Euphoria cast and crew 'risked their lives' to pull off season 3 episode 7's shocking twist

Warning: major spoilers for Euphoria season 3 episode 7 ahead

Euphoria is definitely the wildest show on TV right now – for better or for worse – yet many were still shocked to see the twist play out in the third season's seventh episode, spelling out the end for one of the main characters in a gruesome manner.

The star-studded cast of HBO Max's Euphoria have gone through a lot this season, with Sydney Sweeney's Cassie being a particular focus for those on social media as she dives into the world of OnlyFans.

While it might not be quite as hard to watch as one character's initiation into the world of drug mules, Sweeney's character has drawn heavy criticism for its depiction of adult content creation — especially as she appears to share a type of content that would leave her banned on the actual site.

One recent scene even saw the TV crew behind the camera questioned, as fans speculated about a lack of women on set, yet both the crew members and the cast themselves were willing to put their lives at risk to pull off what's likely the third season's biggest twist.

Much of the conversation off the back of episode 7 has surrounded the death of Jacob Elordi's character, Nate, who got married to Cassie earlier on in the season and has been dealing with the threat of loan sharks ever since.

Nate was buried alive by loan sharks after failing to pay his debts, leaving him to perish from a rattlesnake bite (HBO Max)

After Cassie fails to hand over the $1 million dollars owed by her husband, Nate is buried alive in the middle of the desert. Chaos ensues and Cassie pulls off a wild plan to try and save him, but she tragically discovers that a rattlesnake had actually found its way into the coffin and delivered a deadly venomous bite — something that was seemingly foreshadowed in the show's poster.

As reported by Esquire, it's within this particular snake that the actual actors and crew put their lives at risk, however, as showrunner Sam Levinson used a real snake that could have killed someone if things went pear shaped.

The snake itself was thankfully handled by an incredibly talented team of animal wranglers, but an anecdote from Levinson revealed quite how close everyone was to death in the worst case scenario.

Levinson used a real rattlesnake for Nate's death, putting the lives of cast and crew at risk (Getty Stock)

"When we were shooting with the rattlesnakes out in Lancaster, they said, 'If you get bitten by a rattlesnake, you have about an hour before you die. And unfortunately, the nearest hospital's an hour and a half away, so... don't get bitten by our rattlesnakes," the showrunner revealed to Esquire.

The worst is seemingly yet to come though, as Levinson warns Euphoria fans that the next episode's events will be spoiled for them if they're not watching it live, indicating that something even more shocking is going to happen to close out the season.