During a Q&A for Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths, the playwright and filmmaker said that he didn’t do rewrites.
It was a bold little piece of self-mythologizing from an artist who had just shown us a messy shadow of his previous work. It had the stylized dialogue and the bursts of violence, but the formal achievements of his plays and previous feature were gone. It felt less like the work of a rule-breaking artist and more like that of a teenager who thinks recreating scenes from Tarantino movies makes him a genius. More than anything, it could’ve used a few rewrites.
I thought about that moment while watching the season two finale of Euphoria, because it was a turning point for me. Two months into film school, I realized the stories we tell about making art need to change as much as the stories themselves. Call it a disillusionment with the auteur theory or a realization that while artists may need some ego, we should emphasize the some.
I have no idea what the last two episodes of Euphoria looked like on the page. I do know that Sam Levinson likes to respond to critique far more than he likes to listen to it. Considering his career consisted only of two failed indies, a screenwriting gig on his dad’s project, a mildly successful movie, and a wildly successful show, it’s a bit silly that he’s dedicated his next movie and the second season of said show to defending himself.
Rue may be the narrator, Nate may share Levinson’s identity and likely sexual proclivities, but this season confirmed that Lexi Howard is the obvious authorial stand-in. So maybe that’s why the last two episodes of an eight-episode season were dedicated to her and her play. What is Euphoria if not a funhouse mirror of other people’s experiences? Lexi’s take on the lives of those around her is as thoughtful and well-written as Levinson’s own.
I’m not sure what’s more disconcerting: the thought that this season of Euphoria was shot without a plan only to be cobbled together in the editing room or the thought that these eight episodes were true to Sam Levinson’s ultimate vision. They’re so scattered — so unsatisfying — all they have is being audacious. That’s Levinson’s whole thing. If you make something bad enough you can just claim it’s art. Not since Duchamp called a urinal Fountain, has an artist attached genius to something so full of piss.
Most of what I said last week continues. We’re still at Lexi’s play, the play is still used to jump in and out of the past (and now the future??) in ways that are incomprehensible, and throughout we check back in with Fez who will never make it to the auditorium.
Let’s start with that last thread since it’s simplest. We rewatch the moment with Fez looking at himself in the mirror and smelling the flowers he bought Lexi. (Finding a movie or show in the editing is a natural part of the process and repeating key moments can be effective, but these two episodes have reused so much footage??) Faye tips off Fez so he knows not to say anything incriminating. She then starts talking to her boyfriend about how Laurie killed Mouse. Ashtray, does not catch on and stabs the boyfriend in the neck.
Fez tries to take the fall for this killing but Ash will have none of that. He starts collecting their guns before hitting Fez in the head and locking himself in the bathroom. There’s not enough footage to stretch this tension across two whole episodes. We keep checking back with Fez but it feels out of place in a way the episode’s only real plot turn should not.
Eventually the feds raid the apartment. Fez is shot. Ash shoots one of them and then is shot and killed. Fez is arrested. None of this hits nearly as hard as it should even if Angus Cloud is doing his best.
Back at the theatre, some more violence is about to take place. Cassie Howard makes her way down the aisle before getting on stage and beginning a rant. Honestly, this is the best theatre of the night, a fact that only stage manager Bobbi seems to recognize.
My job is to literally write personal essays where I sometimes reveal information about the people in my life. In my fiction, I do this even more. But there is a way to be an ethical writer and Lexi has not figured it out! Now, that’s fair enough, she’s a teenager. But this episode seems to imply that Lexi is in the right and that just explains so much about Sam Levinson. His deepest belief is that someone making art, can never be at fault — this includes ethical violations and bad writing.
This season has been cruel to Cassie. I’m so focused on the ways Levinson misses when it comes to race, transness, and cohesive storytelling, that I sometimes forget to dwell on the good ol’ fashioned misogyny. After Cassie makes a fool of herself, her mom rushes the stage, and Maddy rushes the stage and then chases Cassie away, Lexi comes back out to speak to the audience. She apologizes for the delay and quotes Fez telling her that sometimes people need to get their feelings hurt.
