Euphoria season 3 slammed as 'an unhinged disaster' by critics as first reactions to the hit HBO Max show's return flood in

• Euphoria season 3 branded as 'an unhinged disaster' as first critic reviews roll in
• The HBO Max show has scored 57% on Rotten Tomatoes after its first 19 reviews
• Episodes air weekly from April 12 until May 31

The first critic reviews and reactions to Euphoria season 3 — which hits HBO Max weekly from April 12 — are in, and it's not amazing news for creator Sam Levinson and his cast.

After a four-year hiatus, new episodes have been slammed as an "unhinged disaster," with the first 19 reviews leaving season 3 with a meagre score of 57% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Five years have passed for the former students of East Highland High, and life for them has undergone significant yet unexpected change. Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) and Nate (Jacob Elordi) are engaged and living in the suburbs, and Jules (Zendaya) owes money to some notoriously nasty new drug kingpins.

If you look for them, you'll find a rare few positive comments on what's to come in Euphoria season 3... but let's dig deeper into what allegedly hasn't worked.

'It should be great, but instead it's gross'

Euphoria Season 3 | Trailer 2 | HBO Max - YouTube

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Our opening "unhinged disaster" remark comes courtesy of The New York Post, with the review going on to add that season 3 has "ludicrous situations that feel like Breaking Bad meets Looney Tunes.”

Mashable agrees that "A time jump and drastic reinvention can't save Euphoria from itself," explaining that "the path Levinson chooses for Euphoria Season 3 opens the show up to its worst impulses, marring its technical splendor and strong performances with exploitative storylines that feel primed for internet outrage."

BBC Culture concluded that Euphoria season 3 has "become a show with very little to say."

However, The Independent argues that it remains a "generation-defining show that paints a clear-eyed, unflattering portrait of modern America."

There are a few points worth noting here, particularly that critics were seemingly only able to watch the first three episodes out of the season's eight. This means that there's a good chance that critic and fan opinion could both change as the weeks continue, considering that most of the series still remains unwatched.

Then there's the opinion deftly summed up in the above X post. Because the third season took so long to film, especially compared to the first two seasons, there are likely to be more teething issues than usual.

We won't know anything for certain until Euphoria begins airing, but we can rest assured that it will remain in cultural conversation for better or worse.

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