Sam Levinson reveals shocking real reason Nate had to die so brutally in Euphoria season three

After years of chaos, manipulation and destruction, Nate Jacobs finally met his end in Euphoria season three episode seven, and now creator Sam Levinson has explained why his death was so brutal – and why it felt necessary for him to die.

Nate’s death is one of the darkest moments the series has delivered so far. But apparently, the whole point was actually to make viewers uncomfortable.

Speaking to Esquire, Levinson explained, “There’s this kind of funny thing where I know what the audience wants in terms of justice or karma and with that in mind, I always think, ‘Well, how can I give it to them?’”

He continued, “How can I give them what they want, but make it so horrific and anxiety-inducing that by the time it happens, the audience isn’t so sure they wanted it?”

Throughout the series, Nate has been one of Euphoria’s most divisive characters. He hurt people, controlled situations and left loads of damage behind him, so viewers had been expecting his downfall for ages.

However, season three actually softened him in some ways. Viewers saw more vulnerable moments and flashes of humanity, which made his final scenes hit even harder.

Levinson said he had already decided Nate would die this season. But he wanted audiences to question their own feelings once it finally happened.

“It’s like, ‘Oh, you wanted him to get his comeuppance…? Okay,’” he said. “That feeling of complicity with the audience is always an interesting note to play inside of this sort of larger structure.”

Levinson added, “You end up going, ‘Oh God, I don’t know. Should he have had it better? Did he deserve it?’ Those kinds of questions are always exciting to pose to the audience.”

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Interestingly, the snake wasn’t even part of the original plan

via HBO

Levinson revealed that Nate was initially supposed to die after simply being buried alive, with the horror coming from Cassie trying to save him when it was already too late.

“I always loved the movie The Candy Snatchers where the girl gets buried alive with a pipe as an air hole. So I had imagined that Nate would get buried alive,” he explained.

The rattlesnake idea actually came later during a drive to work with his wife and producing partner, Ashley Levinson.

“It was one of those gorgeous L.A. days where it was perfect weather. We’re listening to Otis Redding. The windows are down and we’re driving to Warner Brothers and I’m looking out the window,” he recalled.

“I just had this image of a rattlesnake coming towards this pipe. He’s banging and the snake can sense the movement in the ground. And I thought, ‘What if the snake goes into the pipe and then he’s stuck inside the coffin with this rattlesnake?’”

And that’s how Nate’s brutal final scene came together.

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