Things are starting to heat up big time on HBO‘s Euphoria with Season 3, Episode 5 “This Little Piggy” — and I’m not just talking about Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) hitting 50,000 followers on OnlyFans. There’s a lot going down as usual, and we may only have three hours of the show left to go if the “series finale” rumors are to be believed, so let’s recap all the huge moments on this week’s episode.
But first! Let’s precap the recap by talking about what got us to this episode, and spoilers past this point. Let’s start with Cassie since we already mentioned her. After breaking up with the sad-sack Nate (Jacob Elordi) in last week’s “Kitty Likes to Dance,” she’s moved in across the way from her sister Lexi (Maude Apatow) — much to Lexi’s annoyance. But she’s also reconnected with one-time rival Maddy (Alexa Demie), who is now working as Cassie’s manager, buoying her online presence. How does Maddy do this? By hooking up Cassie with social media star Brandon Fontaine (Jeff Wahlberg), who has 22 million fans and counting.
While this is going on, Nate is falling further and further from the highs and lows of high school football thanks to getting beaten up by loan shark Naz (Jack Topalian). Naz cut off his little toe and will likely do worse if Nate doesn’t pay him back the hundreds of thousands of dollars he owes him for his money pit, a thus far unbuilt retirement community called Sun Settlers that more than likely will end up being Nate’s grave.
Lexi, meanwhile, made a big mistake in last week’s episode, and that mistake’s name is Jules (Hunter Schafer). The former has been working on a nighttime soap called LA Nights, showrun by the controlling Patty Lance (Sharon Stone). While Lexi seemed to be making strides towards joining the writer’s room instead of just being an assistant, she suggested Jules could paint a bit of set-dressing to be used on the show… And instead Jules painted a picnic with 14 penises, a clear parody of “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Seurat. Whoops!
Not in this last episode, but back in Episode 3, “The Ballad of Paladin,” not only did Jules begin hooking up with Rue (Zendaya) again, but she also has been working as a high-end call girl, ultimately getting one exclusive client: plastic surgeon Ellis (Sam Trammell), who likes to wrap her in plastic wrap, which doesn’t at all indicate he’s gonna cut her into pieces or anything once he finds out about Rue.
Okay, let’s talk about Rue. There’s a lot going on here, but to try and distill it down, she was working as a drug mule for the laconic Laurie (Martha Kelly), then defected to strip club magnate Alamo Brown (Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbaje), and has been stuck in the middle of a burgeoning war between the two. Add in that Rue was taken in by the DEA and is being forced to snitch in order to take Alamo down, and it’s tough times for our plucky heroine.
Things escalated wildly towards the end of last week’s episode, as Laurie’s crew robbed the Silver Slipper (the strip club where Rue works), held her and stripper-in-a-neck-brace Magick (Rosalía) at gun-point, and even shot manager Big Eddy (Kadeem Hardison) in the gut, leaving him for dead. Oh, and Alamo knows it was Laurie’s crew thanks to the eminently identifiable lips of Faye (Chloe Cherry), who was driving the getaway vehicle.
So yeah, lots going on. Without wasting any more time, let’s get into the recap and go to market for “This Little Piggy.”
Cassie Goes Wee Wee Wee All The Home
Things start off with a close up of Nate’s severed toe flying through air, juxtaposed with Cassie licking her well-pedicured toe while doing “this little piggy” and Maddy “worked her to the bone.” Cassie is doing ASMR, she’s dressing as a sailor, and even focusing on “specific positions to focus on specific body parts.”
“I’m not going to fart in a jar,” Cassie says, with Maddy answering that she’ll do it, since nobody knows who’s art is actually in the jar. But the biggest thing people want? Cassie to say their name. And once she hits 50k followers, she celebrates by doing a podcast tour talking about how “men should be free” and throwing out the r-word. Basically, over the plate troll bait to the online community of horny men who are feeding her more and more money.
But the thing between Cassie and Maddy, other than flowers in the shot blocking them (a reference to the flowers Cassie wanted for her wedding, perhaps?), is Nate. Cassie is getting “bigger and bigger” as she gets larger and larger dildos for her stream, and we get shots of unsolicited dick pics, as Maddy explains she needs to leave their mutual boyfriend behind. And then we get one of the weirdest sequences in Euphoria history, as Cassie grows to enormous size, ripping through her tiger-print leotard, after staring at the non-stop stream of requests online.
That leads to Cassie, kaiju style, stepping through a fake version of Los Angeles and stamping on bystanders as they all run for their lives.
