Euphoria has turned the tension and heat all the way up with Nate’s horrific death in episode 7 of season 3. While the scene can be considered one of the most disturbing this season, the inspiration for it came to Sam Levinson on what he described as a gorgeous day in Los Angeles. Earlier in the episode, Nate is buried alive in a coffin, with only a narrow pipe allowing him to breathe and call for help. 

However, when Cassie and Maddie finally free Nate from his debtors with Alamo’s help, they open the casket only to find him dead, with a rattlesnake lying across his body. As Levinson explained, he had several factors in mind while creating the devastating scene.

Speaking about Nate’s death scene, Sam Levinson shared in an interview with Esquire that while creating the scene, he initially considered suffocation or extreme heat as the cause of the character's death. He also drew inspiration from The Candy Snatchers. However, the idea of the rattlesnake came later, after Levinson envisioned it on a random day while driving with his wife, Ashley Levinson, to Warner Bros.

“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?’” he explained his thought process.

Levinson also addressed fans’ desire to see Nate, who had been notorious for several reasons throughout the first two seasons, finally face the consequences of his actions. However, Levinson did not want the arc to be simple. Instead, he explained that he intentionally made Nate’s arc this season more complicated and tense, leaving many viewers questioning whether Nate truly deserved such a fate or not.

“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?” he said.

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Now, while the situation did not end right with Nate, but Jacob Elordi, who shot the scene with a real snake, found it cool.

Jacob Elordi felt that the particular scene, which was traumatic for many viewers, was actually peaceful and even “a cool way to go” for Nate. And he did not have a very different idea about working with a real snake during the scene. While the experience was bizarre for him at first, Elordi explained that he eventually found the snake to be cuter than scary.

“He was real cuddly, so he just saddled up next to me and it was nice,” he said. “But he was real sleepy. I had to kind of nudge him to get him to come up," he recalled in a behind-the-scenes with HBO. 

As for Nate, Jacob Elordi has no doubts. The actor explained that his character in the show had made several mistakes, something the audience is well aware of. However, the real question is whether fans feel the same way, especially after having to reluctantly bid goodbye to one of the primary catalysts of the show since season 1. 

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What do you think about Sam Levinson's idea of Nate's death in Euphoria? Share your take in the comments.