Warning: Spoilers ahead! Do not proceed unless you’ve watched the “Euphoria” Season 3 premiere.
HBO isn’t writing off Angus Cloud’s “Euphoria” character just yet.
In the Season 3 premiere, it’s revealed that Fezco aka Fez — who was played by Cloud before his tragic overdose in 2023 — is serving a decades-long prison sentence.
During the episode, which aired Sunday, Rue (Zendaya) attempts to get her friend Lexi (Maude Apatow) to call him in jail.
Lexi, who had a budding romance with the affable drug dealer in Season 2, admits she “feels guilty” that she hadn’t spoken to him but insists she’s been busy.
“He misses you,” Rue tells her, assuring her that he’s mentioned her multiple times.
Lexi, who now has a job working on a show in Hollywood, says, “I don’t know, my hours and his hours don’t really line up, so it’s hard.”
Rue shoots back, “Just pick up the phone and call him! It’s not like he’s going anywhere. He’s in prison for 30 years.”
At the end of the first episode, the show features an “in memoriam” with Cloud’s name, as well as Eric Dane, who died at 53 in February following an ALS battle, and executive producer Kevin Turen, who died of heart complications at 44 in November 2023.
Dane, who filmed scenes for the show before he passed away, wasn’t in the premiere episode.
First premiering in 2019, “Euphoria” follows drug addict Rue and her fellow high school classmates. Fez is Rue’s drug dealer, who often hangs out with their friends.
Season 2 ended with Fez’s arrest after the cops raid his home.
“Losing Angus was really hard for us as a production. I loved him very deeply,” creator Sam Levinson told Variety at the Season 3 premiere earlier this week.
He added that he “fought hard” to keep him “clean” and wanted to “keep him alive” through storytelling.
Levinson teased, “I can’t wait for you to see the last few episodes because I think he would be cracking up at his storyline. I think he would love it.”
The actor died at age 25 on July 31, 2023, with the cause of death ruled as an accidental overdose of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and more.
The show was Cloud’s first role, and he quickly became a fan favorite. He told GQ in 2019 that he was approached by a member of the casting company when he was walking around Manhattan. “I was confused and I didn’t want to give her my phone number. I thought it was a scam.”
After his passing, Cloud’s family said that he was grieving the loss of his father, Conor Hickey, who died in May after a brief cancer battle.
“Last week he buried his father and intensely struggled with this loss. The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend,” the family told the Post in a statement, following his death.
In August 2023, Zendaya posted an Instagram tribute, writing, “I’m so grateful I got the chance to know him in this life, to call him a brother, to see his warm kind eyes and bright smile, or hear his infectious cackle of a laugh.”
She added, “I’d like to remember him that way. For all of the boundless light, love and joy he always managed to give us.”
Apatow paid tribute to Cloud on Instagram at the time, writing, “Angus was the funniest person ever. I would get so excited to see on the schedule that we would be working together because I knew we’d have the best day, laughing so hard.”
His other co-star Sydney Sweeney also posted on Instagram after his death, calling Cloud “an open soul, with the kindest heart.”
“Euphoria” Season 3, which also stars Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer and Alexa Demie, airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. on HBO.