There is such an intense Rachel Berry/Ryan Murphy energy coming from Lexi Howard/Sam Levinson. They all share a feeling that because they are the underdog, they cannot be held accountable for any wrongdoing. They are the perpetual victim so their cruelty is earned. Never mind that none of them are even underdogs. At least Murphy has being gay — Levinson just has an inflated idea of his own artistic importance.
Speaking of an inflated idea of one’s artistic importance, our first non-Fez-related cutaway from Lexi’s play takes us to a Dominic Fike concert. Rue has gone over to Elliot’s house to apologize and he asks if he can play her a song. This moment is a really easy one to mock, but honestly… I didn’t hate it. This is one of those times where Zendaya is a good enough actor to save something that really shouldn’t work. She’s a good enough actor that watching her listen to a boy play guitar is compelling television to me.
Our next random moment follows Nate, once again drinking and driving, once again with a gun. He finds his dad in a garage hanging out with a group of vaguely queer people including at least one trans woman. Nate asks if his dad is happier and then tells the other people there that he found videos of his dad “fucking hookers” when he was 11 and since then has had nightmares that Cal was raping him. Cal tells the other people to leave and then Nate confesses that he’s there for revenge. He takes out a flash drive to show his dad that he still has the evidence and then he escorts the cops into the garage where they arrest Cal.
Okay a lot to unpack here. First of all, I thought Nate’s mom said he “darkened” at 8. He didn’t find the tapes until he was 11? Two, what was the point of the Nate Jacobs apology tour, if he had another copy on a flash drive?? Three, other than to trick the audience of this television show, why did Nate have a gun, if he was just turning Cal over to the cops??? And four, why is queerness always shown so negatively???? The episode opener with Cal’s past did nothing to explain why Cal was taping people without their consent. It’s this desire to always do the most that results in a show that feels confusing more than edgy. I want art with “bad” queer people but that’s only radical if their humanity is centered. The way Sam Levinson writes just feels very Hays Code to me.
The rest of the episode takes place during the play except a moment after the play where Rue tells Lexi that she loved the play except wait that’s also part of the play still? I don’t know. I guess it’s supposed to be artful that we don’t get to know which scenes actually happen and which don’t.
The play finally ends and Jules sits next to Rue in the emptying auditorium. She says she loves her and misses her and Rue kisses Jules on the forehead but says nothing. The season ends with Rue walking through the school as she narrates. She says that Jules was her first love even if she was too high throughout their relationship. She then says that she stayed sober throughout the rest of the school year.
For those keeping track at home, Lexi’s play gets two episodes. Rue’s sobriety throughout the rest of the school year gets some narration.
And that’s… the season?? The credits roll confirming what we all could’ve guessed — Sam Levinson responded to criticisms that he should work with other writers by no longer working with other directors. It goes without saying that because of his various identities — including nepotism baby — Levinson gets to do things in a way nobody else would. But I see nothing enviable in using all the resources in the world to make something bad.
Congrats to Martin McDonagh for not having to do rewrites. Congrats to Sam Levinson for not needing a writers room or other directors or a shot list. Congrats to every artist privileged enough to squander their talent with ego. Congrats.
More Glitter:
+ This episode was once again written and directed by Sam Levinson.
+ What happened to Laurie? What was the point of Laurie? Where is Laurie??
+ Laurie is just the most obvious dropped plot thread, but I’m also trying to figure out the point of Minka Kelly’s character and her vaguely erotic relationship with Maddy.
+ I still don’t understand why Ethan played Lexi’s mom in the play.
+ Cassie, Maddy, Kat, and BB end the season in the bathroom together. I don’t know.
+ I’m still pretty sad about Jules getting a special episode that finally deepened her character only for this season to reduce her role to “cheats on Rue with a boy.”
+ It really is impressive how little happened in these eight hours of television considering a million things are always happening.
+ I watched season one for Rue, Jules, and Kat. Or, rather, for Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, and Barbie Ferreira. But now Kat isn’t a character, Jules is barely a character, and even Rue — the narrator of the show — has had her story reduced to focus on the Howards and the Jacobs. So, why am I still watching? Well, because I was paid $80 an episode. The bigger question, I suppose, is why are you still watching?
Biggest upset was definitely Minka Kelly not doing Maddie in the pool, instead we got Cal doing Nate fantasy sequence.
