![]() ![]() “Euphoria”’s greatest strengths and blemishes can be boiled down to Lexi Howard’s (Maude Apatow) play, which serves as a narrative anchor for the show’s last two episodes - and whose inclusion serves as an apparent proxy for its creators. Relegating such crucial emotional development to the sideline each week resulted in a rushed finale, in which several of the previously established storylines suffered at the hands of a lack of deserved resolution. ![]() Rather, compelling characters are made when the audience understands how each individual reacts and how they develop because of their experiences. Presenting trauma alone does not make compelling characters. Symbolism and absurdism are great on their own, but they need to be coherently tethered by the forward progression of the characters they feature. In other words, the show’s imagination gets in its own way. Yet, most episodes simply jumped from one stylized tableaux to another without a strong enough character arc to animate its damaged depictions of high school life into continuously evolving characters. However, striving for pretty and stylistic cinematography obviously took Levinson’s time away from essential elements of compelling shows, namely consistent character development.Įach episode was crammed with wild sequences, often full of intensely emotional and graphic depictions of drugs, sex and violence it would be naïve not to acknowledge that these scenes are what “Euphoria” is most known and praised for. Specifically, Levinson and his crew excel in providing entertaining and creative sequences. This is not to say the show is necessarily unintelligent on its own - it does several things well. Regrettably, “Euphoria” is a show that thinks it’s more intelligent than it actually is. This disorganization and lack of coherence is the responsibility of Euphoria’s writers - or lack of, as Levinson holds the only writing credit. ![]() The screen time allotted to certain main characters - primarily Jules (Hunter Schafer) and Kat (Barbie Ferreira) - is noticeably truncated. For example, McKay (Algee Smith), who was prominently featured in the first season, received only a brief cameo in the first episode of the second season. Many of the storylines introduced in the first season were dropped or completely forgotten in season two. But while the season is technically excellent, its narrative structure and plot lines fall flat.īoth the plot and the characters seem much more disconnected than in the show’s first season. The cast once again gives mostly good performances - highlights include Zendaya and Eric Dane - and the show delivers on its nostalgic atmosphere and cinematography. On the surface, the second season maintains the show’s creativity and scope. “Euphoria” initially gained widespread praise for its intelligent take on the classic high school television drama, unafraid to depict incredibly serious issues with a candor and bleakness not traditionally present in the genre. ![]()
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