Euphoria Season 3 Has Failed The Character Who Could’ve Saved The Show

The following article contains spoilers for Euphoria season 3, episode 6, “Stand Still and See”.

Like the actress who plays her, Cassie Jacobs (née Howard) has such a commanding presence that it can be hard to remember there are other people in the room. At least, that’s how her little sister Lexi feels in Euphoria. Though Lexi is technically a Euphoria main character, the show has continuously sidelined her, and that’s never been more of a problem than in season 3.

Since Euphoria‘s controversial season 3 premiere, the show has felt more like a disjointed Western thriller than a sparkly, dystopian teen drama. Unlike past seasons that centered on the characters’ sexuality, mental health, and addiction issues, season 3 finds protagonist Rue Bennett in the middle of a crime war between strip club owner Alamo and drug queenpin Laurie.

Of course, Sydney Sweeney’s R-rated scenes as Cassie are what have captured the most pop culture attention. In a storyline more about gratuity than depth, Cassie is pursuing a career as an OnlyFans content creator, and the extremes she goes to have baited the rage of many a viewer.

Then there’s Lexi, who’s chasing her dreams of becoming a Hollywood screenwriter the old-fashioned way — by working from the ground up. Lexi works as an assistant to high-powered showrunner Patty Lance, and has worked hard to earn her boss’s respect, only to once again be relegated to Cassie’s shadow when her sister books a bit part on Patty’s nighttime soap opera, L.A. Nights.

While this may look like history repeating itself, Cassie and Lexi aren’t in high school anymore, and the youngest Howard sister has way more power this time. In a season that features multiple crime lords, Lexi may just be the most dangerous character in Euphoria.

Cassie Or Nate Could Die If Lexi Kills Her Sister Off L.A. Nights

In Euphoria season 3, episode 6, “Stand Still and See,” Patty tells Lexi to write the next script for L.A. Nights. However, this is bittersweet because the only reason Lexi is being given her dream opportunity is Cassie — Patty wants Lexi to adapt the sanitized version of Cassie’s OnlyFans career path that she sold the showrunner on to get a bigger role.

Though she tries to hide it, it’s obvious that Lexi is furious that her big break still comes with Cassie being in the spotlight. However, Lexi’s friend Gillie presents her with a radical suggestion: that Lexi kill Cassie’s character off of L.A. Nights in her script. “If someone doesn’t die periodically, people get bored,” Gillie says, in what seems like an obvious bit of foreshadowing.

Lexi is immediately intrigued by the idea, and from where she’s sitting, it’s a good one. On the surface, Lexi is doing right by her sister by writing her a big, juicy part, but by killing her character, Lexi gets Cassie out of her hair while potentially getting credit for writing a thrilling script.

However, Lexi has even more power than she realizes because if she follows through with Gillie’s plan, it could have deadly consequences. Unbeknownst to Lexi, Nate and Cassie have run afoul of some very dangerous people thanks to Nate’s terrible financial decisions. The only reason Nate is still alive — albeit missing his pinky toe and ring finger — is because of the large sums Cassie has earned through her OnlyFans work.

With Cassie having deleted her OnlyFans account as per Patty’s instructions, the aspiring actress is entirely dependent on her L.A. Nights role to make her rich and famous. Should she be killed off the show, Cassie will have no money to send to her husband, and Nate’s shady investor very well may come knocking. After all, he knows Cassie’s address.

Lexi’s Script Could Be A Darker Escalation Of Her Stage Play In Euphoria Season 2

Cassie Howard (Sydney Sweeney) and Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) watching Lexi's play in Euphoria season 2

Even without Gillie’s ominous words, the show has already foreshadowed Lexi’s ability for revenge via the written word in Euphoria season 2’s dramatic ending. The sophomore season’s final two episodes completely revolved around Lexi’s play, which was a paper-thinly veiled autobiographical account of what it was like growing up and having an attention-sucking, male validation-seeking bombshell for an older sister.

Cassie wasn’t the only target of Lexi’s ire, as one of the play’s most memorable scenes was a homoerotic, brutal skewering of Nate’s toxic masculinity. The scene caused such an uproar that Nate stormed out of the auditorium and dumped Cassie on the spot. Cassie, in turn, had a chaotic meltdown onstage, publicly berating Lexi.

Lexi Howard’s Euphoria Timeline
Season 1	Rue and Cassie’s protector, exists more as an observer than a participant.
Season 2	Develops a friendship with Fezco that has romantic undertones, writes and puts on an incendiary play that rocks East Highland High School.
Season 3	Works as an assistant in Hollywood, gets the opportunity to write a script that may kill her sister.

In Euphoria season 3, Lexi is now using her sister as a muse again. Back in high school, things were finally starting to turn around for Cassie, only for Lexi’s play to destroy her dreams of being Nate Jacobs’ girlfriend. In the real world, the consequences are even higher. Instead of getting dumped, Cassie could end up a widow, all thanks to her wallflower sister’s script.

More Lexi Screentime Could Have Saved Euphoria Season 3

Lexi (Maude Apatow), Maddy (Alexa Demie), and Jules (Hunter Schafer) in Euphoria season 3-1

This Lexi storyline is gripping drama and one of the best parts of Euphoria season 3. However, Lexi still didn’t get the screentime she deserved in episode 6, with most of it spent on Alamo and Laurie’s intensifying battle. This is especially unfortunate because Lexi is one of the only remaining characters that makes season 3 still feel like Euphoria.

Lexi dropped an absolute bomb in Euphoria‘s “Red Wedding” episode: at the reception, Lexi told Jules that she has never had sex. In a show so focused on sexuality, this is absolutely huge, though the revelation was immediately glossed over. This is somewhat understandable given the gruesome liberation of Nate’s pinky toe in the episode’s final scene, but it’s infuriating that Euphoria hasn’t turned this into a storyline.

Lexi’s explanation to Jules of “It’s better than herpes” is obviously a dismissive remark meant to mask the real truth. Sadly, though, the audience doesn’t know what the truth is. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with abstaining from sex, but Lexi’s growing attraction to Fezco in season 2 made it seem like she was at least open to the idea at one point.

Fezco actor Angus Cloud tragically passed away on July 31, 2023, at the age of 25. Euphoria creator Sam Levinson didn’t want to kill his character off the show, so season 3 sees Fezco in prison, making periodic phone calls to the other characters.

It’s likely not an STD that has scared Lexi away from having sex, but getting hurt. Through her mother and older sister, Lexi has seen how destructive romantic and sexual relationships can be, and the fallout that comes with it — Suze numbs herself with wine to cope, while Cassie went all in on her addiction to male validation. Lexi doesn’t want to end up like that, and the fact that her first shot at romance ended with her potential paramour going to jail may feel portentous.

Ultimately, though, this is all speculation because Euphoria refuses to go there, which is incredibly frustrating because Lexi’s sexuality would be a much better storyline than, say, Faye’s descent into Nazism. However, season 3 is too disjointed for that. An Instagram meme poked fun at this, stating that the characters all think they’re in different movies or shows, with Lexi thinking she’s in the hit HBO Max comedy Hacks. Now that’s a show that deserves her — because Euphoria certainly doesn’t.