I wish there was more focus on Zendaya and Schafer as well, I really don’t care about Cal/Nate/Cassie. Now Minka Kelly/Maddie/Cassie could be something.. the gayer the better.
Lexi and Fez is also feeling pretty forced, was really hoping Fez would die as well but considering we’re like two years at least from the next season, it’s all pointless to worry about.
I couldn’t really believe that Dominic Fike concert was happening, it was pretty insane and awful. I geniunly felt worse for Zendaya there then when she was getting shot up with morphine by Laurie to be sold into zexual zlavery.
Thank you so much for these recaps to validate all my feelings after this disappointing season!! I love all your writing and these recaps most of all.
In The Cut interview, while talking about how season 2 got completely rewritten during Covid, Zendaya says, “The things that didn’t make it definitely needed to die.” I can’t help but wonder if Sam Levinson had written stuff for Jules and Kat (maybe even something with Maddy & Minka Kelly) that got cut because it was problematic/offensive/harmful and the actors called him on it (like the rumor that Kat’s character was supposed to have an ED plot line).
Otherwise, why assert that Jules is one of the main characters with the two special episodes only to completely drop her this season? Like you’ve said before, it really is so obvious that this season the only characters we got to focus on are the ones that are Sam Levinson self-inserts. Sydney Sweeney has talked about beefing up some of the fight scenes between Cassie & Nate, and adding to that all the repeated footage, it seems like all this is filling time where other story lines were supposed to be.
I’m frustrated because Lexi was a fun and weird character first season and turning her into this vehicle for Sam Levinson to defend himself reallllly ruined her for me.
Also, the optics of Bobbi repeatedly (in both episode 7 & 8) talking about what a *genius* lexi howard is made me uncomfortable.
I will end with a quote from Hunter Schafer in The Cut’s interview about adding Elliot this season: “Wait, why are we throwing, like, a dude into the middle of this?”
Elliott got a redemption arc via a 4 minute song, and Jules got a hug and kiss on the forehead and that’s it. Unbelievable.
So yeah, I’ve also been wondering why I keep watching this show.
this made me SO MAD like why was Rue so quick to forgive Elliot and not Jules, when to her knowledge they’re both ‘guilty’ of the same thing (telling her mom about the drugs)? and why was Jules’ character so thoroughly assassinated this season? she took like 5 seconds to cheat on Rue with some dude who was clearly manipulating her. let’s just call Elliot Plot Device because that’s all he is – a dude cast to form a wedge between the w/w couple. fuck you, Sam Levinson.
also that song was SO FUCKING LONG oh my god
This show is terrible and to make it worse, the Dominic Fike concert viscerally unearthed the memory I’d repressed of how my high school girlfriend used to serenade me with Neutral Milk Hotel songs on her ukulele and I’d just have to sit there the whole time and pretend I wasn’t deeply uncomfortable. Thanks for that, Euphoria.
“I was paid $80 an episode. The bigger question, I suppose, is why are you still watching?” PLEASE keep recapping next season. There’s no way in hell I’ll be watching it, but I still want in on whatever bs Sam Levinson comes up with next time.
I agree! I stopped watching three episodes ago, but there’s no way I could miss cutting review closing lines like that one
Drew this review is so fucking spot on, your insight into the ways this show works and DOESNT work are so incisive and accurate. I was particularly nodding aggressively in response to your point about Levinson’s portrayal of queerness being shown so negatively.
I remember being so excited by the Assassination Nation trailer, so stoked to see Hari Nef in what was being advertised as a girl power revenge fantasy, only to feel nauseous the entire film because the only intention of including a trans woman was to show us a trans woman being tortured the entire film. I felt so betrayed! I feel like Levinson is constantly more interested in trauma as an aesthetic than in actual storytelling, and so every representation of queerness is only interested in how it is visually interesting!
