Immediately after its debut, Sam Levinson's Euphoria became a HBO show that got the world talking. The Emmy-winning series (which is streaming with a HBO Max subscription) is a cultural phenomenon, and we're currently halfway through its long-awaited third season. And while the show found a way to honor Angus Cloud by keeping Fezco alive, I'm shocked that the new season hasn't even mentioned Barbie Ferreira's character Kat.
Euphoria Season 3 has been a doozy so far, picking up years after the characters graduated from High School. Cassie's wedding to Nate brought together the full cast (including BB aka Vape Girl), in an episode that also honored late actor Angus Cloud. But the show hasn't even acknowledged the character of Kat throughout the first four episodes.
Euphoria Hasn't Even Mentioned Kat In Season 3's First Four Episodes
Following Season 2, actress Barbie Ferreira announced she wouldn't be returning as Kat when the show (eventually) returned for its third season. Despite being one of the main characters, and having a truly iconic storyline in Season 1, Kat was largely pushed to the sideline for the show's sophomore season. And after rumors that she was clashing with Sam Levinson, the actress' tenure ultimately ended prior to Season 3 debuting earlier this year.
It's because of these rumors that Kat not being mentioned at all in Euphoria's third seasons (so far) is so noticeable. It's unclear what happened between her and Levinson behind the scenes, but the character being completely ignored feels like a purposeful choice by those in charge of the HBO drama.
I'm not saying that Barbie Ferreira had to actually appear or that Kat should still be close to the other characters. In fact, it's perfectly logical that a member of the friend group would fall out post-High School. But the fact that neither Rue's narration nor any scenes between the girls have acknowledged Kat at all is wild to me. Especially when you consider that in-universe she was originally Maddy's best friend.
In many ways Euphoria's third season has felt purposeful about its messaging, to powerful results. In addition to Fez's friendship with Rue, late actor Eric Dane's ALS symptoms were flawlessly incorporated to Cal's storyline, allowing Dane to shine in one of his final roles despite some difficulty with speaking. So perhaps this is influencing how I'm feeling about Kat (and Ferreira by proxy) being completely ignored. But I do know I'm not the only fan who is both engaged and engaging with this new batch of episodes.
Euphoria airs new episodes Sundays on HBO as part of the 2026 TV schedule. We'll just have to wait and see if the latter half of the season proves me wrong and makes any mention of Kat.