“Big lady, get on your knees,” says another male voice making request from a helicopter, which Mega-Cassie immediately destroys. While a man named Frank watches Cassie on OnlyFans and jerks off, the enormous Cassie taps on the window of his skyscraper, taunting the masturbator. “Are you jerking off to me again?” asks Cassie, as she reveals her naked breasts (which are gigantic), smashing them against — and then through — the window, probably killing Frank. RIP Frank, you’re now masturbating in hell.
“She knew this was her destiny,” Rue continues to narrate. “To triumph. To conquer. To win.” This ends with LA exploding, while Cassie prays to the Hollywood sign… And then we get titles. Ridiculous.
Alamo’s Last Stand
Back in normal (?) world, Alamo is talking to his crew about loyalty, and how Big Eddy betraying him… Even though we know Eddy held out to the last second during the robbery last episode. While Bishop (Darrell Britt-Gibson) prepares for war, the distractible Alamo gets worried about whether his pants are for a man who is 5’9″, not a 6’3″ man like himself. It seems, to read between the lines, that Alamo is a little bit insecure about his stature.
“You think I’m not the size I am?” he screams as he terrorizes Kidd (Asante Black), almost stabbing him with an ice pick. Rue watches, curious, and perhaps seeing this as an out into her current triple-cross situation. If she can play on Alamo’s vanity, can she extricate herself from this situation? Or on the other hand, perhaps Rue really is that oblivious, and merely observing. Hard to tell!
A Tale Of Two Cassies
Back to Cassie, she’s being tempted by Brandon, who is telling her that he does more for her than Maddy. Meanwhile, across town Maddy is mopping up dog puke in her day job. Brandon wants Cassie to move into his influencer house and do TikTok dances. She’s conflicted, because Maddy is her best friend. Would Maddy agree? Will Cassie agree after Brandon tags her in a post designed to convince her?
Less convincing is Nate, who is trying to get her to do a sexy video with Brandon (who is now up to 30 million followers, by the way). He wants her to step it up because he needs the money. And Nate tells her that he’s watching all of her videos, and is “so impressed,” but it’s hard not to see through Nate’s real goal: to not, you know, die. Just like Frank, he of the gigantic boob licking, Nate is using Cassie for what she’s got to get what he wants.
Rue-Roh
Back to Rue now (real ping-pong nature this episode), Bishop is wearing the sort of gear and has the sort of hardware laid out that says “hey, I’m about to saw you into pieces”… And that’s what Rue thinks is going to happen. That’s pretty reasonable given he tells her that he thinks there’s been a cascade of trouble since she came around. “I’m not saying you have a 666 on the back of your skull, but something about you gives me the heebie-jeebies,” Bishop says, and then tells her to go see Alamo at the bar while he slices someone else into bits.
Rue heads to the bar where Alamo plays the trumpet and Kitty (Anna Van Patten) is blissed out on the couch. Laurie has called Alamo, and she wants to meet. He’s not going to “bend over and spread my ass cheeks,” but he is going to spread hers (metaphorically [probably]). And Rue knows the layout of Laurie’s house, which Alamo wants so he can get something from Laurie… Not money, but something even more valuable. Could he mean retribution? Or did something else get taken from the safe at the Silver Slipper?
That said, it is continuing to be abundantly clear based on him saying he’s not going to be Laurie’s “monkey” that Alamo has a serious inferiority complex. Whether that’s his strength or undoing, we’ll see. And meanwhile, Bishop feeds the dude he chopped up to the pigs. Big season for pigs here on Euphoria, I’ll tell you what!
DEA On Arrival
Hey, remember how Rue also works for the DEA? She explains to them about the meet between Laurie and Rue, so they have her call the drug dealer in order to get a wiretap on her. Rue tries to apologize for the death of Paladin, Laurie’s bird, but she doesn’t want to talk to her former drug mule.
Instead, Rue calls Faye while she ignores the phone and watches TV with Laurie’s second-in-command, Wayne (Toby Wallace). Wayne finally picks up the phone, and immediately incriminates himself, saying they have a new drug mule. That’s enough for the DEA, and the trap is set.
Cassie V Maddy, Round 3000
After discovering that Maddy is just an assistant for Ms. Penzler (Rebecca Pidgeon), she confronts her former friend, though we see she’s already signing the paperwork to join Brandon’s influencer house.
She heads to Maddy’s house, which is a basement, and while Maddy is icy and composed, Cassie is flitting around the place, trying on sunglasses and looking at old pictures of them from high school.
“Maddy, you’re my best friend,” Cassie says, falsely, with Maddy scoffing back, “Really?”
