Euphoria has been condemned by viewers after they were subjected to a slew of disgusting and disturbing scenes in the second episode of the HBO show.
After being astounded by the content in episode one, which saw Sydney Sweeney ‘sexualise infancy’ with her baby cosplay, and vile scenes involving excrement, fans had been hoping for a return to the gritty storylines and complex content that shone through in the first two seasons.
However, episode two of season three proved that creator Sam Levinson was still out to shock and scandalise viewers, with the episode, titled America My Dream, featuring more disturbing content.
One unsettling moment depicted Faye, played by porn star-turned-actress Chloe Cherry, in a graphic sex scene with a white supremacist drug dealer, who had a swastika tattoo.
Eyebrows were raised by the X-rated content, which took place in front of a Nazi flag and was followed immediately by a close up shot of a pig releasing its bowels.
The raucous romp had been halted by the discovery of the pig, that had been sent to their home amid a row between local drug dealers.
Euphoria viewers have condemned is Nazi-fuelled sex scenes after the Sydney Sweeney series shocked with unnecessary racial slurs and gratuitous nudity
One unsettling scene showed Faye, played by porn star-turned-actress Chloe Cherry, in a graphic sex scene with a white supremacist drug dealer, who had a swastika tattoo
Eyebrows were raised by the X-rated content, which took place in front of a Nazi flag and was followed immediately by a close up shot of a pig releasing its bowels
The vile scenes had followed on from more gruesome content in episode one that showed Faye and Rue (Zendaya) defecating in a strainer to retrieve clingfilmed wraps of fentanyl that they had swallowed to smuggle across the Mexico/US border. Stomachs were turned in particular when a dog was seen eating the excrement.
While fans had expressed their disgust online, the vile content continued with the gruesome shot of the pig in episode two.
The row that had sparked the deployment of the pig had also alarmed viewers, who took issue with the ‘unnecessary’ use of racial slurs.
Drug dealer Laurie (Martha Kelly) was involved in a heated row with fellow dealer Alamo Brown (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), when one of her associates told Alamo to ‘shove it up his n***** a**’.
While Alamo questioned why he ‘had to make it about race’, he was seemingly more outraged by being called a ‘pig’ later on by Laurie – the comment that prompted him to send a pig to the house in retaliation.
The N word was also used by stripper Angel (Priscilla Delgado) as a greeting to Rue.
Viewers were left confused by his response to the row, writing on X/Twitter: ‘Saying being called a pig is worse than being called a n**** blew me,’ ‘That’s how we KNEW a White guy wrote this smh.’
Chris later explained the reasoning behind the exchange, telling Variety: ‘I just thought it was interesting to play with the racial dynamics of these two crews.
‘With the pig comment… It opens up this insecurity in him that allows us to start to see how human he is. There are things someone could say to any one of us that may seem insignificant, but it sticks in our head.’
Adewale added: ‘As a man who pulled himself up from his bootstraps post-slavery to become what he regards as the emperor of his empire, it was interesting that “pig” was worse for Alamo than the n-word.
‘For me, it was about trying to figure out why, and Sam gave me license in the scene. In so doing, it was like, “Why is this triggering his trauma?
‘Well, a pig is an animal that eats its own feces. And here I am, the emperor, and she’s calling me a pig.” It triggered all of his insecurity.’
Viewers were also appalled by how far Sydney Sweeney’s character, Cassie Howard, was willing to go, with it being the actress’s most X-rated scenes in her career yet.
After being dressed as a lingerie-clad dog in episode one, the following installment showed Cassie shooting fetish content as an adult baby before posing fully nude.
Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly lashed out at Sydney while discussing the controversial clip of her character dressed as a baby.
Episode two, titled America My Dream, featured more animals and defecation, with a pig filmed in close up releasing its bowels
The defecating pig scene came seconds after viewers had witnessed Faye, played by porn star-turned-actress Chloe, in a graphic sex scene with a white supremacist drug dealer
Drug dealer Laurie (Martha Kelly) was involved in a row with dealer Alamo Brown (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) when one of her associates told Alamo to ‘shove it up his n***** a**’
Viewers were also appalled by how far Sydney Sweeney’s character, Cassie Howard, was willing to go, with it being the actress’s most X-rated scenes in her career yet
Viewers have been disgusted by the scenes, branding Euphoria ‘fetish slop’, while also being outraged by the use of racial slurs in the episode
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Was Sydney Sweeney’s return to Euphoria a mistake? Actress faces backlash over ‘sexualised’ role
The former Fox News anchor analysed the show’s trailer alongside the hosts of the Ruthless podcast on The Megyn Kelly Show.
‘The truth is – this is sexualising infancy. That’s what this is,’ Kelly said to her cohosts while showing an image of Sydney ‘spread eagle’ on a couch in a baby costume.
She went on to slam fans who defended its content as a ‘pretty common kink,’ even branding Euphoria’s creator Sam as ‘sick.’
Yet episode two merely ramped up the provocative content.
While posing for photos for her OnlyFans account, Cassie wasseen topless while ice cream drips down her chest, while another scene she is clad in a soaking wet, see-through American flag.
Sam previously defended Cassie’s antics, referencing the puppy play in episode one.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: ‘[Cassie] has got her dog house and her little dog ears and the nose, and that has its own humour, but what makes the scene is the fact that her housekeeper is the one filming it.
‘What we wanted to always find is the other layer of absurdity that we’re able to tie into it so that we’re not too inside of her fantasy or illusion – the gag is to jump out, to break the wall.’
The show’s creator has also staunchly defended the explicit nature of his work, noting during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival that, ‘We live in a very sexualised world.
‘The influence of pornography is really strong in terms of the psyche of young people.’
Ahead of its premiere, the third season was torched with early reviews, with the show being labeled as an ‘unhinged disaster’ yet ‘pretty uneventful.’
The season currently holds a 46 percent ‘rotten’ rating on reviews aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes, in comparison to season one and two’s 80 and 78 percent ‘fresh’ score.
Euphoria airs at 9pm (ET/PT) on HBO on Sundays. In the UK, the series airs at 2am and 9pm on Mondays on Sky Atlantic and streams on HBO Max and Sky Go/NOW
