*Euphoria 3* has dropped to 7.7 on Douban—where exactly did Season 3 start to become annoying?

I opened the trending searches on the subway and saw that the rating for Euphoria 3 had dropped again, and my first reaction was a bit of surprise. After all, when this HBO hit first got rated, it still had an 8.8 on Douban, looking very much like the familiar strong start. But as more episodes came out and word of mouth spread, it had already fallen to 7.7 by the time of writing, and that kind of drop really isn’t small.

As a casual viewer, I’m not really the type to study camera work and writing in detail. What I care more about is whether a show feels smooth to watch and whether the emotions land. What made the first two seasons so compelling was that sense of adolescent confusion, chaos, and emotional tug-of-war—it felt like stumbling across an emotionally overloaded short video late at night: you know it’s heavy, but you still can’t stop watching. But judging from a lot of the negative reviews now, the biggest disappointment with Season 3 is exactly that this layer of feeling has faded, and what’s left comes off as dull and ordinary.

Some viewers in the comments have already bluntly asked, “Is this still the Euphoria I watched before?” It’s a short sentence, but it hits hard, because it shows that people aren’t just nitpicking—they genuinely feel that the show’s whole vibe has changed. Others are directing their criticism at the director’s aesthetic choices, saying Season 3 feels like a low-budget version of Breaking Bad: trying to lean into a heavier crime-driven tone, yet failing to create a distinctive style of its own.

On top of that, overseas media reviews haven’t been especially kind either. The New York Post previously described it as “Breaking Bad crashing into Looney Tunes,” and the meaning is pretty obvious: it wants to create something brutal, exaggerated, and epic, but what ended up onscreen feels a little absurd and off the rails. It’s actually a pretty vivid comparison—like ordering an exquisitely crafted specialty drink, only to find it tastes like convenience-store soda mixed with coffee. There are lots of elements in it, but something just feels off.

Looking at the trend alone, this ratings drop also points to a very real issue: audiences have less and less patience for sequels. A first season can break out on freshness and bold expression, but what follows has to be backed up by consistently solid content, or the reputation will slide very quickly—like a mobile game that launches with overly generous rewards, only for the later content not to keep up, and players immediately walk away. For people who haven’t started Season 3 yet, my suggestion is to wait and see how a few episodes are received before deciding whether to catch up—especially if what you loved most about Season 1 was that sense of youthful pain and character struggle, because this season may not give you the same kind of satisfaction.

That said, a 7.7 isn’t a total collapse. It’s just that compared with its opening 8.8, the sense of disappointment is especially obvious. For longtime fans, that’s the most frustrating kind of feeling—not that it’s completely unwatchable, but that you can see it drifting farther and farther away from the version you once loved.