Euphoria’s Pilot: Drugs, Gender, and Diverse Characters
This article discusses Euphoria, a show I believe shouldn’t have its characters be in high school. When I was a summer camp counselor, my teen co-workers were discussing the show much to my horror. When I was their age, I was watching shows like Ouran High School Host Club, Gravity Falls and Steven Universe. Maybe that’s just me; I enjoy a good cartoon, what can I say? But my point stands that this show should’ve taken place on a college campus because of the NSFW content.
In this piece, I will be discussing topics such as substance abuse and sexual assault, so if you’re sensitive to these subjects, I advise you not to read any further.
After Angus Cloud’s death, I had a strong desire to write more about this controversial show. Angus Cloud played Fez, the drug dealer of the protagonist, Rue. The main character, played by the talented Zendaya, is the star of the show and narrator in this emotional teen drama. The last article I wrote was specifically about Cassie, but because of my hyper-fixation with this program (Blame the LGBT representation, excellent music and acting performances, and fascinating characters), I am now striving to write an analysis of each episode, at least of the first season.
In my opinion, Rue was set up to have addiction issues from day 1. With her diagnosis of OCD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, ADHD, and bipolar symptoms at a young age, she eventually self-medicates by snorting pills. Does that mean I think that people with mental illness are most likely addicts? Absolutely not; but I do believe most people with addiction issues struggle with mental health, and that they come to believe that substances are the only thing that can make them feel “normal”.
The other characters’ stories are as follows:
Jules Vaughn:
Jules’ lack of a mother figure and loneliness in a new town may be why she does what she does. She’s trans just like her beautiful actress Hunter Schafer, surprising Nate’s father, Cal. He asks before having sex with her, “You walk around like this?” His Grinder profile says he’s into “twinks and femboys”, not understanding the concept of gender identity well as many people his generation are ignorant of.
Her relationship with gender is explored more later in the season as well as in season 2, but during Euphoria’s first run, she takes hormone shots and embraces femininity. The first episode features her in a situation where she lies about her age before experiencing statutory rape in a motel room. Afterward, she goes to a party where she’s threatened by someone who she doesn’t know is actually the son of the man she just slept with. This party is also where she meets and begins her friendship with Rue.
Nate Jacobs:
Nate is Euphoria’s antagonist, with Cal Jacobs as a close second. His relationship with Maddy is toxic to the core, becoming more problematic as the season progresses. “She broke up with me. Fuck her,” he tells McKay in his first scene. He then sexually harasses Jules as they drive by her on her bike, much to McKay’s disapproval. This shows the difference between the two boys, which is later highlighted by McKay’s acceptance and fondness for Cassie and Nate’s condemnation of her because of her leaked nudes. While Nate is judgmental and treats girls with disrespect, McKay has more common sense and a kinder heart.
Maddy Perez:
Maddy is sassy and petty, having sex with a guy she just met in an attempt to hurt Nate. McKay calls her “crazy” and says she might burn his house down, and while this seems like an over-exaggeration, her character is seen as being incredibly violent later in Euphoria. “That’s real classy, you whore,” Nate shouts at her as she has sex in the pool, un-phased by the people recording and taking pictures.
“Suck my dick!” she spits back. Foul language is a big part of Maddy as well as her short temper, making her an interesting character to watch on screen.
Kat Hernandez:
Kat losing her virginity is seen as an accomplishment, a milestone that’s celebrated by her friends. This puts having sex as an unrealistic teenage expectation when in reality, there is no race to lose your V-card and no one judges you for it. It only means something if you want it to, as virginity doesn’t make anyone more pure or a better person than someone else. It doesn’t mean you’re unattractive and the “prude” and “slut” binary only exists to belittle women.
“Bitch, this isn’t the 80s, you need to catch a dick!” Jules yells at her in disbelief. Unfortunately, someone could watch this program and think that there’s something wrong with them for never experiencing physical intimacy, and could rush the experience and regret it.
Kat is plus-sized, and her difference in body shape to the other girls is just another way Euphoria has diversity within its characters not just with backgrounds and ethnicities, but size as well. She will later have a complete change of wardrobe, but for the first episode, she dons button-up shirts and glasses, dressing like her original role as the stereotypical nerdy girl.
Cassie and Suze Howard:
Cassie’s relationship with her mom, Suze, is strained. This is shown in the very first episode when, upon teasing her, she is horrified and threatens to “poison [her] in [her] sleep”. I actually quite like Suze; she’s the definition of the cool wine mom, single while raising two daughters much like Rue’s own mother. “How was rehab?” she boldly asks Rue when she comes over. She puts a positive spin on it and calls her upcoming school year “a new chapter”, the same phrase Rue’s own mom applied to her post-rehab.
Christopher McKay:
McKay is infatuated with Cassie’s beauty, choking her during their first time because of being disillusioned by pornography. But when Cassie tells him to stop, he does so immediately, respecting her boundaries and expressing his confusion. “I thought you liked that,” he explains. When defending Cassie to Nate, he says that she likes cars (Something that she has in common with her actress, Sydney Sweeney), proving that he not only is attracted to her physically but that he takes an interest in her hobbies.
“Cassie and McKay” is the only song named after a couple, and while he and Kat disappear in season 2, his character is explored in more depth as the season progresses.
Lexi Howard:
Lexi enables Rue’s behavior by peeing in a Tylenol bottle so that she can pass her drug test. The fact she can pass it is the beginning of her role as the only stable girl in the show, albeit somewhat of a pushover. Instead of letting Rue fail it, she helps her with reluctance, asking her “Are you serious?” when she whispers what she wants her to do in her ear.
She’s Cassie’s younger sister, with their relationship being explored more in the next season.
Fezco and Ashtray:
Fez and Ash’s story is told much better in the second season. The first season barely scrapes the surface of their moral complexity. When Rue lies and says she’s planning on staying clean after rehab, Fez respects her lifestyle change, saying “That’s what’s up.” When she reveals that she was fibbing, he laughs, but when she asks to see his brother and buy more drugs, he expresses his disappointment. “This drug shit is not the answer,” Fez tries to tell Rue at McKay’s end-of-the-summer party.
Ash is the youngest on the show. He is tough as nails, cusses like a sailor, and has a face tattoo. He doesn’t get much screen time or play a role other than shock value as a child selling drugs to Rue, but he gets his time to shine later on in the series.
Conclusion:
This first episode is a great way to hook people into watching more. While viewers’ hearts go out to Rue (“If I could be a different person, I would,” she says as her mother discusses how her sister found her after her overdose), they get a taste of the rest of the cast and what the series’ conflicts will look like. Labrinth created the soundtrack and did so splendidly, crafting catchy songs that capture the mood of the scenes their music is featured in perfectly. The acting is spectacular, too. It’s no wonder Zendaya has roles in Spiderman, Dune and Challenger — she is phenomenal.
Rest in Peace, Angus Cloud. Fez was my best friend’s favorite character when I showed him the series, and for good reason. Gone too soon at 25, he will be missed.
