Anna Royle

Season one of Euphoria premiered on 16 June 2019. The series was created and written by Sam Levinson and based on the Israeli series of the same name. Euphoria is known for detailing for its honest and gritty portrayal of the struggles of teenage life, with themes of addiction, trauma, love and sex. However, despite claims of authenticity, the show has faced backlash, with viewers claiming the the highly edited and stylised nature of the show romanticises things like addiction.

Season two premiered in 9 January 2022, and was exclusively written and directed entirely by Sam Levinson, while season one featured several different writers. One can speculate that this is the reason season two went downhill, with poor pacing, absent characters and massive plot holes. It’s safe to say that it was disappointing for fans of the first series, like myself, who waited almost three years to find out the fate of their favourite characters.

Of course, it wasn’t all bad. I particularly enjoyed the focus on Cassie this season. Previously, Cassie was portrayed as a girl who made mistakes, but we understood why, and we forgave her. But in season two, we saw her spiral into a villain-like figure, her actions completely unforgivable. Although I understand that some viewers were disappointed to see her and Maddy’s friendship go south, I think it made for a good storyline. It also didn’t feel like their friendship broke up over a boy, but it instead focused on their own loyalty to each other.

Just like season one, Euphoria continued to include aesthetically beautiful scenes. One of my favourite scenes of the whole season was at the end of episode four, when Cassie is surrounded by flowers, crying. The emotion in this scene is heightened by Labrinth’s amazing score, which weaves itself throughout the series, adding to the sensationalism of Euphoria.

Euphoria is known for its focus on character, with each episode previously beginning with an opening sequence, dedicated to a specific character’s backstory. The episode would then focus on that specific character, and the audience would understand their motivations and decisions on a deeper level. The majority of main characters had their backstory told in the first season, and this left fans wondering whose story would be told next. However, season two steered away from this pattern, with some episodes starting with a delve into the characters’ minds, detailing their dreams and their desires instead of their history. I personally preferred this, as I feared sticking to the structure of season one would limit the ability to move forward with existing plot lines.

Cal’s backstory that occurred in episode three was my favourite of the whole series. I think forcing the audience to wait until season two to see this, made it even more powerful. We had already established our hatred for Cal, with him being one of the main antagonists of the series. Although his backstory didn’t excuse his actions, it did leave me heartbroken, making me really feel empathy for him, something that I never thought could happen.

The pacing of this season was unique to say the least, with certain moments drawing out longer than they should, and other moments whizzing past like they never happened. I’ll get into the negative sides of this later, but I did think the choice for episode eight to focus entirely on Rue was really beneficial to portraying her addiction realistically. The episode played out over the course of one night and featured Rue going to extreme lengths to escape withdrawal. Rue attempted to rob a house, ran in the middle of the street, and even went to the head of the drug gang, Laurie, to ask her for help. It also showed Rue shout deplorable things to her mother and Jules. I don’t think anyone could argue that Euphoria romanticises drug use and mental illness after seeing this episode.

However, this raw and authentic portrayal of teenage-hood that Euphoria strives for, often crosses the line at certain points, showing extreme nudity, violence, and sex for shock-value. For example, within the first five-minutes of the opening scene of the season, I was hiding behind my hands, as Fezco’s grandma shoots a man, well let’s just say, where it hurts.

At certain points, the nudity borders on exploitation, with Sydney Sweeney, who plays Cassie, being the victim of this. For a while I defended Euphoria, saying, '“It’s only breasts, if they can show the men topless ,why not the women?” But when Sydney Sweeney’s chest fills the whole shot for what feels like an eternity, I can’t help but question if this is necessary. Not to mention, that although all the actors are adults, they are playing minors.

Certain characters like Kat and Jules were barely featured in this season, only serving as assistance for the plot lines of others, but having no arcs of their own. This was particularly disappointing to see with Jules, as last season set her up to continue her plot line with Nate, but this was more or less forgotten about.

Speaking of forgotten plot lines, the money that Rue owed Laurie was never mentioned. Despite Laurie warning Rue that she will be trafficked if she cannot pay her back, and Rue’s breakdown when she realises the drugs are gone, this tension amounts to nothing. The audience was forced to watch a painfully long scene of Laurie injecting Rue, believing this would lead up to a trafficking storyline, only for Rue to escape some time later, with no consequences whatsoever.

Pacing issues continued up until the finale, with Elliot’s three-minute performance. In the midst of all the finale drama, it was honestly funny how long the song went on for, and I even considered skipping it so we could get back to the plot. The frustration was added to by the fact that Elliot was a new character introduced in season two, and got more screen time than favourites like Kat and Jules. Elliot served absolutely no purpose in forwarding the plot. I can only hope that his knowledge of Rue’s debt to Laurie, yet him assisting Jules in flushing the drugs down the toilet, was part of a bigger storyline that will be tackled in season three, and not just another plot hole.

Throughout the whole season, I was looking forward to seeing Maddy confronting Cassie about Nate. We were teased with this in episode eight, with Maddy chasing Cassie up the stairs, but we didn’t see the full fall out until the two-part finale. The anticipation was intentionally added to by this drawing out of their fight, so I cannot understand why it was not fully shown. We see Maddy chase Cassie down a hallway and bash her head into the wall. Then, we are forced to sit through Elliot’s song, only to cut back to the girl’s in the bathroom, merely tending to their injuries. This lack of catharsis was extremely dissatisfying.

Euphoria season two certainly had its moments. This time last year, I would’ve regarded Euphoria as one of my favourite TV shows. But after watching the second season, I can no longer stand by that statement. Despite this, I am still looking forward to season three, hoping that it can fill in the plot holes and remind me of why I loved the show so much to begin with.

Anna Royle is deputy culture editor at The Scoop and is an English with Creative Writing student at Queen’s University Belfast

Euphoria Season 2: Too Much of a Good Thing