Sam Levinson, We Have A Problem❗️

🛑 Please Do Not Read If You Would Like to Avoid Spoilers 🛑

Euphoria is an HBO hit series that follows the life of Rue Bennet a high school student struggling to battle her addiction. While battling her addiction those around her in school and at home are facing issues, if not the same, as well. The show sustains drugs, sex, abuse, and more topics that viewers consider controversial. During the run of season two I wrote a blog titled “No D.A.R.E, Euphoria Tells the Underling Truth Adults Want to Ignore 🤬.” It responds to the statement Drug Abuse Resistance Education, also known as D.A.R.E, made regarding Euphoria glamorizing sex and drugs. I was against the statement due to being a fan of the show and seeing it for what it truly is.

However, I know this is late and Euphoria ended months ago, but I have been super busy with work, internships, and preparing for school this upcoming Fall semester. But I have been biting my nails to talk about Euphoria season two. Before releasing my own opinion of the season, I listened to other platforms about their opinions including Lovelyti TV, a journalist whom I admire and listen to on the regular!

Now that I have listened to others and compared their opinions to mine, I can finally say what I have been holding in this long. Season two was terrible and a letdown from the previous season that was a huge hit. That is for multiple reasons that will be an extensive and detailed list:

Plots Lost in the Sauce:

1. What the hell happened to Chris McKay? He was on the first episode and had a brief

appearance in the second episode after Nate was rushed to the hospital after getting his a** whipped by Fez. But after that, he was nowhere to be seen and his character was just nonexistent and was never brought up again. I heard the actor, Algee Smith, had disagreements with the writer and creator of the show Sam Levinson, which resulted in him being written out of the show. I don’t know how true that is, but he wasn’t in the show and that must be for some reason, right?

2. Apart from Mckay, where were his younger twin brothers Troy and Roy Mckay? Troy was pursuing Rue’s younger sister Gia. They disappeared. I get it they were Mckay’s younger brothers, but they went to school with Rue and the others so I would think they would be shown regardless. No, they didn’t have a big part, but they were significant to the show and brought some comedy as well.

3. Cassie had an abortion the season before, and it was not explored or discussed in season two. It was like that plotline was thrown out along with McKay and multiple others. A lot of women deal with trauma and emotional setbacks after having an abortion so for Sam not to write that in the story just shows his lack of understanding and more.

4. Kat was one of my favorite characters in the first season with her wardrobe change and exploring of s*ex, though I didn’t support the way she was doing it. However, much like McKay she was a forgotten character only having short or no screen time at all. Her

relationship with Ethan was a boring story and of course, she was bored herself, but I hated the way she treated him and broke up with him. He didn’t deserve that at all. I wanted to know who that creepy guy was when Kat was on video chat with him at the end of season one. He didn’t show his face or anything, but he was creepy. To research and rumors Barbie Ferreira, the actress that plays Kat, disagreed with Levinson as well. Supposedly he wanted Kat’s character to have an eating disorder in season two and due to Kat being plus size, Ferreira was against it and did not want to portray plus-size women in that light. That is a usual character storyline for plus-size women sometimes. But that is a rumor and based on an interview Ferreira has said people blew up the ordeal. It seems to be a reoccurring issue when actors or actresses disagree with Levinson they are on the show as much 🤷🏾‍♀️.

5. When will Tyler appear? If you are unaware of who Tyler is he is the man Maddy accused of sexual assault in the first season causing Nate to assault him. However, he did not sexually assault her, and it was consensual. Also, Nate framed him for choking Maddy which led to his arrest. From that point on he was forgotten. His life was ruined by two high schoolers that used him to hide their toxicity. In season two I expected him to come back guns blazing, but he was nowhere to be found. I was super upset about that and thought this could have been a major plot towards the end of season two for season three.

6. In the first season of Euphoria, we all know Nate tormented Jules due to his denial of the

feelings he sustained for her. He even blackmailed her to frame Tyler as well. All in all, Nate is a terrible character, and he never got his in the second season. But, in the season Nate and Jule’s relationship has not been discussed the way it should have been after all the damage from the first season. They had one scene together and that was his returning the tape of her and his dad. Jules forgives him and seems to sympathize with him. I just don’t understand how their “love triangle” of sorts including Maddy can be forgotten quickly after it was a major plot during the first season.

7. Before season two came out it was said Gia, Rue’s little sister, would have a larger role this season. I saw her as much this season as I did last season. I am glad her opinion and feelings were taken into consideration by Ali about Rue’s sobriety. Storm Reid is a great actress, and it is depicted well in the show with her emotions and more she can show on the screen. However, Levinson does not take advantage of that when it comes to Reid as Gia which infuriates me.

8. Rue’s mental health has been a reason behind her drug abuse. When her father passed away, she found comfort in getting high often. But, it was played on during the first season that Rue may be suffering from Bipolar disorder. Since mental health affects a large sum of

youngsters even going undiagnosed, I was glad to see this talking point in the show. Representation is important and mental health is an important conversation. This season it was not talked about at all and viewers such as me saw the moments when Rue would be manic or depressed, but she never officially was diagnosed. Plus, the disorder was never brought up again.

Where The Hell Was This Plot Supposed to Go?

