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 Why ‘Euphoria’ Had to End This Way. For Good.

In an exclusive interview, Sam Levinson explained why he felt it was time to bring the series to a close and responded to its detractors.

This interview includes spoilers for the final episode of “Euphoria.”

For Sam Levinson, the writer, director and creator of “Euphoria,” the death of a major character at the end of the show’s third season on Sunday was the unavoidable tragedy that lurks all too close to any story of modern addiction.

It also meant that HBO’s buzzy hit was finished — for good — despite the careful language of its mastermind and network, who never referred in advance to the final episode as a “series finale.”

“In terms of the story that we set out to tell, which is a story about addiction and its consequences, this feels like the end to me,” Levinson said, putting to rest any speculation in an exclusive interview on Popcast, The New York Times pop culture show.

With the fatal overdose of Rue Bennett, the rascally opiate addict played by Zendaya since 2019, on fentanyl-laced pills, “Euphoria” is over, HBO confirmed.

The “Euphoria” story is “a tragic one in the end — but it’s also the truth,” Levinson said. “If you are experimenting or taking drugs today, it’s very possible it’ll kill you.”He called the series finale — which also featured Rue’s longtime sponsor and surrogate father, Ali (Colman Domingo), exacting revenge on her supplier — a tribute to the actor Angus Cloud, who played the cuddly drug dealer Fezco in the show’s first two seasons. Cloud, who struggled with addiction, died in 2023 from a fentanyl-related overdose during the writing of the final season.