Author: Nicolette

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.