The Frustrating Season Finale of “Euphoria”
By Eugenia Yang
HBO’s teen drama, “Euphoria,” has been in the spotlight since it premiered in the summer of 2019. The show has been called shocking and topical: it deals with drugs, sex, sexuality, and identity as its high school characters face problems like addiction, abuse, and teen pregnancy. The cast of characters includes: Rue, a recovering drug addict, who is home from rehab and back in high school; Nate, the spoiled star-quarterback; Jules, the young trans woman who is new in town; and Fez, a high school dropout turned drug dealer. The writers do a spectacular job of structuring each episode as an introduction to a character while simultaneously moving the plot forward without slowing down the pace. I find myself constantly on the edge of my couch, wondering when Nate will screw up the order of his dad’s porn discs, or when his dad, who hooks up with young men and trans women, will be exposed. We see the backstory and upbringing of each character and get a sense of why they are who they are. All the characters are far from perfect and they all make questionable life choices. The character who is the closest to making “morally correct” decisions is probably Fez and he’s a dealer whose assistant is a ten-year-old kid.
But that is exactly the beauty of “Euphoria.” And that’s why it resonates with young viewers. No, we aren’t perfect, and like Maddy, Nate’s on-and-off girlfriend, we tend to fall for the wrong people. No, we don’t always root for the most morally correct characters and are perhaps secretly on the team of drug addicts and drug dealers. We see pieces of ourselves in these characters’ flaws and understand that essentially, these imperfections are what make us human.
In the season finale, though (spoilers abound!) all the characters regress. Nate and Maddy continue in their toxic relationship. Mckay and Cassie are still failing to connect, the wedge between them even larger now that she’s pregnant. My favorite duo, Fez and Ashtray, are in a bad place and basically go out of business after being set up by Nate. Nate successfully avoids the blame for abusing Maddy and even drags Jules into the picture. And Rue relapses after turning down Jules’s invitation to skip town. And then the finale ends with a surreal music video to “All for Us,” sung by Zendaya, the singer/actress who plays Rue. The episode shatters any sense of character growth.
“Euphoria” started strong with its compelling scripts and exceptional acting. It explores hot issues in modern society. It’s just as bold as Netflix’s “Thirteen Reasons Why,” but much more realistic and ambitious. Did the finale fail to do the show justice? Yes, but not in the way HBO’s “Game of Thrones” did. In “Game of Thrones,” the ending was frustrating (spoiler alert!) because all the plot lines were all sloppily taken care of (don’t get me started on how they made Daenerys the Mad Queen out of nowhere). In “Euphoria,” though, the finale seems like a deliberate choice to reflect the messy reality of life. Yes, it’s frustrating to see all these characters making the same mistakes, but it reminds us that life isn’t a perfect equation of problem and solution. “Euphoria” teaches us that sometimes life comes full circle, forcing us to return to where we started. And that is something we, as humans, need to be okay with.
The only thing we can hope for at the moment is that the writers can bring us a second season of “Euphoria” as captivating and relatable as its first. Or, we could just curl up in bed, think about the life lessons, and rewatch every scene between Rue and Jules (shout-out to all the “Rules” fans), praying that they actually end up together.
Eugenia Yang is senior at NYU studying English with a focus in creative writing. She writes short stories, and on a good day, experimental fiction. Her passions also include reading, cooking, and any board game except Monopoly.