Euphoria: Season 3 Episode 4 – Recap and Review

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Episode 4 “Kitty Likes to Dance” Recap and Details

• Director(s): Sam Levinson
• Writer(s): Sam Levinson
• Public Release Date (HBO Max): May 3, 2026
• Check out more of our “Euphoria” coverage.
• Images © of HBO

Does A Unreliable Narrator Make A Good Snitch?: Jimenez, Rue, Alamo

With Rue busted and facing years to a full-on life sentence, she is convinced by DEA Officer Jimenez to become a snitch. Thing is, Rue isn’t good at this job. She can’t convince Alamo to buy drugs from Laurie, or anyone else – never mind get herself involved. She’s lucky Alamo assumes she is using and not working with the feds.

But one thing that is made clear from Rue’s new role is that she talks too much when nervous.

This All Will Be Good For My Next Story: Lexi, Maddy, Cassie, Jules, Rue, Nate, Patricia, Katelyn, Brandon

At times, it would be fair to ask, “Is all of this just a show or movie Lexi is writing?” For whether it is commissioning a painting from Jules, which is supposed to be in the style of Georges Seurant’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” and her painting a bunch of people, naked and trans, Rue asking for drugs from Maddy, or Maddy doing an OnlyFans photoshoot at Lexi’s pool? It’s easy to imagine that, after her high school play, Euphoria is just a show birthed from real life, with a handful of embellishments.

But, while a theory, what is presented as true was that Patricia being pissed over $100,000 was lost due to Jules’ explicit artwork. Also, with Nate being unable to build his retirement community, Cassie abandons him to work for Maddy. Now, are they separated, heading towards a divorce or annulment? Hard to say. The only thing that is clear is that Maddy is following the same playbook she did with Katelyn in wanting Cassie to get close to Brandon – a major influencer.

Funny enough, as she rehashes this plan, Katelyn does show up and competes with Cassie to get and keep Brandon’s attention, but Cassie wins. Leaving her ever so closer to monetizing her body in such a way that she may not need Nate anymore.

You Wanted Something To Report On: Harley, Laurie, Rue, Magick, Big Eddy, Faye

With Rue unable to figure out a way to create a drug deal to appease the DEA, she gets desperate. A new girl comes about, and a train is ran on her for a bachelor party, so it seems the idea of sex trafficking comes into Rue’s mind. It likely wouldn’t appease the DEA, who wanted to take Laurie down, and her fentanyl distribution – but it is something, right?

Problem is, when she checks in with this new girl, who is replacing Angel, who “ran away” from rehab, Magick overhears and tells Big Eddy about what Rue was asking. As you can imagine, asking questions beyond “Are you okay?” is a big no-no, and the only thing that saves Rue is Laurie’s boys, one being Harley, showing up and not only shooting Big Eddy, but also robbing him.

Thankfully, cameras catch Faye as the getaway driver, but whether or not Alamo will be forgiving, regarding Big Eddy letting his money go away, is hard to say. Though considering Rue was worried the shot to Big Eddy’s gut could be fatal, maybe Alamo will let it go?

New Characters in Episode 4

Jimenez (Hemky Madera)

• Character Summary: Jimenez is a DEA agent who decides to make Rue an informant, as opposed to just sending her to jail.

Brandon Fontaine (Jeff Wahlberg)

• Character Summary: Brandon is a notable influence whom Maddy has used more than once to get a client online fame.

Review and Commentary

Highlights

This All Being A Show Lexi Wrote [83/100]

With Rue continuing to narrate the show, and it never being forgotten that she is supposed to be seen as an unreliable narrator, it has me thinking, is that strictly because of the drugs or because these are second-hand stories? Take note, as Rue’s best friend, Lexi probably knows about the majority of Rue’s adventures. Also, as shown in season 2, Lexi isn’t above using other people’s chaos to inspire stories.

Keeping that in mind, and I know this isn’t a revolutionary theory, when we saw Lexi typing away, it made me wonder if she was working on her pitch, which would eventually become this show?

The Question Of How Badly So Much Of This Will End [85/100]

I’m of the opinion that multiple people will die or notable injured by the time this season ends. There is a good chance that with how far Nate has fallen, and how deep his debt is, he won’t be killed, but made into a shell of his former self – missing not only his wife but dignity. Then, with Alamo and Laurie’s war – I’m of the opinion Laurie is likely going to die, and Alamo’s group is going to be left in disarray. I can’t predict if it will be because he dies, is maimed, or what – but something is going to throw off what allows things to work.

Plus, to be honest with you, I feel like the season so far may have had some sexual tinge to it thanks to Cassie, but it hasn’t been notable in terms of controversy or grandeur moments. So, a mass amount of murder, I feel, would be the replacement for the sex, drugs, and debauchery that used to dominate the show.

The Need To Wonder If Maddy Is Ready For What Cassie May Become [84/100]

At times in Brandon’s party, it was hard to know whether Cassie was being set up to realize she is a small fish in a big pond or to legitimately succeed. She seemed overwhelmed, at first, and in need of guidance. Then once Katelyn took note of her and Brandon, it really seemed like she was out of her depth and somewhere between being high on the attention or her anxiety kicking into high gear.

Yet, when she outlasts Katelyn and does coke, it seems that she has gotten the hang of things, and a deranged monster has been awakened. The kind Maddy can’t control or influence, for she’ll always want more. More fans, more fame, maybe more drugs as time goes on, and we’ll get a different downward spiral in comparison to what Rue went through.

On The Fence

The Struggle To Keep Some Characters Involved [74/100]

First off, Angel being written off the way she did, with her running from rehab, was devastating because of all they could have done with that character. However, I have to admit, maybe writing her off like that was mercy?

In my mind, there remains this issue that not all characters, storyline-wise, are thriving (in terms of giving us something notable) and meeting the expectations of a show that had been on hiatus for so long. Nate’s storyline, even with its violence and the dramatics, feels like it is flailing.

Jules? While the journey of reintroducing her as someone beyond a person orbiting Rue needs and deserves time, I can’t say whether that time is being used well. The sugar baby storyline feels a bit flat. Being an artist, including that artwork she did for Lexi? Honestly, as much as there is a push Lexi should have given more explicit parameters, Jules surely has common sense, right? Lexi is a prude, so do you think she would be involved in something, to the point where she could commission work from you, which has naked non-binary people?

Heck, even Lexi, as much as there is the push of recognizing her as the true potential driver of all we see, to the point it could explain anything, which feels over the top, feels like such an outlier. She is the sole normal person on the entire show. Lexi doesn’t do drugs, isn’t involved in criminal or explicit activity. She loves her job, and there is career advancement there, which she is qualified for based on past work, good ideas, and she is actively learning as she goes.

To me, Lexi is such an outlier that her story feels thinly connected via Cassie being her sister, Rue her best friend on paper, and likely being the type of normal that wants to be within six degrees separated from the zany characters on this show. Which, again, pushes the idea that a lot of what we see is based on Lexi’s second-degree knowledge, filling in the blanks more so than Rue truly leading the story.

Overall

Our Overall Rating [81/100]

We’re now halfway through season 3, and it still feels like a major adjustment. The type that shows where the show’s true investment is and who is around because writing them off would cause too much furor.

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 3 – Recap and Review

  Euphoria continues to shift to being a crime drama, with a western vibe, leaving you to wonder what will be done with characters who don’t fit into such a world?

• 

  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.

• 

  Euphoria: Season 3 Episode 1 – Recap and Review

  The show, which gave birth to a handful of this generation’s biggest stars, returns and reinvents itself as an Americana crime drama.

TV Shows We’re Covering This Season

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