The season finale of euphoria it was a bland and ineffective attempt to close narrative arcs and move on to others. Sam Levinson gave an unsatisfying ending not only to its characters, but also to the main stories. From Nate Jacobs’ sudden and inexplicable redemption, to Rue’s new perspective on herself and her feelings. The last episode seemed to push the story into new and not always clear territory.
But it was Ashtray’s death and her adoptive brother Fezco’s attempt to save her life that was the whole point of the episode. It was a hard, tense sequence that recalled the most important and transcendental moments of euphoria. Especially, in the midst of parallel plots that were surprising for their softness and clumsiness. Ash’s confrontation with the police, Fezco’s fight to avoid his death and the harsh conclusion of the scene surprised by his forcefulness. Likewise, it became the axis to understand the new direction of the series and what its plot could show in its upcoming third season.
However, the big and unavoidable question is one: what changes in euphoria with Ash’s death? It is a secondary character who, despite becoming relevant in the second season, does not directly impact the main plots. Still, his finale pushes the series in a new direction by simply shaking the story’s delicate balance of outright violence.
If so far euphoria there was shown personal and domestic conflicts, Ash’s death links the series to a different layer. And it brings its characters to a sudden maturity that could forever change the premise of the series.
The death that marks a time of grace
Throughout the second season, Fezco seemed on the brink of a tragic conclusion. Principally for his connections to crime or his dalliances with complex and increasingly murky situations. The fact is that the character seemed on the verge of disaster on more than one occasion. Of course, the accumulation of circumstances was built to support that Fezco should have died much earlier.
The version the character was part of a violent subplot in the first chapters, it is part of the mythology of euphoria. So by the second season, everything seemed point to his death or a tragic end for your story arc.
This has happened, although in a completely different way. Actually, Fezco ended up becoming the link to the adult world. Until now, all the events of euphoria they seemed curiously detached from a larger and more complicated stratum. Ash’s death and Fezco’s insistent attempts to save him they marked the end of a sort of grace period for the series. Especially with the arrival of the police and an armed confrontation that surpassed any other perception of the world beyond the characters.
Until now, the director and screenwriter Sam Levinson, had tried that all the situations in euphoria belonged to an almost private domestic substratum. But Ash’s death and everything that happened around Fezco highlight the jump of the series towards other much more mature dimensions. Especially since the third season seems to be much more focused on showing the protagonists in a more adult sphere.
‘Euphoria’ matures awkwardly
With a season finale that failed to wrap up its main plot lines, the series is on rocky ground. Their main characters failed to advance past a few obvious steps and its more convoluted plots remain unresolved. Ash’s death, Fezco’s fate and everything that involves his resolution could be a good indication of the future of the plot. Especially because of how the loss of the delicate balance between the adult world and the adolescent world can shake the plot.
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euphoria just matured — incompletely and clumsily — and that shows a new way forward. The big question seems to be whether the show will be able to assimilate a bigger change and continue down new narrative paths. Or is it just a new plot trick that tries to sustain the failure of its main premise.It only remains to wait.