There are have been so many moments, starting with Assassination Nation, where I felt like Sam Levinson just wants to be like Gregg Araki– but like, Araki’s depictions of sex are so joyful!! In his movies, queer sex is salvation in a world of chaos, instead of this dark, corrupting force it seems to be in Levinson’s work. Even when Araki’s sex is graphic, it doesn’t feel anywhere near as exploitative or condemning as graphic sex in Euphoria. Araki’s actors actually look like they’re enjoying themselves! Putting actual queer people behind the camera makes such a gigantic difference in how the stories feel
One thing I find terribly ironic with euphoria is how Levinson is trying to constantly use toxic masculinity as a plot devise, while not being able to recognize his own. One could argue that it is toxic masculinity that has at least partially fueled his ego. The way he has objectified women’s bodies, while slowly given way to showing more of their humanity is one example, not to mention the way he has treated his treatment of many of his actresses. Not the mention how he shows their relations too each other. This season there was a giant opportunity to see new deepened plotlines within our leading ladies. Instead all we got to see mostly was levinson putting them against each other, and repeatedly calling one another ‘cunts.’ To put it simply, it’s a fucking eyesore. Almost every storyline with these characters was in some way surrounding either Cal or Nate. I loathed that so much. Initially I started watching this show because of run and Jules and the others, but this season they didn’t really get the chance to evolve. Rue got a bit more of a framework and I’m thankful for that but even hers was shown through a lens far too narrow and unworthy of her character. It’s upsetting that this pentelho, who is virtually unable to accept any amount of warranted critique is unable to see his misgivings. I’m only sixteen and haven’t sat through a day of film school but at least I can recognize when I should put something aside for when I have someone to co-write with, or at least get a second opinion. I will note that I don’t know what it’s like to be an addict. Hardest things I’ve ever done have been a shot of cachaça and half a puff of a joint. But I am and have always been a storyteller, and although I’m still learning I think I can tell when something is at least partially bad.
(Also Drew I really liked your comparison with levinson’s mode of storytelling for queer and trans people to the gays code. Thought that was pretty clever. I’m glad you got some money out of this. All I got was a headache.)
I knew from the title that this would be a great and absolutely murderous takedown on Levinson and it did not disappoint. Once again my partner and I screamed at the tv while this goddamned show managed to pick up zero of the pieces it scattered during the whole season.
Also I meant to write hays code not gays code but also it’s kinda the same thing?
What! Hey you are 16 even from this comment I can tell you are an amazing writer!!!
Thanks. That’s really sweet of you to say:)
I shared some key quotes from this with my gf and her response was “the HOLES in this show my god it’s like i’m on grindr”. I spent the whole ep waiting for Ru to get kidnapped by Laurie’s people for losing the drugs. Does Sam Levinson not understand Chekov’s rule about the gun? I think I’m still watching this show for the ridiculousness and the eyeshadow.
God I love reading these recaps! These episodes were so bad I truly need my reality confirmed so thanks for that, Drew.
I will say I was so much less forgiving of Elliot’s song. Not only because it made no sense and was so very long and I just kept saying it reminded me of Joey Potter singing the entirety of “On my Own” with no cuts in Dawson’s Creek season 1, but also because it did what has bothered me so much with Lexi’s play – took up so much screen time without developing the characters. I was thinking so much of what you point out, that rules can be broken in an effective way, but there are also a lot of screenwriting basics that I feel like Levinson could stand to revisit!!
The Dawson’s flashback! Yes, I thought we had left the whole watching bands play full cuts of their songs in the show in some sort of weird WB crossover promotion thing, in 2004.
Sam Levinson reminds me of “I wrote all of my movie and show dialogue” Tyler Perry. Tyler expected to be congratulated and adored, when in reality every black woman who has watched any of his horrible one dimensional movies will tell Tyler that his volunteered info is not a flex. Just because you can write a script, (and by write in this context, I simply mean type on your computer) it doesn’t mean you should. Delegation is a wonderful word when you have no structure and there are others who want to help a story be told. This season was a mess and the next season doesn’t come out until 2024, so hopefully Sam will swallow his misplaced pride and get writers in the writing room and more directors who know how to actually do the job of a director. Unfortunately to me, this show is trying is trying too hard to the “voice” of a generation. A white man in his late 30s should be speaking for younger people. End of my rant.
*Shouldn’t
Leaping into half baked metafiction when faced with the prospect of having to find a way to dramatize Rue’s recovery is so tiresome. I’m trying to think of the last time I watched something recently-made and “meta” where the meta-ness didn’t feel like a cover for the limitations and insecurities of the creator.
Not going to lie, I really liked Lexi’s interactions with Rue. Not because I liked the idea that Lexi’s play was somehow this deep and worthwhile thing, but because I think that their friendship is at the emotional core of this show and I liked actually getting to see it on screen.
