“Euphoria” Weekly Review: Blasted from the Past

EUPHORIA

SEASON 2, EPISODE 3 “RUMINATIONS: BIG AND LITTLE BULLYS”

EDITOR’S RATING: ★★★☆☆

Contains spoilers.

Before indulging myself in the latest episode of HBO’s “Euphoria,” I routinely re-watched the promotional video in preparation for what to expect this episode. Beyond the scattered craziness showcased in means of enticement (Cassie truly losing her mind for Nate and Rue’s business venture), I found myself most excited for this week’s cold-open, featuring a young Cal as the frontrunner. But in typical “Euphoria” fashion…I found myself easily let down.

Sure, revisiting the 80s and watching the tension created between Cal and Derek was effortlessly entertaining, but my questions — longing to understand Cal’s cruelty — still persist, which is unfortunate considering this is the most we’ll be seeing of his backstory in “Euphoria” ever. The backstory’s ending was relentlessly abrasive, as if the show baited me in with guilty curiosity and ceased any long overdue development after Cal finds out his girlfriend at the time is pregnant.

My biggest question now resides within the show’s structure this season. It seems as if we’ve checked off every necessary cold-open imaginable, maybe with the exception of Elliot. Last week’s anfractuous mess of an episode leads me to ponder what we’ll have in store down the line. Beyond my discontent with the abrupt ending of this week’s backstory, I was thrilled (almost all throughout!) with the core of this episode.

Lexi taking mainstage this season was something that many fans asked for, and are (slowly) receiving more screen time from her. I was skeptical of her ability to carry her own weight at first. Unlike the rest of the universe, I wasn’t subscribed to the absolute lack of chemistry she had with Fezco in this season’s premiering episode. 

In this episode, I was proved completely wrong. I stared in absolute awe at one of the show’s most self-aware sequences where Lexi stars on the set of her own life! Complete with a YouTube video behind the scenes editing style, her hilarious narrations and members of her life interviewed in a director’s chair makes for one of the show’s most enjoyable and humorous moments this season. 

Perhaps my favorite part was Rue’s return to lecturing. With Elliot in the chair adjacent to her headlining at the projector; teaching us about methodically gaslighting her sister in order to normalize her addiction, I finally felt a sense of…dare I say, euphoric nostalgia; this sequence proudly homaging last season’s segment in which Rue outlines the differences between…well, I won’t go there.

Speaking of Rue: I frankly couldn’t care less about her at this point. Besides the love (?) triangle with Elliot and Jules, her character’s repetition and messiness (yes, I’m aware she’s a drug addict) is getting insufferable. One comment about the Rue-Jules-Elliot situation: their first scene alone together, I very faintly sensed that something could eventually happen between Elliot and Jules, which proves way more intriguing to me than I ever would’ve expected. “Euphoria,” good on you for making a love triangle plot genuinely interesting!

Beyond these two sequences, it seems as if the point of “Euphoria’s” second season is to erase its first. I’m struggling to find any similarities between both seasons as the show prompted to abandon all its infamous trademarks in order to deflect its most gargantuan criticisms. Or…Sam Levinson forgot what made “Euphoria,” well, “Euphoria.” Obnoxious LED lights and fluorescent coloring? Traded for a grainy, traditional A24 type-feel! Labrinth’s nonstop ad-libs and singing? Retro, “Right Down the Line”-reminiscents accompanying our characters. I’m left wondering: is this what’s best for the show? 

Before I see you again next week, I have two ending sentiments. Firstly, out of the many bones I have to pick with “Euphoria’s” wildly hateable Sam Levinson, I would like to ask why we’re getting so little of Kat and Ethan this season. Even the one scene we got in this episode was extremely lackluster, and beyond that, we’re barely even getting any Kat screentime alone. Which segways into my next sentiment: why does it seem that no character is getting enough screen time this season (with the exceptions of Rue and Fez)? Kat? Nothing. Jules? Barely here. Maddy? Crumbs. I need to pinpoint the percentages of who’s occupying the most next episode for scientific reasons. Until then!

CONTENT WARNING: “Euphoria” includes graphic depictions of depression and anxiety, sexual violence, nudity, physical violence, gaslighting, suggestive domestic situations and explicit depictions of drug and alcohol abuse.