After seven years and three series, Euphoria finally came to an end this week. And after a scandal-plagued third series, fans had been hoping the finale would redeem the once respected show's reputation. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case for many viewers, who have called out creator Sam Levinson for his 'disrespectful' tribute to Angus Cloud, who Sam decided to include through the use of archived footage. During the explosive finale, titled In God We Trust, Angus made a posthumous appearance following his death from an accidental drug overdose in 2023 at the age of 25.In the episode, Angus appeared as a hallucination when protagonist Rue, played by Zendaya, accidentally overdosed after taking painkillers that had been laced with fentanyl without her knowledge. Reflecting on the theme of drugs in the show, Sam said: 'I think it was a way of honouring Angus and saying a prayer for the future.'If you are experimenting or taking drugs today, it's very possible it will kill you.' Angus starred on the drama as drug dealer Fezco, aka Fez, but the actor died after taking a combined overdose of fentanyl, meth, cocaine and benzodiazepines. Euphoria viewers have called out creator Sam Levinson for his 'disrespectful' tribute to Angus Cloud, who Sam decided to include through the use of archived footage But in the finale, he appeared in a throwback sequence during a drug-fuelled hallucination Rue had while she was dying, which saw her rush to meet Fez after he 'escaped' from prisonDespite his passing, his beloved character remained part of the storyline, with the show explaining his on-screen absence by revealing he was serving a 30-year prison sentence.But in the finale, he appeared in a throwback sequence during a drug-fuelled hallucination Rue had while she was dying, which saw her rush to meet Fez after he 'escaped' from prison. 'I have to go get him,' Rue told her Narcotics Anonymous sponsor and mentor Ali Muhammad (Colman Domingo), adding, 'I promised him that if he ever got out, I would go pick him up. I have to go.'In a callback to the first season, she drove to his convenience store, which was boarded up and abandoned before finding him in a field, with the pair holding hands and smiling. The viewers were then shown that in reality, Rue was dying and had reached out her hand in a hallucination after taking an accidental overdose - Ali found her dead on his couch in the morning.With the on-screen death mirroring that of Angus' in real life, viewers were quick to call out the show for providing 'no hope' to recovering and reformed addicts, noting that the series showed that despite Rue getting clean, she still succumbed to drugs. Taking to X/Twitter, fans penned: 'Regardless of how beautifully it was done, the fact remains that rue died over being laced, she was sober and was free to have a good life! Her dying is such a terrible ending for a show that is meant to give hope for addicts!';'All this hope for Rue we had and for what? She dies. Thank you for showing us that people with addiction deserves to die too and there's no hope of getting sober one day'; 'Rue being clean but unknowingly dying from Alamo's fake Percs is exactly the wicked irony of drugs. Sobriety doesn't automatically remove the danger around you';'I'm not gonna lie that Euphoria ending makes me never want to do party drugs again. Like the fact anything can be laced with fentanyl is scary'; Rue overdosing after spending so much of the season clean. Hallucinating, reuniting with her mum, Jules, and Fez and the people who meant the most to her. It's such a chilling death but speaks to the dangers of drugs because it only takes one OD.' 'I have to go get him,' Rue told her Narcotics Anonymous sponsor and mentor Ali Muhammad (Colman Domingo), adding, 'I promised him that if he ever got out, I would go pick him up. I have to go' With the on-screen death mirroring that of Angus' in real life, viewers were quick to call out the show for providing 'no hope' to recovering and reformed addicts'What gets me is that Rue died while trying to do better, she was sober, but people thought she had an overdose because she was an addict, so no one had any reason to think otherwise, but in reality she was murdered';'I feel like today's episode of Euphoria could just end like Requiem for a Dream, hopeless, with no prospect of a future, and the characters forced to face the weight of their choices when they finally hit rock bottom'; 'Wait. Was this a new-age requiem for a dream? Everyone ends up sad and alone and suffering under the consequences of their addictions and aspirations?'Others disagreed, saying that Euphoria is a true reflection of what drug addiction does to people's lives. 