Following the completion of Season 2, Euphoria has proven that it is in dire need of a writer's room.
Spoilers Ahead
After the dramatic cliffhanger of the season one finale, Euphoria fans were ecstatic to watch what was in store for the new season. With the pandemic, fans had to wait longer than expected due to filming conflicts, and essentially created more antsy anticipation amongst old and new fans of the show. Once the premiere of the new season aired eight weeks ago, it proved that we have hyped the show more than we should have. Director, Sam Levinson, had said prior to the release that it would have a more mature theme, but I found many scenes tasteless and unnecessary.
Even though the film camera used had created aesthetically shots and made us reminisce on the beautiful shots in season one, this was simply a bad tactic to cover up the bad writing of the show. This show did not answer any questions we had last season, failed to include vital characters from the first season, and had difficult scenes that proved no importance to the plot.
The best way to describe all the episodes is there is so much that is happening, but nothing happened. What I mean by this is every episode had twenty different subplots that had not contributed to the previous plots in season one and proved highly unnecessary to add at all. I will finish watching an episode wondering "What did I just watch?" and "Why did I watch that?" This is extremely different from how I left watching season one and it was disappointing.
The biggest problem I had with this season was the writing. This show is based on Levinson's teen past when he abused drugs and is telling his experiences of high school through his woman counterpart in the show, Rue. Although his experiences have allowed him to perfectly portray what drug addiction looks because he is explaining his experiences, this is not to say he should write other characters' scripts and plots.
During the pandemic, there were two special episodes following the two main characters, Rue and Jules. Specifically with the "Euphoria Special Episode Part 2: Jules", I found myself crying and moved by the excellent writing of the character. This is because the actress that plays Jules, Hunter Schafer, assisted the writing in this episode. Using her experience of her transitioning and how it affected her gender and sexual identity, I believe she was able to create beautiful writing simply because she was able to draw from her own life.
Jules, portrayed by Hunter Schafer, in Euphoria Special Episode Part 2: Jules
Although she was able to co-write in this special episode, it seems like she was not given any creative freedom to contribute to her character this season and it significantly shows. In season 2, Jules is thrown to the sidelines and falls for a man that completely disregards what has happened in the special episode. This brief example just shows how Levinson prioritized to make his awful storyline overshadow the beautiful writing that many fans could have related to. I just wished that Levinson would hire a diverse writer's room to create a better script and not make generalized plot lines that have nothing to do with anything.
This season finale was mid. It left the audience with more questions than ever and had ultimately made me feel like I wasted my time these past 8 weeks. I will say that the excellent music choices had ultimately brought me back each week because there were some pretty great bops and I have discovered so many new artists. A notable mention is Zendaya's and Labrinth's season finale song titled, "I'm Tired". This song perfectly encapsulates Zendaya's character, Rue, in the show and her experience with opiate drug addiction.
Would I recommend anyone to watch this show? No. Will I watch season three when it comes out? Yes. Since there were no questions answered, I hope that this new season will finally give me something, but I highly doubt so.
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