It should be gratifying to watch Nate Jacobs disintegrate in the third season of ‘Euphoria’. For years, he’s been the show’s most terrifying presence, calculated, cruel, and always one step ahead.
So when his world actually begins to crumble, you anticipate a payoff. Instead, it feels wrong.
Nate Jacobs’ Downfall Should Hit Harder Than This
Theoretically, Nate losing everything works. His strength, his connections, and even his physical dominance are all going. However, the manner in which it is unfolding deprives the narrative of any emotional heft. Enter Naz: this character who exists just to punish Nate. He is violent, unpredictable, and obviously dangerous.
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However, he is also out of touch with all that made the story of Nate interesting in the first place. No history there, no emotional investment, no deeper meaning to the conflict. When Nate is humiliated or hurt, it does not fall as it should. It is not so much like justice but like random chaos.
This is the main issue. Nate is not a villain of any kind; he is his own. His behavior caused some scars to the people surrounding him, namely, Maddy Perez and Cassie Howard. It is in those relationships that the real tension resides. Bringing him to his knees without mentioning that history makes the entire arc feel oddly hollow.
The Real Reckoning Still Hasn’t Happened For Nate
If Nate’s story is going to end, or even evolve, it needs to come full circle. Right now, it hasn’t. The most interesting scenes of this season are not the bloody ones. They are the more minor, more incisive ones, like when Cassie begins to chip away at Nate’s ego or when his control begins to slip away in front of others.
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The reason behind the effectiveness of those scenes is that they are based on the damage of the past. They mean something… And Maddy. The fact that she is not present for Nate’s downfall is like a blaring gap. They have a sloppy, painful, and unresolved history. She should have had a hand in bringing Nate down or compelling him to face himself.
Instead, we are witnessing Nate falling apart in solitude, down to a desperate, near-pathetic version of himself. It is a powerful image, no doubt.
However, it falls short of the emotional impact that his character had in the previous seasons. Nate being broken isn’t the problem. Nate being broken without purpose is.
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