'A show that is meant to give hope for addicts?" are we watching the same show? Euphoria was never a show of Hope. It was a show to highlight the consequences of the reality of chasing the Euphoric state of mind but never reaching a true state of happiness';Another person agreed, saying: 'My cousin got clean and was getting ready to move to another state for a fresh start. Before leaving he decided to have "one last hoorah" with his friends. He took a small amount of xanax that turned out to be laced with fentanyl. He died. The ending of Euphoria is very real.' Others disagreed, saying that Euphoria is a true reflection of what drug addiction does to people's livesMany have also discussed the parallels between Rue's on-screen death after taking pain killers laced with fentanyl and Angus' real life, overdose after taking a cocktail of substances that included the same fatal drug.Some viewers found the 'tribute' disrespectful, saying: 'I'm sorry but after Angus Cloud died from fentanyl overdose in real life this was extremely unnecessary especially the flashback after it feels like disrespect'.Another said: 'Honestly, what a horrible way to pay tribute to Angus Cloud'.Others found it a more fitting tribute to raise awareness for the realities of drug use, and said: 'I think the way Rue died was somewhat of a tribute to Angus Cloud. He accidentally overdosed shortly after his father's passing. One of the drugs found in his system was fentanyl. And isn't that exactly what the show was about';'I said this season being all about the lives ruined by fentanyl is the ultimate tribute to Angus Cloud'; 'It was a clear tribute to Angus Cloud who died of a fentanyl overdose. It sucks because we all loved Rue but it's an unfortunate reality in life, people die in horrible ways all the time'; 'Rue's death was a direct tribute to Angus Cloud. They both passed away from accidental overdose. Every minute after her & Fez hug was actually, a direct message to the users/drugs of Fent. In an attempt to show that YOU will get the death penalty one way or another'. Many have also discussed the parallels between Rue's on-screen death after taking pain killers laced with fentanyl and Angus' real life, overdose after taking a cocktail of substances that included the same fatal drugDespite the backlash, creator Sam doubled down on the ending, saying in a screening of the finale: 'This is a real show about a real problem that we have in this country, and that's addiction. 'People relapse. They f**k up. They're not ready to get clean. And they weren't dying like they are now with the influx of fentanyl into this country.''I can say with absolute certainty that if I was going through what I went through when I was younger now, I wouldn't be here either, so... There's no reason to sugarcoat it. 'I wanted to tell the story for Angus and for people who weren't granted a second chance.'Amid the backlash, a HBO insider told the Daily Mail that 'the third season was planned as the final and that has not changed.'Elsewhere in the finale, Cassie Howard (Sydney Sweeney) unravelled after her husband Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) was killed off in a gruesome sequence amid a botched attempt to collect a debt he owed in the previous episode.Throughout the series, fans had claimed the show had 'degraded' Sydney, after she took part in a series of X-rated scenes showing her character's move into becoming an OnlyFans creator. Viewers were appalled by how far Sydney had been willing to go for the storyline, dressing as an 'adult baby' as well as going fully nude for scenes.Fans were also disturbed by her character Cassie's 'puppy play' exploits when she dressed up as a lingerie-clad dog, which led to Sam having to defend the scenes.Sam told The Hollywood Reporter: '[Cassie] has got her dog house and her little dog ears and the nose, and that has its own humor, but what makes the scene is the fact that her housekeeper is the one filming it.''What we wanted to always find is the other layer of absurdity that we're able to tie into it so that we're not too inside of her fantasy or illusion - the gag is to jump out, to break the wall.'Meanwhile, Sydney told Entertainment Tonight: 'I mean, Cassie's a crazy character. She will do anything and at all costs to be famous this season, and she makes a lot of very wild and interesting choices.'She also told The Independent in 2022 that she never felt pushed into doing naked scenes, and said Sam welcomed feedback.While Sydney did not strip off for the series finale, fans were left agog by a scene in which her on-screen sister Lexi (Maude Apatow) spoke to her about the significance of the bible while Cassie played with a sex toy.The finale kicked off with a chaotic heist, as Rue broke out of a compound belonging to her former drug boss Laurie (Martha Kelly).In the previous episode she was sent there to retrieve items that were stolen from her current boss's safe.She escaped while Laurie's associate and relative, white supremacist drug dealer Wayne (Toby Wallace) and his girlfriend - and Rue's former friend - Faye Valentine (Chloe Cherry) were supposed to be watching her.After slicing Wayne's leg and punching Faye in the face, Rue bolted with a bag in her hand, narrowly escaping as a pursuing Wayne started shooting at her.The getaway took a bizarre turn when one of Wayne's henchmen temporarily snatched Rue by lassoing and dragging her behind a horse, only for him to be taken out by a sniper bullet from one of Rue's friends, allowing her to escape.Rue brought the bag to her boss, strip club magnate Alamo