Cassie finally gets out that she’s ditching Maddy as a manager, and Maddy immediately cancels her audition with Dylan Reid (Homer Gere) for LA Nights. Maddy knew she had this trump card — and Cassie backs down immediately, with Maddy pulling out a contract that Cassie signs without even reading. Maddy takes a picture of her with the contract, for proof.
Look, I’ve been on “I don’t trust Maddy” bent all season, but I don’t trust her, I still think she’s trying to destroy Cassie for taking Nate from her. Slightly working against that, Maddy, uh, doesn’t have an audition for Cassie. But she gets one once she harangues Lexi and threatens to become her enemy.
Audition secured, Cassie heads out, signing her maiden name, and then doing a monologue from Antony and Cleoptra.
“Shakespeare?” asks the casting director. “I mean, is there anyone better?” answers Cassie.
Cassie gets ready, and does her monologue, and in a surprise she’s… Not terrible. But a play about a doomed couple, one who is idolized by an also doomed conqueror. Uh, is this fucking play about us?
Lexi, bringing lunch to the staff, comes on Patty watching the audition on set. Patty is amused, and turns to Lexi. They’re surprised that Lexi and Cassie are sisters because they don’t look anything alike, in a cutesy nod to the fact that, you know, Maude Apatow and Sydney Sweeney don’t look anything alike. But hey, if you can do Shakespeare, “You can do LA Nights,” they say, laughing, while Lexi frowns.
Jules And Rue, Normal Domestic Couple
Rue hangs with Jules, and this might be the most normal scene the show has ever done as Jules drinks wine and eats Chinese food on the floor, while Rue chills on the couch. It’s the sort of Chinese food eating out of containers that only happens on TV, which seems strange for a show like Euphoria, but this whole season has heightened the unreality, so let’s I guess not complain about Chinese food container tropes, I guess. The duo talk about relationships, with Rue mentioning her doomed romance with stripper Angel (Priscilla Delgado).
But Jules is suspicious, wondering what Rue wants. Jules asks if Rue wants to kiss her, and says she’d kiss Rue if she wants. But Rue is concerned about Jules’ landlord/sugar daddy — and maybe being with Jules leading to heartbreak and hurt again, and feeling something real.
Jules pushes Rue, though. “You want me? Make me yours,” she says, and as usual this show is about what we own, what we want to own, and the transactions we make. It’s impossible not to connect Jules’s storyline in this episode and Cassie’s, though it makes one wonder whether Jules really does want Rue (Rue wanting Jules is not a question here).
Later, Jules is fucking Ellis, who discovers Rue’s clothes on the floor and is pissed. He will “not come home with an STD” and doesn’t want her having sex with other people. “I like you, but I love my family,” Ellis says. “And I will not put them at risk.”
Nate The Great
Nate gets $30k from Cassie, which means — according to him — it’s party time, including a screwdriver and dancing barefoot around the house. This all while we see one of Naz’s guys approach, smashing his glass sliding door and chasing him Terminator-style through the house.
Nate runs upstairs, ignoring Scream rules, and goes to the bathroom. He explains he just got some money, but the man knocks him to the ground and — shudder — tears his tow off, throwing it in the sink while he bleeds on the carpet. Continuing the slow destruction of Nate Jacobs, the man cuts off his ring finger while Nate screams.
Outside, a little girl rides past on a tricycle, grimaces, and rides on. It’s a pretty funny shot, but certainly makes me curious where Nate ends this season as cutting him to ribbons is mostly being played for laughs.
Do You Believe In Magick?
Back to our main (?) storyline, Magick discovers the drugs Rue planted in her locker last episode in order to frame her, something Rue cops to forgetting about entirely in narration.
Magick goes to Alamo immediately, and Magick has figured it all out. But Alamo is more concerned with the fact that Rue didn’t recognize the voices of the robbers she lived with for so long.
Rue is more concerned about touring her old high school buddies, though, going out to eat with Maddy at the diner. Maddy explains that she’s not upset about Cassie’s actions because everything is equal. “I’ve reaching a state of pure harmony,” Maddy says.
Rue throws a scenario by her: what if the busboy jerked off in her milkshake? Would she be experiencing harmony then? Yuck, but Maddy explains that it’s all because of Jesus, who Rue hasn’t gotten to yet in the bible (it’s like, 900 pages before he shows up).
The Devil shows up, Western style, though, as first Rue sees Bishop outside, then Alamo stops by Rue and Maddy’s table. He compliments Maddy’s nails, makes idle conversation, and asks where Rue has been hiding her. Clearly Alamo wants to recruit Maddy for his strip club, but that’s not how things go at all.
