The Euphoria series finale aired on HBO last night, bidding a final farewell to the likes of Rue (Zendaya), Jules (Hunter Schafer), Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), Lexi (Maude Apatow), and their cohort. While most fans are still reeling from the episode’s most tragic goodbye, one character rose to the occasion to become an unlikely hero: Bishop (Darrell Britt-Gibson).
**Spoilers for Euphoria Season 3 Episode 8 “In God We Trust,” now streaming on HBO Max**
Euphoria ends with Rue dying after taking a fentanyl-laced Percocet, given to her by the evil Alamo Brown (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). However, the story doesn’t end there. The final act of Euphoria Season 3 Episode 8 “In God We Trust” sees her sponsor Ali (Colman Domingo) launch an audacious plan to exact vengeance for Rue. Ali quits his role as a soft-hearted rehab councilor and puts on his old military uniform. He walks into the Silver Slipper with one goal in mind: to kill Alamo Brown.
In the shootout that follows, it appears that Alamo not only has the upper hand in firepower, but also the despicable nature to shoot Ali before their duel is supposed to start. However, there are no bullets in Alamo’s gun! His “loyal” lieutenant Bishop seized his chance to betray his cruel boss and emptied the chamber before giving Alamo his gun back. This one decision allows Ali the opportunity to shoot and kill Alamo. Bishop then doubles down on the heroism by gallantly offering to escort Maddy (Alexa Demie) home. (The two had even shared a cute conversation earlier in the episode.)
DECIDER hopped on the phone with Euphoria star Darrell Britt-Gibson first thing this morning to talk through the repercussions of Bishop’s actions, what he really makes of Maddy Perez, and how he feels about Snowflake the poodle…
DECIDER: How do you feel this morning?
DARRELL BRITT-GIBSON: Amazing that I can finally take a breath. Because I’ve known what was going to happen for a very long time and never being able to speak about it, so it sort of feels like a sense of relief that we can now all just collectively talk about it. And everybody can have their thoughts, feelings, opinions, whatever it may be, and it no longer just belongs to all of us involved. It belongs to the world.
I remember during the junket, I was asking you if we’d ever have more clarity on what Bishop thinks of what’s going on, because it felt like he was keeping a lot close to his chest.
Yeah.
Obviously he decides to take the bullets out of Alamo’s gun. And I’m just curious, can you take me through the calculus in his brain? Is there a moment where he decides to do this?
I think Bishop is a very calculated individual. And you know, the name “Bishop” is, it’s always been chess, not checkers for him. So Bishop is always three steps ahead of everyone. Also I’ve always felt that Bishop has seen things before anybody else has. So he’s very much in tune with his consciousness and sort of the world and the world that he exists in. So he’s very much waited for the right moment and when the opportunity presented itself, he took it.
There are so many scenes over the course of this season where I felt like he was almost trying to look out for Rue, even though, as he said, she gives him the heebie jeebies. First of all, can you talk me through that scene, because that is really fun?
Yeah, I love that scene. I love how it just feels so scary because you’re like, “What is happening?” You know? Like what is actually happening here? I remember when Sam told me about it and I was going to be putting on this plastic wrap and all this, and I was like, “Oh, this is amazing.” There’s just so much tension. You know, I think a lot of scenes with Bishop, there’s so much tension because you just never know what he’s thinking, what he’s feeling, or what he’s going to do. That’s what I love so much about the character is the unpredictability of it.
Another scene that I really loved is when Maddy comes into the fold and Alamo is accusing her of trying to, like, fuck him. Bishop is the one that’s like, “I think there’s a lot of people trying to fuck you, but not Maddy Perez.” That felt like a really beautiful olive branch. I’m curious why he did that for her, do you think?
I think because Bishop is a truth teller. I think that he’s a truth teller and he’s also a truth seeker. He’s looking at her — and I believe that Bishop also reads energy — so he’s meeting her and looks at her and he’s like, “I know who you are.” Because Bishop is all-knowing. But also, Bishop is thinking to himself, he’s looking at her, and he feels that like she’s genuinely not trying to get over on him. Like he’s just a truth teller. You know, it’s not like he’s making something up. He’s thinking about her, he’s looking at her, and he’s saying that, “You know, there are people really trying to fuck you in this world, but I really don’t believe that Maddy Perez is one of them.” And he genuinely means that.
I want to ask about Snowflake, the poodle, who we meet in the finale.
I love Snowflake.
I know you love animals. Yeah. Where did Snowflake come from? Do we have a backstory for him?
You know, when they had said that Bishop was going to have a dog, I was like, “Thank you. This is amazing.” Because I love animals. I love dogs. My dog is actually tattooed on me. And so I was like, “Oh, Bishop gets to have a dog? Like this is the best day of all time.” And I think it adds this extra layer. Because I think just when you think you know Bishop, then you see that he has a dog, you’re like, “Wait, what?” You never, ever are able to fully put your hands on who Bishop is and where he is at any moment and what he’s thinking and what he wants to do. So adding the dog — you know, Snowflake — I just thought was so brilliant. Added that extra layer.
There’s even that great line with Maddy where Maddy is like, “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a poodle guy.” And that tells you a lot, too.
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And Bishop says, “I like to surprise people.”
Speaking of that, I think a sweet coda to the whole thing is when he politely asks Maddy if he can drive her home. I think I’ve already seen fans be like, “Is there some kind of connection there between Bishop and Maddy?” How did you interpret that?
You know, I interpret it in a lot of different ways. I have my ideas. I actually know what [it is] — I love that it now belongs to fans. You know, they have invested so much time, so much energy, so much love into this show, and I love that they get to have it and it gets to be theirs, and whatever they want it to be. Even though I know, I love that it gets to be theirs, and I love them to be able to have that.
I know that there was a lot of talk about how you were the one to bring Kwame Patterson in for that great, amazing cold open in Episode 6. What did it mean to you to see someone like that have a great showcase for his talent?
It meant everything to me. It brought me more joy than me actually, personally, being on the show. Because I know how talented Kwame is and I know how hard he’s worked and how he hasn’t had a lot of opportunities that his talent actually deserves. So when Sam was talking about Preston, I was like, “Yo, I’m telling you about Kwame” And Sam was like, “I trust you.” And then to see Kwame just nail it and hit it off the park. I mean, people love Preston. They feel for him. It’s heartbreaking. It’s an incredible performance. I just feel such a tremendous amount of pride and it makes me smile every time I think about it.
Before I let you go, is there one part of working on Euphoria you’re going to take with you the most? Whether it’s a scene that you loved or a relationship with another cast member or crew?
Yeah, there’s no singular thing. There’s just so many things. You take something from it, the art. You take from it, the craft. You take in just all of those things. But I’m somebody who, I love people. I love the relationships that this art form allows. So I think the people, I think the relationships that I take, the love that I have for them. My favorite thing about what this show has given me is the personal relationships that I get to take from it and will carry on with the rest.
This interview has been edited and formatted for clarity.