Thoughts on Euphoria: Season Two and the Finale
T.W.: This article discusses police brutality and abuse, please read at your own risk.
Season 2 of the HBO series Euphoria was an emotional rollercoaster, tackling issues such as relapse, dealing with toxic relationships, and managing friendships. I could honestly write an article on the season as a whole, and some points of the whole season will be discussed in this article. However, the last episode felt like a roller coaster that was finally constructed, but not completed. Some moments were resolved, but most had me questioning what is to come in season 3 if there will be a season 3 at all. For now, I will be discussing moments in the final episode that stood out while incorporating moments from season 2 as a whole.
The Play
First of all, let’s talk about Lexi’s play. For most of Euphoria, Lexi has been a background character as her older sister Cassie has gotten most of the spotlight throughout this series. The only interaction that the viewer gets to see of Lexi for most of this season was her brief interactions with Fezco and Cassie, so Lexi’s play allows for the viewer to see a bit of Lexi’s background and perceptions for the last two episodes of the season. Understandably, Lexi feels like a bystander compared to her sister, and just wanted a chance to shine, so it is really good that she finally got that chance to shine towards the end of this season. However, putting on a play to call out Cassie in front of an entire school for no other reason than feeling left out was very petty.
Now I get it, Cassie was not a fan favorite this season, and it is understandable why that is. To recap, Cassie, who was Maddy’s best friend, maintained a sexual relationship throughout the season with Nate, Maddy’s abusive ex-boyfriend which in itself was its emotional rollercoaster. I cannot lie, when Cassie and Nate started sleeping together in the first episode, I was mad at Nate. Cassie was drunk in the first episode, Nate knew that, and he still took advantage of her. So I was very confused as to why everyone hated Cassie. By the second episode, however, Cassie was now sober and still sleeping with Nate, knowing what he did to Maddy, and then it clicked for me. To make matters worse, Maddy had talked to Cassie about wanting to get back together with Nate and instead of telling Maddy the truth, Cassie just had a whole “yeah, I get it, I’m here for you” attitude when that was far from the truth.
So I had joined the Cassie hate train by the second episode and pretty much stayed on the train for the remainder of the season. However, I still felt that Cassie’s reaction to the play was justified. Cassie did some cringy things on Euphoria, but that is no excuse to publicly humiliate somebody for your amusement. It may have been funny for Cassie, but if it was any one of us, it would be humiliating, regardless of our wrongdoings. At least I know I would be humiliated. Maybe Cassie needed to get her feelings hurt for a hot minute, but not to that extent. Besides, I do not think anyone ever tried to understand why Cassie did what she did. Trying to understand Cassie would not excuse the behavior, but it could at least provide some sort of explanation. Nevertheless, I can understand what would motivate Cassie to get on stage in the middle of the play, call out Lexi, and then attempt to beat up the actor playing her. Although, it was hilarious to finally watch Maddy beat Cassie up.
The Beatdown
Unfortunately, viewers do not get to see too much of Maddy and Cassie’s fight. All we know is that Cassie ended up with a bloody nose and Maddy ended up with a broken foot. Cassie confesses to Maddy that Nate broke up with Cassie after seeing the way that he was portrayed in Lexi’s play. Maddy replies by letting Cassie know that this experience with Nate is just the start of their relationship. I think Cassie getting beat up was more deserved than the play. It is one thing to be publicly humiliated in front of an entire school, but a simple beat down is the better alternative.
I am not one to condone violence, but at least the beat down was not in front of the whole school, and it seemed to have calmed Cassie down after her calling out Lexi during Lexi’s play. And I was looking forward to Maddy beating up Cassie since finding out about Cassie and Nate’s relationship in the fifth episode. It would have been frustrating if Maddy got mad at Cassie, just to let Cassie off the hook and act buddy-buddy with her again. Especially with how many times Maddy threatened to beat up and kill Cassie since finding out about her and Nate. So, it was amusing to finally get what I had been waiting for for three episodes. Otherwise, it would have been a frustrating all bark but no bite moment.
