Euphoria season 3 episode 3: Fans react to Nate and Cassie's 'horrid' wedding

*Major spoilers ahead for season 3, episode 3*

Euphoria Sundays are so back.

The third episode, titled "The Ballad of Paladin," from the long-awaited third season of the HBO series aired on Sunday night (April 26), where we finally got to see how the characters are getting on in a five-year time jump from high school to their adult lives.

It's been a long time coming for fans, given that the last season aired in early 2022, which has meant there's been almost a four-year gap between seasons.

What happened in episode 3?

Patrick Wymore/HBO

Buckle up - it's an eventful one.

At the beginning of the episode, we learn how Jules (Hunter Schafer) became a sugar baby through her roommate and later dropped out of art school, and we see that she now only has one client - Ellis (Sam Trammell), a plastic surgeon who is apparently into wrapping her up in plastic....

As for Rue (Zendaya), she's having a whale of a time working for Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), selling guns that were "headed to Mexico," but when Rue naively talks of going "legit" to Alamo, that goes down like a lead balloon.

Previously, Laurie (Martha Kelly) called Alamo a pig over the phone. Laurie was gifted with a literal pig in the last episode, and in this episode, we saw her send the pig back, having it dropped into the Silver Slipper, which caused a commotion and was ultimately shot dead. But Alamo wants to hurt Laurie in revenge, to which Rue informs that the way to do that is through Laurie's bird, Paladin - named after the mercenary from the old 50s Western Have Gun—Will Travel, which Laurie often plays.

(We also get another Rosalía cameo as stripper Magick, who pole dances while wearing a neck brace).

Rue invites Jules to Nate (Jacob Elordi) and Cassie's (Sydney Sweeney) wedding as a plus one, something which Jules is hesitant about (given her history with Nate and his father, Cal (Eric Dane)), but ends up accepting the invite.

Patrick Wymore/HBO

It's the wedding we've all been anticipating, and Maddy (Alexa Demie) turns up to her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend's nuptials in a revealing green dress with a matching fur and a rosary dangling past her hips, and we see how the day affects her, and she ends up leaving early - little does she know she's dodged a bullet...

(We also get a cameo from BB (Sophia Rose Wilson), who is heavily pregnant and questions Maddy if she's changed her number, awkward).

As Cassie walks down the aisle, her mother (Alanna Ubach) gives a dark, comedic and foreboding monologue where she recalls how her wedding to Cassie’s dad was the last happy moment they had together, as we see Cassie tear up as she makes her way to Nate, who had been puking and breathing through a paper bag just before.

Patrick Wymore/HBO

The newlywed couple seem happy during their first kiss as husband and wife (spoiler alert, this doesn't last very long). At the wedding reception, there's a huge ice sculpture of the couple, as it appears no expense was spared despite Nate's dire finances, which we learned about in the last episode.

Speaking of, Naz (Jack Topalian), the man Nate owes money to, suddenly appears behind them in the middle of dinner, threatening Nate and informing Cassie about his money troubles. “Is everything okay?” Lexi (Maude Apatow) questions. “Of course!” a teary Cassie insists. “It’s my wedding day. What a weird question to ask on the best day of my life.” It's giving the iconic season 2 scene where Cassie says she's “never, ever been happier!”

After this threat, the not-so-happy couple take to the floor for their first dance, where Cassie can't hold back her tears during the cheesy routine as she says, "I don't wanna be poor."

Rue has to leave the wedding (and Jules) as she gets a call from Bishop (Darrell Britt-Gibson) that she has to do a pickup from Laurie for Alamo. On her way there, she gets a call from Fezco (Angus Cloud), and in the one-sided conversation, friends joke about him escaping prison with parkour.

At one point, we see Jules reunite with Cal at the bar, who revealed he got caught sleeping with a minor, "two and a half months away from turning 18," as he tells Jules that they "lied about his age, just like you," and after taking a plea deal, Cal is now on the sex offenders register. He then apologises to Jules for making a sex tape (which Nate later destroyed) without her knowledge. Taking a smoke break outside, Nate joins Jules as they share a moment where he thanks her for coming.

Patrick Wymore/HBO

In one of the most tense scenes of the episode, Rue and Bishop show up at Laurie’s under the guise of purchasing drugs, but they are there so Bishop can poison her beloved bird, Paladin.

As for the wedding, it's become more chaotic with Cassie - champagne bottle in hand - confronting Nate, "You’re not who you say you are." She adds, “You want me to be the perfect housewife? You want me to cook and clean and suck your c***? And you don’t even have money for food. You’re not a man. Men provide.”

Nate tries to reassure her, but she accidentally pops the cork in his eye - and we get a tiny glimpse of the old, anger-prone Nate. At the end of the night, they get in a limo together, where Nate promises to get them out of the hole they're in, telling her he'll be a better husband and, one day, a father.

By the time they get back home, the newlyweds appear to have made up with the groom carrying the bride over the threshold.

Although this happiness is short-lived when they see Nas in their living room waiting for them, we then see one of his men beat Nate up badly. Cassie, in the middle of it all, gets a bloody nose and starts crying like a baby, wailing, "This is so unfair!"

"It was supposed to be the best day of my life!” she adds, not paying attention to Nate, who is dragged around like a rag doll.

Naz's men then take Nate's shoe off and cut off his pinky toe with bloody gushing everywhere (not one for those who are squeamish) as Nas informs Cassie, "You know, Cassie, some women inherit wealth, but others inherit debt."

It seems Rue is also in trouble, as she gets pulled over by the DEA, and the episode ends back at Laurie's, where Paladin, the bird, takes a sip of water, falls over and dies.

Fans react to the third episode

Since the episode dropped, viewers have been sharing their thoughts and feelings about the antics and sheer chaos from Nate and Cassie's wedding.

One person said, "They got Jules wrapped in plastic wrap what the f*** is this show bro."

"Jules really quit art school to be wrapped in plastic by this creep, rich white man with many fetishes," a second person wrote.

A third person said, "Nate getting beat up so bad they chopped his toe off, Cassie miserable and crying her eyes with her nose bleeding on her wedding day on top of the fact that they’re so in dept that they got attacked in their own home… oh Maddy, you dodged the biggest bullet of your life."

"This entrance… Maddy Perez, you will always be famous," a fourth person commented.

A fifth person added, "This generationally c***y shot is ruined by the music… why didn’t they have Labrinth for this season…"

"Me the whole episode watching Maddy just stare pathetically at Cassie and Nate instead of doing something messy and interesting," someone else posted.

"Cassie’s mom while walking her down the aisle."

"That was the worst 'first dance' I’ve ever seen omg."

"Cassie crying over her bleeding and not Nate getting his ass beat behind her."

"This got me," one viewer said, referring to when Nate and Cassie's friends found out they're in debt after giving them money.

"Cal trying to get Jules' attention from across the reception."

"Lexi still being a virgin at her big age finally someone from this show I can relate to."

"NATES TOE BEING CUT OFF AND LEAKING?"

"This MCU level cameo," referring to BB.

"Lexi after tonight’s episode preparing to write a show about Cassie and Nate's horrid wedding to impress her boss."

"Rue calling Fez and there's no voice on the other line…"

"Fez phone call but can’t hear his voice…"

"And Rue's so f***ed now that the DEA showed up."

"Cassie and Nate’s wedding episode tonight."

Where can I watch Euphoria?

Season 1, 2 and the first two episodes of season 3 of Euphoria are now available to watch on HBO Max.

Elsewhere from Indy100, Euphoria S3: Fans give their verdict on premiere episode, Euphoria season 3: Fans react to second episode 'America My Dream'.

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