is doing.
TV Shows We’re Covering This Season
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