Season one of this ICONIC HBO show introduced the powerful characters and plotlines in this colourful, psychedelic world. We get character-specific episodes with background, drama, and beautiful cinematography.
Season two of this show starts with a bang and fizzles out with sparks here and there. It does not come close to the storytelling of the first season. There are various characters whose storylines are either left completely unresolved or sloppily taped together. Character decisions contradict the development in Season one. Sam Levinson knows how to frame a beautiful shot and delivers strong character moments, but he does not excel at overall story. It has become clear to me and many of the show’s fans that Sam is in over his head and needs help in the writer’s room.
In Season One, the character of Chris McKay [Algee Smith] had dedicated episode time to his backstory and his future. In Season Two, his character is essentially abandoned by episode two. We never hear from him again. Or his brothers, which is a serious missed opportunity for dropping story hints of a Euphoria gen ii focusing on them and Gia Bennett (the MC’s sister). Sam missed the opportunity to create a streamline into an iconic anthological series like UK Skins. McKay’s disappearance is also exceedingly disappointing because he is one of the mere sprinkles of POC characters on this show.
Kat Hernandez [Barbie Ferreira] is the only plus-size character on the show and her background/arc of Season One was a massive fan favourite. Yet, in Season Two, she’s barely a side character. We get one powerful scene where she’s imagining all the voices of internet influencers in her head creating this messy representation of the body positivity movement corrupted by skinnies. Then nothing. She breaks up with her incredible boyfriend who loves to eat puss-puss and dance. Then nothing. She dances on cam in her little black mask [iconic] for two seconds. Then nothing. She’s there when shit goes down, but she doesn’t do anything. There are rumours that Kat’s plotline took a darker route this season which Barbie disagreed with, so Sam cut down her role significantly. WOW. Disappointing.
Jules [Hunter Schafer] and Rue [Zendaya] are broken apart by a man… but not really, ultimately it’s Rue’s addiction that pushed Jules away. In my opinion, Elliot [Dominic Fike] was just…there. I think that Sam Levinson did an okay job presenting Rue’s addiction as it worsened. However, following episode five, one of the best episodes to date, it gravitates towards a hopeful outlook on addiction rather than a truthful one. After watching her father’s funeral dramatized on a stage only a week sober, you’re telling me she didn’t even try to relapse? If the point of Rue staying sober for the rest of the school year was to say that Lexi’s play gave Rue this whole new perspective, I need to SEE it. There are also numerous plotlines left wide open, i.e., her debts and memories lost. What happened in the hours between that bath with the massive morphine dose and waking up in the bed?
Like, oh my God. Okay, we get it. Cassie [Sydney Sweeney] fucked Nate [Jacob Elordi] because she’s depressed, insecure, and has subconscious male gaze ideologies about her value. Cassie wants Maddy’s [Alexa Demie] confidence – she wants the “unconditional love” that Maddy and Nate supposedly had. So, Cassie does her best to become Maddy or a version of Maddy that Nate wants. Not that complicated. He could have spent less time on that triangle and given us a better Kat storyline. Whatever.
Lexi! Lexi, Lexi, Lexi [Maude Apatow]. An icon. Sam did something right with her character. And that play?! AMAZING! Great character choices. The episodes with the play… a bit of a rerun. We get a little more backstory on Lexi, her relationship with the other characters and her trauma. It was a clever round-up of the story. However, it was repetitive in the grand scheme of both seasons and had no reason encompassing almost two entire episodes.
Sam Levinson wrote a beautiful backstory for Cal Jacobs [Eric Dane]. BUT a redemption arc for this character is not what the overall story needs. Understanding his motivations? Fine. Trying to make me feel sorry for the consequences of his actions because of that past? Unnecessary. He’s an adult. He made his choices. Also, as far as I’m aware, the United States law doesn’t arrest people who purchase prostitution services. They arrest those offering the services. In that case, the only evidence (THAT WE KNOW OF) Nate could have given to the police and have Cal arrested would be the video of Cal and Jules in the motel. However, in episode six, Nate gives Jules the DVD of that night and tells her it’s the original and there are no copies. Maybe Nate lied, but I don’t know for certain because the show didn’t clarify… What is Cal being arrested for, Sam?
My theory is that Sam Levinson wrote a season and ran into issues with the cast about the script. Maybe he already had a shooting start date and had to rewrite fast. I imagine that he didn’t have a chance to think things through until he was in the editing room with the footage he had shot. That’s why some of the episodes have lots of filler shots that set a ~vibe~ because Sam hadn’t written enough usable story. I also think that may be why some of the old plotlines from season one ended up with fast and messy conclusions.
I think I still like the show. I’m rooting for the characters. I want to see Rue figure her shit out, although I also want her addiction portrayed honestly and her narration explained by her eventual death at some point. And this all hinges on what Sam does with the third season. If he can’t flesh out the characters he abandoned and wrap up plot holes he forgot, I’m out.
Quick shout out to the incredible performances from the actors contributing to this project. They have done incredible things with what they’re given.