Euphoria: Season 3 Episode 8 (Finale) – Recap and Review

While God can be merciful, let’s not forget peace usually comes after what they allowed to happen or actively took part in creating.

ByAmari Allah Hours Posted on

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Episode 8 “In God We Trust” Recap and Details

  • Director(s): Sam Levinson
  • Writer(s): Sam Levinson
  • Public Release Date (HBO): May 31, 2026
  • Check out more of our “Euphoria” coverage.
  • Images © of HBO

No Deal With The Devil Ever Goes Unpaid: Alamo, Laurie, Faye, Wayne, G, Big Eddy, Kitty

Things go surprisingly well. Yes, Faye wakes up Wayne, and Rue has to run for her life to escape Laurie’s ranch, but because G is an excellent marksman, she does get away. She isn’t alone, though. When the DEA comes down hard on Laurie’s ranch, Wayne and Faye escape, and Eddy? He doesn’t get arrested.

As for the others? Well, Laurie hangs herself in a very public way. Kitty gets her butt done and survives, and Alamo? He is just happy things went well. In fact, for the pain and suffering Rue went through, he gives her some Percocet and tells her not to overdo it. Also, he’ll pay her medical bills.

Living To Old Age Isn’t Mean For Everybody: Alamo, Rue, Cassie, Maddy, Lexi, Ali, Jules

While Alamo seemingly was being kind, let’s not forget that Maddy slipped that the DEA was in communication with her. Never mind, before Eddy quit his job, or through the grapevine, he likely learned they showed up at Laurie’s ranch. So, with that in mind, consider it a mercy killing in some ways that, instead of a bullet and long suffering, he gave her tainted painkillers with fentanyl in them.

Also, let’s consider Rue lucky that when she died, it wasn’t with Jules or Lexi, or around Cassie or Maddy, but Ali. Someone who didn’t call an ambulance or even see if she could be resurrected, just mentally prepped to tell Rue’s mom, Leslie, who seemingly took her time to tell everyone else.

As for how they were affected? It isn’t clear how Maddy was. Lexi regrets their last interaction, but Cassie? With their dad being an addict and her having a sweet moment the last time she saw him, the closest thing to being kind she is able to give to Lexi is that how things end doesn’t affect the hurt you deal with after. This doesn’t necessarily make things better, but with Lexi lacking options, this might be the closest she may get to being consoled.

Which leaves Jules. It could be submitted that, of all the people who could feel guilty, Jules might be at the top, but I think she has resigned herself to the idea of Rue dying a long time ago. Granted, how she was told is hard to say. But, in painting Rue, you can see her painting a memory of Rue as she saw her, not as she was. Which is sort of poetic since Rue allowed Jules, for a time, to be someone bigger than she thought she was. Yet now, she has become the thing she was once trying to escape – a means for older men to feel viable, attractive, and powerful. Even if it is over a thin trans woman.

Peace Be Steel: Alamo, Bishop, Maddy, Ali

Ali has a book filled with names, but it seems Rue broke something in him. Maybe it is because he has daughters, and with Rue, it was like getting a true restart? Someone who knew his past but didn’t hold the animosity that comes from being a witness to someone at their worst? Or simply due to the fact that Rue didn’t want to die, didn’t try to overdose, but was rather killed?

With that in mind, Ali creates a sawed-off shotgun and heads to the Silver Slipper because he wants blood. Praying, going to group, that isn’t enough for something like this. His grief can’t even be muzzled with drugs or alcohol – he needs blood. Which, to much surprise, he gets.

Bishop, be it because Rue grew on him or because he saw what Alamo was going to do, if not doing to Maddy, decided to betray Alamo. Which he wasn’t wrong to do. Alamo used Maddy as a human shield when Ali initially confronted him. Also, Maddy is probably one of the few people who have ever made Bishop smile.

However, the major faux pas is that Alamo, despite talk of honor and him being notably into the cowboy aesthetic, broke the rules of having a draw. Thus leading to Alamo being blown away with a sawed-off shotgun and to much surprise, Ali walking out of there without even so much as a limp.

Leading to the end of the show, which is Ali seeing what this place Rue called paradise is like. He meets with the family introduced at the beginning of the season, reveals Rue’s fate, and stays for dinner. And it seems, in getting to experience one of the last places she found peace, Ali sees her and can feel like she is in a better place, truly. Giving him the relief he needs.

New Characters in Episode 8

G (Marshawn Lynch)

  • Character Summary: G is by no means a new character, but, for the most part, he has made a few comments but didn’t do anything of note. However, in this episode, he plays a major role in extending Rue’s life, even if just for a day or two.

Review and Commentary

Highlights

The Tears I Shed [90/100]

It can be easy to forget how much fictional characters can affect you. You know it is an actor playing them, they are on a set with stunt people, and everything is scripted, sometimes down to where someone will move and how they will speak. Yet, even with being someone who watches movies and TV shows daily, and occasionally gets a book or play in, I got lost in more than just a moment.

Whether it was seeing Rue with her mom, Fez, this idea that the hard times were finally over and this newborn faith really protected her, I suspended disbelief. Which, I don’t think I can overstate, becomes really hard, especially when you are watching something at home and can pause at will. But, I couldn’t hit that key or tap the mouse – I was crying.

I mourned a character who I didn’t personally know and who narrated their life in such a way that it was always clear that there was supposed to be a separation from what you are experiencing to where they were. But, despite the arm’s length Rue pushed you to stay at, how could you not want to embrace her and cry when it became clear, she could not outrun death?

