In case he needs a strong start, Sam Levinson tries it with a woman getting out of the car, entering a club gun in hand and firing two shots a few inches from the erect penis of his target. This is just a sample of the lack of concessions that the author is going to give us throughout season 2 of ‘Euphoria’, just released on HBO Max.
After two years since the first season, the first episode of season 2 tit happens on a long new year’s eve. Just a few days after two special episodes focusing on Rue and Jules (or, at least, the first, which took place on Christmas Eve).
After this prologue in which we know the origin of Fez (Angus Cloud) and gives us the clue that we will see the young man even more – he has his own subplot that continues with his rivalry with Nate (Jacob Elordi) – we move to a dangerous moment for Rue (Zendaya) and her friend before go to the party that is the backbone of this start of the season.
A return as if time had not passed
It’s funny because although for us (and for the actors) time has passed, it has not for the characters. Season 1, if we remember correctly, began after the summer holidays and ended with the Christmas holidays. Days have passed, the emotions are still there and Levinson, who writes and directs all the episodes, wastes no time in summarizing the situation for us.
Nor is it completely necessary, but it is slightly disorienting to find Rue, Jules (Hunter Schaffer) and company submerged in their own neuroses, their concerns. As teenagers, their passions are fleeting, they are roller coasters of impulses, but their personal odyssey are permanent, deep.
A depth that Levinson grants in what makes the series even more choral. Yes, the relationship between Jules and Rue with its ups and downs, sufferings, the addiction of the latter and how it conditions everything, is an extremely important part. But the affective-sexual problems of Cassie (Sydney Sweeney, who is astonishingly well), the search for her own voice Lexi (Maude Apatow) and the self-esteem of Kat (Barbie Ferreira), among others.
There is a certain hint of lag (intentional) that permeates the first few episodes from season 2 (I’ve been able to see four). More in a plot sense, of extreme situations and of characters yearning to be heard once the effect of alcohol and drugs has worn off, than of wear and tear in what we find ourselves with a decidedly more mature season.
More mature but what continues with the identity signs of fiction, some of which (like that necessary comic relief) seem to have been boosted after seeing the public response to ‘Genera + ion’. Or, also, in his moments of breaking the fourth wall, of even making a metafiction game conscious that his characters (especially Rue) are not role models.
But season 2 of ‘Euphoria’ is not exempt from being self-indulgent. As good as Jacob Elordi is, Nate doesn’t seem like a real person because of the clichés he’s built on. Something serious when it is a figure on which all the characters pivot, in one way or another.
A season that begins very powerful
A small blemish around a cast that does an excellent job. And it’s not the only one: Sam Levinson continues to demonstrate his mastery and craftsmanship in his direction. Mastering its chiaroscuro, camera movement and making the image speak for itself in each shot. Especially when he tries to reflect the inner moments of his characters.
In general, season 2 of ‘Euphoria’ has entered our screens without regard: daring, brave, deep and without apologizing for what we are going to see. SIn losing its essence, it is a hard, mature season that continues to border and cross limits while being introspective.