Warning: This article contains discussion of drug addiction which some readers may find distressing.
The first episode of the latest season of Euphoria hit our screens on Monday (13 April), and it's already sparked a number of incredibly heated debates online.
For starters, there was all the controversy over Sydney Sweeney's 'dog scene', as well as major backlash to a teaser clip of her 'baby scene', but the latest outrage is centred around a scene which was reportedly so disgusting that the whole crew clapped after filming.
Alongside Sweeney, the star-studded cast also includes the likes of Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Alexa Demie and Chloe Cherry, with the HBO series picking up after a five-year jump.
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Cherry, who plays Faye, a heroin addict who befriends Rue (Zendaya) as they navigate a difficult sobriety journey together, has taken a more leading role in the Sam Levinson-created show for season three.
The duo find themselves in a pretty precarious situation as they get forced into assisting their dealer smuggle drugs, getting tasked with swallowing small plastic-wrapped bags of fentanyl covered in lube to get them across the US border from Mexico.
The stomach-churning scene saw Faye and Rue try to swallow the drugs as they desperately gagged and even vomited.
Discussing what it was like shooting the hard-to-watch scene, Cherry told Decider that creator Levinson was keen to show the 'disgusting' reality of drug-smuggling.
She said: "He was like, 'I really, really, really need to see in the scene that it is absolutely disgusting to swallow these fentanyl balloons. Like, I need it to be just awful. I need people to just see that it is so disgusting and hard and horrible to do this'.
"And I’m hoping that people could see that."
Cherry did admit, however, that it was a ‘really fun day to shoot’ despite it being ‘very gross’.
"I guess I just kind of imagined in my mind I was like, 'What if I was really f**king doing this? Like, what if I was actually doing this and I had to do it? How would I feel about it?' And I just think I would be disgusted," she added.
She revealed that everyone on set applauded after wrapping up, recalling to Metro: "When we stopped shooting, everybody clapped. I'm not even kidding, the whole crew clapped for me. They were so amazed at how disgusting I made that scene."
Her acting clearly paid off as Euphoria viewers at home were left beyond sick after watching the episode, with one X user hitting out: "At what point did Euphoria go from Euphoria to Breaking Bad?"
A second slammed complained: "I don't know if I'm watching an episode of Euphoria or of Narcos."
"This nasty as hell omg," lamented a third as a fourth chimed in: "So first episode of Euphoria season three, we have someone pooping out the fentanyl balloons she smuggled out of Mexico as a human drug suitcase and a dog licking the poop off her butt."
And a final critic added: "That drug scene in Euphoria made me wanna throw up."
Others, however, shared their thoughts that the whole point of the scene was to be disgusting.
"I think it's quite insane that people are getting this upset over the drug mule scene from Euphoria... this is the reality of the world of drugs, man, what the hell did you expect?" wrote one fan.
A second claimed: "The dog licking scene in Euphoria is not ridiculous, pointless shock value. It deliberately uses extreme, grotesque and repulsive imagery to portray the absolute humiliating degradation and total loss of dignity that defines severe drug addiction and chaotic self-destructive environments.
"The discomfort and raw ugliness are the entire point of the satire, stripping away every illusion of glamour to force the audience to confront the brutal, unfiltered rock bottom reality of trauma and human breakdown."
And a third echoed: "Everyone is acting like this scene is disgusting, but have you ever considered that’s the point? You are not meant to view Rue and Faye being forced to ingest drug balloons as appealing. It’s supposed to make you uncomfortable."
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24/7, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week
Topics: Euphoria, HBO, TV And Film, Social Media, Celebrity
Rhiannon Ingle