Obsessing about Euphoria

After I had watched only a few episodes of Euphoria the TV series a few weeks ago, I was already deeply in love with the writing. Especially the narration of the main character Rue Bennett (played by Zendaya). Her depiction of the other characters in her world are so well drawn. My only criticism in terms of plot is that the graphic scenes of drug taking and sex seem to be gratuitous to the story lines. I felt they actually undermined the truth of the characters’ experiences and somehow failed to serve them properly as well rounded people. Am I being a prude? Or running from the fear that it could be my teenage son behaving that way? Or is that a valid critique in terms of storytelling? I couldn’t resist trying to get to the bottom of it. The truth is it only adds to my enjoyment of watching. I have spent too much time conversing about my thoughts about the show with ChatGPT not to share some of them with you. It’s like I am second screening while I watch it, except the second screen is in my head and if it played out loud it would probably come across as really annoying in real time.

My own experience as a teenager/young adult shows me that while I did care too much about partying and social status and so, like many of the characters in the show, I was pulled too early towards sexualization and hedonism, that I was also just as passionately interested in discovering my place in the world and what my life ambitions should be. The former probably distracted me from the latter but the pressure of the latter drove me to the former. A turning wheel providing momentum, often taking me in meandering, confused directions. That’s what growing up is all about. Still, I haven’t seen evidence of similar underlying dynamics in the show. Instead their behavior is written as pathological or inevitable as a result of trauma. It could be of course that Rue is an unreliable narrator. She knows too much about the intentions behind each character’s behaviour. More often than not we don’t know why we do anything, particularly when we are young, that it just doesn’t track that Rue or anyone else could be so sure about what truly motivates them.

When I started watching Euphoria Season 2 I became very disappointed that Rue’s character begins the season having had a relapse. At a New Year’s Eve party the lead characters all seem to have regressed from their development arcs at the end of Season 1.

Season 1 at its conclusion becomes a little fantastical in terms of symbolism for what the main characters go through. A musical number ending the last episode like something out of the film Emilia Perez (which was made after but which I had watched prior to Euphoria). Season 2 snapping back to some kind of aggressive fantasy of how high school kids are out of control made me wonder if it wasn’t a by-product of the showrunners leaning into the temptation to dial up the controversy of how teenagers are being portrayed. Euphoria does seem to have a spiritual ancestor in the 90s film Kids, which is way more nihilistic and was a more shocking watch at the time.

I can’t ignore either that Euphoria is an HBO show and HBO is expected to have graphic content. Audiences may be drawn in by this initially but it is hard to deny that they stay for the brilliant storytelling and compelling characters. Entourage similarly suffered from being on HBO. I would enjoy watching the boys grow only to find them regressing at pivotal moments in the franchise’s development, such as when the Entourage movie came out. This disappointed me no end and coloured the whole experience of Entourage for me that I now look upon the show as a load of vapid nonsense rather than offering an engaging commentary on celebrity, what represents success and ideas about masculinity.

I won’t spoil it but I did wear a wry smile when Season 3 of Euphoria opened with Rue in full on badass mode and in deeper than ever before. Yet I know enough now that I no longer buy it because Season 2 actually unfolded incredibly deeply despite the starting off point. By the time of episode 5 of Season 2, the storyline was so good I wanted it injected into my veins so I could experience the pleasure of it over and over again. I laughed, gasped and cried. The exploration of grief and its impact on the people in the show is particularly heart wrenching. Zendaya is also a really good actress.

The whole cast are note perfect. The unraveling of Cassie is a masterclass in built up tension that literally had me laughing out in relief when it all inevitably came crashing down around her head. On the flipside, toxic BFF Maddy emerges as the only stable person in the series. That was a nice touch which caught me by surprise. Not easy to do given I have watched so much television in my life that I can predict how a storyline will go with frightening accuracy.

A final note for Euphoria’s main antagonist Nate Jacobs, played by Jacob Elordi, who has completed every level of the video game ‘How to be extraordinarily handsome’. Nate however veers between personalities. One scene he is a dangerous alcoholic. The next a weirdly competent criminal. It seems his main job in the show, apart from eye candy, is to be the vehicle for ratcheting up the stakes for our protagonist Rue and her group of friends, which serves his character’s complexity poorly. At times he is deeply confused about his sexuality and his relationship with his father, a conflict which drives a large part of Season 1’s arc, to only then seemingly resolve both problems at once in a few minutes at the end of Season 2. I am sure he will be back to his dark, brooding best soon enough though.

The inconsistency of Nate’s behaviour is a clear example of how any story, particularly those presenting as realistic potrayals of people who aren’t yet adults, will rarely be able to consistently deliver on the drama without veering into dark fantasy. That is what Euphoria ultimately is; a dark fantasy about what teenagers are up to these days. That doesn’t detract from the truth of the characters or many of their experiences but it should offer some relief from the anxiety of what might be happening in your own children’s lives.

I adore the show despite its flaws and maybe even because of them. Mad Men for example was at times completely baffling. Breaking Bad always grated with me because Walter was never allowed to enjoy the money he made. Great TV regardless.

Thanks for reading. Until next time …