TRIGGER WARNING: THIS SHOW CONTAINS DRUG ABUSE, NUDITY, VIOLENCE, EXPLICIT LANGUAGE, AND IS TV-MA. MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR KIDS UNDER 17. EUPHORIA IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR KIDS UNDER 17 AND DEALS WITH HEAVY ISSUES.

Euphoria aired on June 16, 2019, and came out with the second season two years later. The show scored 16.3 million viewers which is the best performance for any tv show on an HBO Max series over the past 18 years. The second season had everyone talking and every episode was trending on social media. In my opinion, season two was not as good as season 1. It was definitely entertaining, but some parts of the season were either dragged or not needed. There was too much going on in season two. I think they kept certain storylines going for too long. Here’s what I mean.

As we know, there was a new character, Elliot. No offense, but I don’t understand why the addition of Elliot was necessary since his character has no purpose. I feel like all he did was get involved in Rue and Jules’s relationship, but not only that, he told Jules that Rue was still doing drugs like he wasn’t an addict himself. I get what he was trying to do, but he just came into the picture out of nowhere; mind your business, Elliot. Not to mention, his singing scene. He has a lovely voice but, oh my gosh, the episode was done before the time he got done signing. 

As for Kat, she deserved a better storyline, since her entire plot in season two was her relationship with Ethan. The only storyline they gave her was about her relationship with Ethan. She was one of my faves in season one. Her character represents a teen who is body-conscious but changes that by raising her confidence and doing what she wants to do despite what others have to say. Kat challenged her friendships. When Maddy pointed out that her new personality was unlikable, Kat snapped back and said, “Why? Because I won’t sit and listen to you moan about your psychotic abusive boyfriend who you’ve literally broken up with a thousand times?” That showcased how Kat was paying attention to herself more often, rather than her popular friends. Kat’s character was so iconic. Season two did get into Kat’s feelings about herself but it would have been nice to hear from her more often as we did in season one. 

Rue and Jules’ relationship was difficult. Jules was basically cheating on Rue with Elliot but then had the nerve to call Rue out for her addiction like she wasn’t just cheating. I get it, she cared about Rue’s sake, but why would you bring Elliot with you to Rue’s house to call the situation out? Rue’s addiction had nothing to do with Elliot. Rue and Jules went on to not talk for the majority of the season. I honestly think that was a good choice, Rue was dealing with so much and Jules being in the picture would build a bigger strain between them.   

The Nate, Maddy, and Cassie storyline was very repetitive and by far the worst one. This storyline only showcased sex and Cassie driving herself insane over Nate. Sam, the creator of Euphoria wants the audience to believe that they are “in love”, despite that odd intro to Cassie and Nate’s relationship in episode two. If you wanted to show them being in love, why didn’t you show more of them doing other things rather than just sex. Cassie didn’t care about anything else except for getting attention from Nate. On top of that, Cassie ruined her relationship with Maddie, her best friend. This storyline was definitely clique as well. Are we really supposed to believe that Nate fell in love with Cassie after having sex with her once? Honestly, what do Nate and Cassie actually have in common, besides screwing over Maddy? All we have seen them do is “Make love” which is quite boring. The only interesting part was Maddy fighting Cassie at Lexi’s play. I hollered when Cassie said, “Me and Nate are madly in love, and I’ve never been happier!” That was very much dramatic. Cassie was definitely desperate over a man that wasn’t even hers from the start. 

Season two was very entertaining but it was not as thought out as season one. The episodes were a hit or miss. The plot was really messy and all over the place. Don’t get me wrong, there were many enjoyable parts such as Rue’s meltdown in the earlier episodes, Lexi’s play, along with Fez and Ash’s situation. But, the love triangle, Elliot’s character, Kat and Ethan’s relationship, Rue’s attempt to sell drugs, and Nate’s relationship with his dad were just too much to put in one season. 

Oh yeah, whatever happened to Rue’s suitcase that she got from the drug lady? Because there is no way they flushed all those drugs down the toilet.