“Euphoria” Weekly Review: A Little Party Never Hurt Nobody

EUPHORIA

SEASON 2, EPISODE 1: “TRYING TO GET TO HEAVEN BEFORE THEY CLOSE THE DOOR”

EDITOR’S RATING: ★★★☆☆

Viewers should be advised that while “Euphoria” depicts a wide range of teenage lives–it contains content that may not be suitable for all, such as:  graphic depictions of depression and anxiety, sexual violence, nudity, physical violence, gaslighting, suggestive domestic situations and explicit depictions of drug and alcohol abuse. 

Before the release of the two character-centered shorts last year, fans of HBO’s infamously controversial teen drama, “Euphoria,” were practically begging for crumbs of content. Photos spread on Instagram of the cast gathering for a table read weeks before the pandemic forever changed our lives and any chance at hoping to receive anything related to “Euphoria” seemed pointless. 

Now, almost three years after the show’s initial premiere, we return back to the chaos and grittiness of East Highland and begin to pick up where we left off. The two special episodes we received, one centered around Rue (Zendaya) and Jules (Hunter Schafer), might’ve been interesting as exclusive character studies, but offered little to no clarity on season one’s heartbreaking cliffhanger. And with our emergence into the unknowing waters of season two, we’re immediately greeted with “Euphoria’s” staple: the character-cold open, this time taking its first ten minutes to illustrate Fez’s backstory. 

It did surprise me that we entered this season learning about Fez’s upbringing: filled with drugs, violence and the implementation of his brother into his life as a preteen. Rather than starting off the season with the aftermath of Rue’s relapse from season one, “Euphoria” abandons its elemental approach to storytelling. 

Following Fez’s backstory, we’re indulged back into the world of a typical “Euphoria” party. The show’s next fifty minutes follow an intertwining between Rue, new character Elliott, Jules, Kat, Lexi, Cassie, Maddy, and of course the show’s most likable character, Nate (I should clarify that this is sarcasm since to my shocking discovery, some people actually like the show’s most sadistic character.) 

I have to say, although this episode was endlessly entertaining—Cassie’s bit and hiding from Maddy in the bathtub to avoid her finding out about her hookup with Nate were the most interesting to me — it did lack…something. The party setting is already a little overdone for me, and the fact that we had to stick with this setting the entire episode was mildly irritating.  However, things graciously picked up more and more in the episode’s shocking final ten minutes.

“Euphoria’s” highly anticipated return abandons its signatures—fluorescent lighting with dizzying camera angles, glitter everywhere and a bumping soundtrack 24/7 —for an experimental episode that attempts to catch us up on what we missed during a nearly three-year break. Although it never fails to entertain, my hopes for the continuation of the second season, which I’m still absolutely stoked for, is that we establish more of a structure, which was done flawlessly in season one’s episode centered around Kat, “Made You Look.”