Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost's Mr. Eko) joins Euphoria — Rue's new shadow

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who played Mr. Eko on Lost, returns to HBO in Euphoria Season 3 as Alamo Brown — a Black Southern cowboy who runs strip clubs, guns and drugs, and takes Rue Bennett (Zendaya) under his wing. The season premiered April 12, 2026 with eight episodes airing weekly through the May 31 finale. Alamo is mentor and threat in the same scene. He sees in Rue the ambition that built him.

The dynamic with Zendaya drives the season. Akinnuoye-Agbaje told Backstage he stayed in character on set, calling their relationship "a beautiful dance between generations." Series creator Sam Levinson praised his "methodical craft" and "truly intimidating" physical presence. Episode 5 — aired May 10 — cracked open the Rue-Alamo pact and pushed the show toward its finale. The actor built Alamo from Sergio Leone, Jim Brown, Woody Strode, and Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. His core principle, told to Luxury London: "I've never thought of those types of characters as bad guys. They're men who made choices based on their circumstances."

Mr. Eko and Alamo Brown are kindred spirits. The Nigerian drug lord turned priest in Lost. The Southern strip club kingpin in Euphoria. Both physically commanding. Both violent. Both carrying something deeper than the surface. Akinnuoye-Agbaje left Lost in Season 3 — Mr. Eko refused to confess, and the Smoke Monster took him. Twenty years later, he plays another man who won't confess. This time, he might survive.