Brown (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) who told her: 'You was right all along. You and me, we was meant to be.'The bag contained no money, only IDs, which heavily implied that Alamo was involved in sex trafficking.He then told her she was his 'employee of the year' and to take a break from work and 'heal up.'Alamo - who was accidentally tipped off that Rue was working for the DEA - also gave her Percocet for her injuries.Later in the episode, the DEA descended on Laurie's compound, ambushing her in the middle of a massive drug deal just as a border-crossing ambulance packed with fentanyl arrived.Having realised ahead of time that they were being set up, Faye and Wayne managed to make a quick escape.As a panicked Laurie was heard saying 'I can't go to prison', before taking her own life by hanging herself as she jumped from the roof.However, Alamo's henchmen Bishop and Big Eddy switched ambulances, so the DEA only found a dead rat under the floor of the vehicle.Rue then went to her Narcotics Anonymous sponsor and mentor Ali Muhammad's apartment to recover.She took more Percocet and started listening to the Bible on her phone. In a dream like sequence Rue was pictured driving past herself as a kid, alongside her mother and sister.The drive was prompted after Rue hallucinated that her close friend Fezco escaped from prison.'I have to go get him,' Rue told Ali, adding, 'I promised him that if he ever got out, I would go pick him up. I have to go.'In a callback to the first season, she visited his convenience store, which was now boarded up and abandoned. In another throwback scene Rue and Fez were seen looking happy.She later ran into a police blockade, before breaking into her childhood home. There, she encountered her mother Leslie (Nika King), who was seen reaching for her hand.The viewers were then shown that in reality, Rue was on the floor after taking too many pills, and was reaching out her hand into the air.Ali found her dead on his couch in the morning.He later took a sample of the Percocet to test it, and found out it was laced with fentanyl. It turned out Alamo killed Rue as revenge for her working with the DEA.Later, at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, Ali talked about the disease of addiction, and how he thought 'that if you can empathize with an addict, you can empathize with a dealer.'However, he admitted he no longer believes that, and said the 'real disease is people no longer know the difference between right and wrong.'Rue's old girlfriend Jules Vaughn (Hunter Schafer) channeled the loss into her art, painting Rue in bright yellow as she cried.Meanwhile, Cassie was left a widow following her husband's death.Nate had been in heavy debt to gangster Naz (Jack Topalian), who put him in the coffin with a breathing apparatus as a pipe.The plan was to keep Nate in the coffin for a three-day period while his spouse Cassie would try to raise the funds, but a rattlesnake made its way down the pipe and fatally bit him. Viewers were appalled by how far Sydney had been willing to go for the storyline, dressing as an 'adult baby' as well as going fully nude for scenesAfter finding Nate's body, a disheveled Cassie was seen with tear-streaked makeup and still wearing the same dress while having breakfast with her manager, and former best friend, Maddy Perez (Alexa Demie), who was also reduced to tears.'What do I do?' Maddy asked her. Cassie then sat next to her and put her head on Maddy's shoulder.'We'll figure it out together,' she said, as Maddy gave her a tender kiss on the head.Cassie later told her sister Lexi (Maude Apatow) that she and Maddy would be turning her home into an influencer/OnlyFans house.Lexi asked Cassie if Nate was ever coming back, revealing that she didn't know he died.Meanwhile, Maddy went to meet Alamo at the strip club, where he told her he wants the American dream and for them to have 'four beautiful coca-colored babies' together.At the same time Ali, wearing his military uniform, entered Alamo's Silver Slipper strip club with a shotgun.Following a lengthy standoff, Ali fatally shot the strip club owner after a cowardly Alamo attempted to use Maddy as a human shield.At the end of the episode Ali visited a religious homestead that Rue stopped at back in episode one.He told one of the girls living there that Rue was his daughter, and explained that she is now in a 'better place.'The family asked Ali to lead them in grace.'Father, I pray today for those whose eyes have grown weak with sorrow, whose soul and body are weighed down by grief, and whose strength is failing. 'Lord, pour out your mercy upon them. Let your face shine upon them and save them in your unfailing love. Thank you Rue,' he prayed while looking at an empty chair where Rue previously sat.'Let her memory be a blessing,' he added, before seeing a vision of a smiling Rue sitting in the chair.'Amen,' she said, before adding, 'May God bless us all,' as the final credits rolled.If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse in the US, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP In the UK, please contact helpline FRANK 0300 123 6600