Euphoria viewers forced to skip 'uncomfortable' and 'disturbing' scene in HBO's latest episode
Euphoria viewers are reporting that they're skipping one particularly disturbing scene in the latest episode of HBO's infamous Euphoria.
Few shows provoke a reaction quite like Euphoria. Since its third season arrived, the HBO drama has been generating debate online, not just for its storylines, but for the unflinching way it depicts drug use, sexual exploitation and mental health struggles.
Some episodes have pushed boundaries harder than others, including an X-rated scene involving a mummification kink.
Meanwhile, there was recent confusion among UK viewers who found the show's second episode missing entirely from Amazon Prime despite holding an HBO Max subscription.
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But it is the most recent episode, 'Kitty Likes To Dance' which aired on 3 May, that left many viewers reaching for the fast-forward button.
The episode introduces Kitty (played by Anna Van Patten), a young woman working at a strip club where Rue Bennett (played by Zendaya) also finds herself entangled as part of a deeply difficult chapter in her life.
Kitty is taken to a private room with a group of men, and what follows is depicted in a way that many viewers found unsettling as Rue watches the events unfold through security monitors at the club.
Afterwards, Rue asks Kitty directly whether she is being forced into her work, to which Kitty responds with: “I like to dance.”
Social media filled with reactions almost immediately after the episode aired.
On Reddit, one user commented: “The scene with the stripper … and the group of men was just so terribly disturbing and sad.”
Another viewer said: “It made me feel sick.”
A third user admitted: “I had to fast forward through it, too hard to watch.”
Not everyone had negative reactions towards the scene, however. Some viewers argued that depicting difficult realities is precisely what Euphoria does.
As one user put it, the scene was a 'necessary narrative device for the wider story.'
According to Van Patten, the scene was difficult to film, but she felt supported throughout.
“I’m fortunate in that I’ve never been in Kitty’s situation, but yeah, it was tough. It’s sad and it’s dark, but it serves a purpose in the greater story,” she said.
“And luckily, I had so many people there to support me through it. There was an intimacy coordinator, and you’re surrounded by the crew and the cast, and everyone was being very delicate."
She added: "So, I felt like I could go to a darker place and put myself in Kitty’s shoes. Then I went home and took a shower and washed it off.”
Another scene that has caused a particular stir from this episode, involves the ever talked-about Sydney Sweeney as her character Cassie Howard.
As part of Cassie's new life as an adult creator, she attends a Hollywood party filled with influencers and decides to take cocaine for the first time. In the scene Sweeney's character rubs the drug on her genitals, leaving social media shook.
One viewer wrote: "cassie rubbed cocaine on her WHAT?!?! #euphoria", while another joked "cassie having people do coke off her pussy like omg go home #Euphoria".