1. When I first had seen Laurie, the drug dealer that started to work with Fez and eventually Rue, I knew something was off about her. The way she spoke, and her posture were extremely horrifying, and she would do awesome in a horror film 😂. However, when she threatened Rue and told her she would sell her, and she would never be found it scared the hell out of me. S*x trafficking is a major issue globally and it is not discussed often because powerful people are usually the ones behind it. About the show, I believed Laurie and instead of Rue taking her threat seriously she thought about getting high and taking the drugs offering Laurie a deal. But, Laurie knew Rue was not sober and played upon that. Later in the season, Laurie found out Rue didn’t have the money to pay her back which meant she was in debt to her. If you watched that episode supposedly the drugs, she gave Rue is gone. When the season finale came, I was biting my nails and wondering when Laurie was going to come and do something to Rue or the people she loves. That never happened and, yes, I never want to see characters be thrown into a circumstance when they are in danger, but it is a show. This plot would have been a big wait for season three with viewers, including me, wanting to see it. However, it was forgotten and like many others that voiced it on social media I was heavily disappointed, and you can see the weak and lazy writing in the season.

2. Maddy having that tape of Nate’s dad and Jules was a storyline I was waiting to be talked about in the show. I knew when Nate began to have a relationship with Cassie the tape was a plot that was going to be examined. However, it wasn’t taken advantage of the way it should have been. Instead, Nate was able to frighten and get that tape back with his usual tactics threatening Maddy. I was upset because if anything I was hoping she would leak the tape and cause a ruckus in the Jacobs family. But, of course, Nate came out on top.

Characters & Plots That Were Unnecessary or Dragged

1. The new character Elliot was the most annoying and new unnecessary character I have ever witnessed in my life. He served no purpose and escalated a lot of issues. He was creating a rift between Jules and Rue purposely sharing details about certain circumstances such as Rue’s drug use. Even sleeping with Jules while she was still with Rue. Also, there was no backstory on his character as compared to the previous season when each character was able to have a backstory on each episode. He was sneaking, conniving, and to me, the season would have been better without him. The last episode of the season was irritating for a lack of better words. The scene of Elliot singing to Rue was the worst filler in an episode I have ever seen. During the time of singing, there could have been another scene or something else shown that was important. Elliot held absolutely no character development, and I am not blaming it on the actor, Dominic Fike. More so I am blaming it of course on the writer of the show, Sam Levinson.

2. I know people were excited to see Fez, short for Fezco, and Lexi together, but I was not

one of them. I know the good girl and bad boy trope quite well having read plenty of books donning such. However, I felt they held no chemistry at all. The best scene between them was when they sang “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King which is a song I love. However, anyone could have done that scene including Rue and Fez if it wasn’t for those two. Anyways, they barely had any scenes and the scenes they had together were not strong or long. I wonder what will happen next season because if anything I felt they held chemistry as friends than lovers.

3. This season was heavily focused on the love triangle between Maddy, Nate, and Cassie. I understand why because the fact that Cassie was sleeping with her best friend’s ex-boyfriend, Nate, behind her back is a juicy storyline. However, I felt there was no chemistry between Cassie and Nate and their relationship was not developed. They saw each other at a market and slept together in the bathroom. From that point on Cassie basically became obsessed with Nate though to me she was just filler for him. I understand Cassie has daddy issues and abandonment issues plus she just went through trauma from her abortion. Not to mention her relationship with McKay was over and she needed another man to fulfill that empty spot. But, I didn’t like them together and that plot took up so much time in each episode that it was annoying to keep seeing them. Not to mention Cassie was a naïve b*tch. Her favorite line when it was brought up, she was f*cking her best friend’s ex-boyfriend was, “They were not together.” I kept saying to myself that b*tch it doesn’t matter due to the girl code you are supposed to have with your friends. She was pathetic and terrible this season though last season I loved her. She really needs to get help and stop looking at guys as the ones that will answer her problems because THEY WON’T! I just feel like their camera time could have been limited a little bit.

4. Lastly, my biggest issue with this season was the final episode which consisted of the shootout between Ashtray, Fez’s little brother, and the police. It was completely unnecessary,

and I did not understand the point of it. Levinson knew he needed to go out with a bang and used the shootout to make the final episode everyone talked about. I do believe he failed to a certain extent because people were talking about the shootout, but besides that, the show episode was still lackluster. The scene did make me have anxiety and I was surprised by it, but I was more surprised that this scene even existed. Not because he is a child with the things I see and have read age is nothing, but a number today concerning violence.

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Season two was a letdown and it sucks to say it because I am a huge fan of Euphoria. Due to Zendaya's schedule I know the third season will not return until 2024 😡 and that sucks because I wanted to see the way season three will turn out. However, I have other shows to watch to kill time. I can say I did like certain aspects of the show especially the visuals and the camera angles. It was different from season one and Levinson explained it will because season one is like the start of the party in visuals, but season two is like the party continuing from 4:00 AM to 5:00 AM and everyone is tired. But, the attenders refuse to leave which is a great analogy. Also, I was glad to see Cal Jacobs, Nate’s father, backstory. Not to mention Rue getting clean was great, but the show ended with her voice-over stating she stayed clean for the rest of the year instead of showing it 🙄. But, Sam Levinson and I have a problem after the first season was a phenomenon and then we get scraps in the second season was a slap in the face. I hope season three is better because if not I might just have to part ways with this show.