I think that Maddy saying “this is just the beginning” to Cassie after Cassie told Maddy about Nate breaking up with her out of anger was an important moment. Maddy has been in that abusive cycle with Nate, so she knows how Nate operates. From personal experience, I know that it can be very difficult to even leave a toxic situation, let alone acknowledge that it was toxic. The fact that Maddy not only stayed aware of how Toxic Nate was but even after the fight, still warned Cassie about him shows that deep down, Maddy still cares about Cassie and her safety. This could be a sign that Maddy and Cassie could rekindle their friendship at some point. This moment also shows that no matter how tempting it is to want to be with someone toxic for you, it is not worth it in the end, and I am proud of Maddy for coming to that realization.
Of Course we Have to Talk About the Main Character
One of the staple plot points for this season was the interactions between Jules, Rue, and Elliot. I had talked about Jules and Rue’s relationship falling apart in a previous article, but the finale gave the viewers closure on where Rue stands with both Jules and Elliot. A point that I never mentioned in that article was how frustrating it was to watch Jules cheat on Rue with Elliot. It is even more frustrating that Rue never even knew. So when Jules tried to apologize to Rue, it was hard to watch because it seemed like Jules only did it to make herself feel better and not because she genuinely cared about Rue. I was very happy that all Rue did was kiss her on the forehead and walk away because it showed that Rue was choosing to work on herself and her sobriety over staying in a relationship that was not serving her, similar to Maddy ultimately staying away from Nate even after she wanted to get back with him.
Another point that I had failed to mention in my previous article was that Rue also got upset with Elliot for telling Jules about her and Elliot doing drugs together, contributing to Rue’s relapse, another big plot point this season. By the finale episode, it appears that Rue has sobered up for now and she makes peace with both Jules and Elliot. Seeing Rue ask Elliot for forgiveness and Elliot forgiving her with a song he performed was a very sweet moment in this episode. I know a lot of people did not appreciate the song taking up 4 minutes of the episode and diverting from more intriguing plot points, however, it is important to remember that Euphoria is being told from Rue’s perspective. With that being said, Elliot’s song was important because it showed that Rue was finally able to make peace with other people in her life. Although I agree that it would have been more entertaining to watch more of the shoot out at Fez’s house than listen to an entire song, I understand why the song was put there in the first place. But let it be known that Elliot is not off the hook. I’m glad Rue is starting to make peace and I’d hate to see that get ruined, but I hope she finds out what Jules and Elliot were up to at some point because it would be interesting to see her reaction to their little situationship. Also, I wish fans were just as outraged about Jelliot as they were with Nassie.
What Happened to Ash?
To be honest, I did not understand the whole storyline with Fez, Ash, and Fay and this season of Euphoria failed to go into more detail about that. We barely saw any of them in most of the episodes, thus making it hard to form any connections or opinions about any of them. All we know is that Ash killed Mouse with a hammer in the first episode and it was never addressed again. We do not even know what happened to Mouse’s body, all we know is that the cops found it by this finale episode which leads to the SWAT team raiding Fez’s home and an eventual shootout between the cops and Ash.
First of all, the scene felt very realistic. Watching this scene had me on edge, not knowing what was gonna happen or who was gonna die if anyone was. Going into this scene, I expected Faye to be the one to die, only because I did not think that the producers had any intention of making her a permanent character. So, it would make sense for her to be the one killed off. To watch Ash be the one to die however, if he died, was very heartbreaking. I only say if because I do not know if he was actually killed or not since we did not see him get killed, it was just implied with the gun laser pointed to his head and the off camera gunshot sounds afterwards.
Although I had no emotional connection to Ash, the idea of Ash getting killed by police is heartbreaking. It is so sad that police brutality has gotten to the point in which it seems like police do not realize who they are killing, they are just killing. I know Ash should not have shot the police officer or have been engaging in a shootout in the first place, but he was just a kid and it is very jarring to watch police kill a child. On the production side of things, it was probably a smart idea to kill Ash’s character off given that he is just a child and themes of Euphoria might be too mature for a child to be around.
Final Thoughts: What to Expect for Season 3
Season two of Euphoria was eventful, to say the least. I think the final episode had an interesting combination of concluding some plot points and leaving some questions unanswered simultaneously. I know I did not talk about everything that happened in season two, or even in the finale episode, but there are some questions I have for the third season. First of all, is Rue going to stay sober? If so, how will that be portrayed in the season three plot? Will Cassie and Maddy ever re-kindle their friendship? How is the play going to affect Cassie and Lexi’s relationship? Will Elliot get more of a plot? How will Nate and Cassie’s relationship be portrayed going forward? Is Ash officially dead? I hope to see these questions get answered in the next season.