Ali’s Mourning [92/100]

While Ali shooting up the Silver Slipper was epic, and definitely pushes the idea that a Denzel v. Colman action movie would be top tier, I think the mourning hit hardest. As noted, it isn’t 100% clear what made Rue different for Ali. Did she last longer than the others? Was it because she was a Black girl? Maybe she reminded him of his daughters if they took the same road he did? It’s hard to say.

However, something about that reaction to her death, the five stages of grief, hit me in such a way that I found myself mourning a child I have yet to have. They always say the best type of art makes you feel something. Even if it is anger or disgust, if you react, the job was done right.

With the finale, I truly got into the experience of losing someone and both wanting the justice for their life but also wanting to find peace regarding their death. Never mind, find a means to convince yourself, even if the logic may not hold for some without faith, that the person is at peace, in a better place, and while physically not capable of being there for you, spiritually they can check in and let you know they are alright.

Enough Being Given To Let You Know What’s Next For Those Who Lived [85/100]

There wasn’t an epilogue for Euphoria, but you were given a sense of what was next for many people. Jules, she has resigned herself to being the woman that the girl in her didn’t want to be. She is a performance of femininity, trapped in the shell of what a man wants her to be. Is it partly due to survival? Yes. But also because she doesn’t have someone like Rue who gives her the love and room to explore safely.

Lexi? She is affected, but like Jules, I think she accepted Rue’s death a long time ago. It was just a matter of when, to a point, how, and how ready in the given moment would they be for it? Sadly, I don’t think Lexi was ready, and with only Cassie to talk to, I don’t think she has even fully processed how big a loss she just experienced. But it will probably make for a good story for her to tell one day.

Cassie? I think she is in an odd place. Nate is gone, the main person she found herself performing for, since she was a teenager. So without that, even if Maddy is still pushing her to be a character for the world, I think she is now free enough to discover who she is when not gazed upon. And maybe Nate’s death might be the trigger she needed to have her coming of age story begin without the heavy weight of being sexualized?

Which isn’t to downplay that she will likely continue to make money as an OnlyFans model. It’s just, I think the ownership of her sexuality is different now.

Speaking of Maddy, I think seeing so much violence and death is going to affect her. I can’t say how much and what will come of it, but I think her faith is going to play a bigger role going forward. A man could have killed her, but didn’t. She survived a violent shootout. Also, considering the debt Alamo put her in and even what Naz could have done, Maddy has basically had her life reset. So now comes the question of what she is going to do with all this drive, all this talent, knowing how easy she could give herself over to darkness?

Leaving, for me, Bishop. I think he has enough respect to continue what Alamo started. However, like Maddy, I think there is a level of ambiguity there where you don’t really know how it may go. I feel like Bishop isn’t for doing things flashy, the attention, or getting high on his own supply. So being seen as a square may lead him to be tested. However, I think Alamo did teach him enough about giving people second chances, Black people especially, that he can revive the good that Alamo had and make it better.

Granted, in an organization that exploits vulnerable women, isn’t above murder, deals with drugs, and more. But, I think Bishop is posed to do things in a way where, if you do get killed, it is because you had to go. Not just to make a point.

On The Fence

Nate’s Death Felt Swept Under The Rug [74/100]

I get that Nate wasn’t a saint, but that was Cassie’s husband, Maddy’s first love, and likely last boyfriend, so as much as I get they are in too deep to wallow in sorrow, it felt like things moved on quickly. Now, you could submit that Nate was just a warm-up for Rue’s death, a sign that no one was going to be safe.

I could give you that.

But it still doesn’t sit right that, considering the monstrous effect he had on Cassie and Maddy’s trajectory, he is treated as someone missing, and his death will be a shared secret between frenemies.

Side Note

Bishop’s Smile

There is something about Bishop and Maddy’s scene in the car, talking about his poodle and her making him smile, that sits with me. Is that the reason he pulled out the bullets from Alamo’s gun? Is his name, in a season notably about faith, supposed to have lived up to what bishops are supposed to do?

I mean, take note, the other member of Alamo’s crew, the young one, could have shot at or killed Ali, but Bishop told him to settle down. Also, while Bishop sometimes seemed like the male Laurie, considering how disconnected he was, you can’t deny that even when he was clearly doing something evil, it rarely felt like it was against someone who was good.

So with that smile, I think Bishop saw something good worth protecting. Which isn’t to downplay the innocence of characters like Kitty and the other girls, but I think Bishop maybe saw them as too far gone, while Maddy was still a good one who could be saved. Heck, maybe that Rue, despite her flaws, and being like an annoying little sister, should have been saved too.

Though who knows, maybe the reason Rue didn’t have a more violent death was because Bishop intervened?

Overall

Our Overall Rating [85/100]

I know many people will disagree with how Sam Levinson has handled the third season. Many storylines lost their momentum, didn’t live up to their potential, and made it seem some were brought back simply because their name held weight. But I would submit, in the finale, especially regarding Zendaya and Colman Domingo’s scenes and performances, for a notable amount of time, you could forget the overall criticisms of the season.

What we got through Rue’s death, Ali’s revenge, and finding peace is the best of Euphoria as a series. It was a reminder that, when seeking truth, not just spectacle, allowing some refinement to raw emotions, this is an undeniably good show. The type that will hopefully end here because it can’t get any better and has so many opportunities and examples of how it could get worse.

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Amari is the founder and head writer of Wherever-I-Look.com and has been reviewing media since 2010. He approaches each production with hope, rooting for every story to succeed, and believes criticism should come from unmet potential, while praise is reserved for work that meets or exceeds expectations.