Alamo sits down, and has Rue pour sugar in her coffee. He acts all jovial while Maddy asks questions about where he grew up, where they met, etc. Alamo offers that he thinks it’s important to know what his employees are up to, so you know if they’re for you or against you. And Maddy reveals she knows that Alamo runs strip clubs.
Bishop calls Alamo from outside, and Alamo tells Rue that G (Marshawn Lynch) and Bishop are waiting for her in a car. Much against her will, she leaves… Alamo sits down with Maddy, and asks her what kind of milkshake she got. “Black and white,” she says, to which Alamo says is his favorite. “Cherry on top,” she adds.
Ain’t Nothin’ But A G Thang
While Rue heads to “another place” with G and Bishop, Maddy and Alamo continue to chat. Maddy feels like living in the Central Valley is limiting his “quality,” instead of focusing on “quantity.”
And surprisingly, it seems like Maddy and Alamo may be evenly matched. She wants to get further into OnlyFans, and all she cares about is money. “Guess they’re caught up in the stigma,” Alamo says. “Mmm, I’m not,” Maddy says. “Me neither,” answers Alamo. Unlike with Rue, he clearly sees Maddy as an equal (and at least in this moment, she is).
Rue’s danger builds when they ask for her phone, and in the diner Maddy and Alamo’s conversation turns to Cassie. Maddy wants to franchise, use some of Alamo’s girls to expand her business, with them splitting the take, 15% and 15%. They head to one of his clubs…
And that’s where we leave things while Maddy’s cash cow Cassie gets the role on LA Nights. Cassie is putting the cart before the horse, shaking her tits and saying, “I’m gonna be a household name,” while Lexi is just pissed she used her to get the job. And as a side-note, Cassie’s raising the price on sending her dirty underwear to some guy named Jordan, while she cries. It seems like everything she wanted is finally coming true.
Best Dig Two Graves
Back to Rue, she arrives at an abandoned area where a shovel is sticking out of the ground, and is told to start digging “a hole.” She does, as Maddy and Alamo continue to talk. Maddy is driving, while Alamo pushes Maddy for info on Rue. “She’s a little crazy,” Maddy says. “But she has a good heart.” Will this convo be enough to sway Alamo from what he has planned for Rue?
Rue, it should be noted, is doing a good job of digging the hole, but they want her to dig the hole up to her throat. Is Rue so far gone on the “do whatever they want” mode that she doesn’t know what’s going on with this hole? And same goes for Maddy, as Alamo takes her to meet some “hard-working girls” at the Silver Slipper.
Rue finishes, and the three men look down at her, then proceed to shovel dirt right on top of her. Meanwhile, Alamo has all of his girls lined up for Maddy as she inspects the goods like a farmer checking out livestock. Or, to the point of this episode, piggies.
“In the past, Maddy scouted good girls and turned them bad,” Rue narrates. “But these girls were different. They were willing to do anything.”
Maddy takes seven and fifteen — aka, Kitty and Magick, our two speaking role characters — while the sun rises over Alamo’s house. He’s talking to his horse about love and trust, and how some people don’t deserve it. Rue, it should be noted, is still alive, just buried up to her neck in the same spot where Alamo shot an apple off her head in Episode 1 of the season.
He rides the horse towards her swinging a polo mallet and hollaring. “Wait, no!” screams Rue as the polo mallet swings towards her head and we cut to black.
OH NO RUE IS DEAD. Just kidding, I have no idea how she’ll get out of this one, but we’re not killing off Rue three episodes before the end… Unless this show has gone entirely off the deep end. And a show that had Sydney Sweeney destroy Los Angeles with her exposed breasts in the beginning of an episode surely could not have gone off the rails, right? Right.
Euphoria Season 3 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of Euphoria premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max at 9 p.m. ET. Here’s what we expect from the full list of episodes in Euphoria Season 3 with premiere dates.
- Sunday, April 12, 2026: Euphoria, Season 3, Episode 1 – “Ándale”
- Sunday, April 19, 2026: Euphoria, Season 3, Episode 2 – “America My Dream”
- Sunday, April 26, 2026: Euphoria, Season 3, Episode 3 – “The Ballad of Paladin”
- Sunday, May 3, 2026: Euphoria, Season 3, Episode 4 – “Kitty Likes to Dance”
- Sunday, May 10, 2026: Euphoria, Season 3, Episode 5 – “This Little Piggy”
- Sunday, May 17, 2026: Euphoria, Season 3, Episode 6 – “Stand Still and See”
- Sunday, May 24, 2026: Euphoria, Season 3, Episode 7 – “Rain or Shine”
- Sunday, May 31, 2026: Euphoria, Season 3, Episode 8 – “In God We Trust” *Season Finale*
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