Review: Euphoria Season Two Watchers Are Left Wanting More
By: CHARLOTTE JONES / STAFF REPORTER
SPOILER WARNING: This article contains spoilers for season two of Euphoria.
The newest eight episodes of Euphoria covered almost every plotline imaginable: cheating scandals, a play production, murder, and rock bottom withdrawals. Let’s look at a few of the most earth-shattering moments from this season.
Starting off with a bang, season two begins with Nate Jacobs sleeping with Cassie Howard, Maddy Perez’s best friend. While Cassie is not in a clear headspace, after she had just been dumped by McKay and had an abortion, Nate manipulates Cassie into loving him.
Cassie is not the smartest girl alive, but she was in a fragile state when Nate found her and he took advantage of that.
I won’t defend the fact that Cassie slept with her best friend’s ex-boyfriend, but she did have her life turned upside down days before she met Nate at the gas station.
This season, Cassie is on a long downward spiral before she gets caught by Maddy (thanks to Rue) that she is seeing Nate. This scandal blows Maddy and Cassie’s friendship to bits. They spend the remainder of the season fighting, even getting physically violent in the season finale.
In this season, we also get a deeper look into the manipulative and abusive monster that Nate Jacobs is. We get to take a look into what has happened in Nate’s life to make him the way he is, and how the situation with his father culminates into the moment he turns his father in and has him arrested.
Meanwhile, in season two, we watch Rue hit lower than rock bottom. She robbed a house, attempted to steal from Fezco’s sick grandmother, yelled and fought with every person in her life, and owes a dangerous woman thousands of dollars for drugs.
There is a loose fan theory that Rue was being trafficked in season two, but nothing was ever confirmed.
Eventually, she made her way to being back on track thanks to show newcomer Elliot, and Jules’ intervention with Rue’s mom, as well as the support from Ali and her younger sister Gia. Rue ended season two clean, and I hope she will remain that way.
All season long, Lexi’s moment to shine was teased. Finally, in the last two episodes, we got to see her highly anticipated school production.
Lexi’s play covered everything from childhood trauma, to closeted secrets, to the truth of people’s affairs. Lexi’s play, while portraying a scene of toxic locker room masculinity, seemingly exposed Nate’s sexuality, through a dramatic rendition of “Holding out for a Hero,” causing Nate to storm out of the play and leave.
In the production, Lexi manages to document and show us how close Maddy and Cassie used to be, and how close she and Rue used to be. She really focuses on how she felt like an outsider her whole life, and how she’s always been the side-kick. For anyone with similar feelings to Lexi, it was a very resonating moment.
Lexi also dedicated her play to Fezco, who she grew close with throughout the season, the two of them quickly becoming a pair that many watchers were rooting for to become a couple.
Finally, Fezco and Ash once again found themselves in a horrific situation in the season finale.
In the beginning of the season, we saw Ashtray kill their supplier Mouse while also beating up Mouse’s handyman, Custer. Fezco also beat up Nate for calling the raid on his house and caught a little bit of attention to himself from Cal Jacobs.
Fezco and Ashtray were housing Custer and his “girlfriend” Faye, who were in trouble with the police. Unfortunately, it all caught up to them in the end, when Custer tried to rat on the boys for killing Mouse.
Ashtray once again acts in violence and kills Custer. However, the police were moments away from once again raiding their house.
The episode concludes with a shootout between Ash and a SWAT team, wounding Fezco in the process and eventually ending with Ashtray’s death. It was a heartbreaking conclusion for fans of the show.
Director Sam Levinson is behind the chaos and brilliance of season two.
From the beautiful costume designs to the incredible set backgrounds, Levinson has a vision for everything.
Following this season however, some fans are quite upset with Levinson. Fezco never made it to Lexi’s play, McKay disappeared from season two, there was little to no screen time for Kat, and plot hole after plot hole was left unsolved.
For many, the season two finale left fans feeling confused and upset. However, Euphoria has been renewed for season three and fans are hoping their questions will be answered next season.
While season two was incredible despite its plot holes and questions, I still think season one remains supreme.
Looking to the future, it will be interesting to see where season three goes. Will Fezco go to jail? Will Rue stay clean? Will Cal Jacobs go to trial? What will happen with Maddy and Cassie?
While many speculate that we may need to wait until 2024 for the next season, I, along with audience members everywhere, am excited to see what Levinson has in store for these fan-favorite characters.