I was really convinced Lexi was going to turn out to be a lesbian this season, so the Fez thing was a bit of a head scratcher for me.
I would feel worse for Cassie if she wasn’t written like a complete clown, but yeah, Sam Levinson has no idea what he’s doing with anyone here.
I agree I thought that the love triangle was going to be between Rue/Jules and Lexi
Spot on, once again. Now that this season has concluded in possibly the second most boring episode of television ever created, short only of Rue’s rock bottom episode, I can confidently say I will not be investing time in a 3rd season.
I believe I literally said out loud when this episode began “oh no… the play’s not even over yet?!” Why did this get two episodes?! And all to basically recap things we’ve already seen unfold? You can really feel Levinson scraping the bottom of the barrel to construct a semblance of a narrative.
A couple things I can’t stop being bothered by this season—
1. Pairing such an endearing origin story for Cal with his current day pedophile/drunk/abuser status — it feels very trans/homophobic to draw a line that says “closeted gay teen grows up to be monster because of gayness” It feels like Sam has some bone to pick with queerness in general. And as a queer person, it feels bad. It like late 90’s TVs take on gay. Like it only leads to trouble. Which actually isn’t surprising coming from an elder millennial aged cis white man.
2. For all the talk of this show being so earnest and real regarding addiction, this show does a real garbage job of actually making you care about or feel for the characters tied in with addiction. Which I think is because Levinson can’t choose a narrative. He rides this line where he wants to use drugs and alcohol to drive big, moody scenes full of low stakes adolescent drama. But then he wants to dive deep into the hell of active addiction and ask for your empathy. Which doesn’t work. What story around addiction does Levinson want to tell? I don’t think he knows. My suspicion is that he has no perspective on the matter, and rather, is just spewing anecdotes incoherently that are only bound by the common theme of drug use.
3. Speaking of addiction, so Rue is magically sober without complication now? So you want to tell a story about addiction that conveniently ends when you need it to? I don’t have any personal experience with opiates or addiction, but I’m pretty sure it’s not so clear cut. Especially for a teen who has shown little regard for others or herself. And especially for a teen that returns immediately to her drug using friends. In her drug driven town and high school. I don’t care which way this show wants to go, but pick a fucking lane, Levinson. Is this a a real, raw depiction of addiction or is this a high school drama in which addiction is one of many themes? Go all in or pull back and lighten up a little.
Re: this specific episode, all I can say is that I was bored to tears. The play was boring and did not need to continue. The flashbacks were boring and produced zero new information. The Fez bit was, as you mentioned, far too drawn out. Moreover, no swat team on the planet would fire that indiscriminately at low level teen drug dealers who they didn’t yet have solid intel on. And finally, the 3 minute song that I can only imagine was written into that kid’s contract from the onset for some unknown reason, was unbearable. I’m not even going to bother to concern myself with how cringe it was—the bigger problem was a 3 minute scene where in the same three lyrics were repeated over and OVER. It was textbook bad television and I am baffled by its inclusion.
Anyways, thank you for saying what many didn’t dare to say this season, Drew. The criticism was warranted and worth raising.
I noped out of this show in season one, and based on your recaps, Drew, I’m glad I did.
I hear season one wasn’t bad, but I’m glad I didn’t get invested enough to keep watching.
Drew, your recaps have been such a pleasure, week after week. They very quickly became my favorite out of a few I kept up with, and I will easily miss these more than I miss the show!
On the note of the disappearing Maddy / Minka Kelly plot, my strongest guess is that it’s another case of Sam Levinson dropping a story after he didn’t get what he wanted from it. Kelly said Levinson wanted her to be naked basically from scene one and she said no, which would’ve started their relationship on a much more textually erotic note. Considering how male gaze-y Levinson’s direction is, and how terribly he handles queerness, not to mention his fixation on predatory relationships, I’m actually really glad it didn’t go there. Levinson seems to have a strong disdain for femmes, especially sexual femmes. He doesn’t seem to respond well to actresses with boundaries either, which isn’t the least bit flattering!
Loved your review, as always!
I feel similarly disappointed about the dropped Laurie storyline. I assume that (as well as the rich lady Maddy works for) will return in big ways in season three. But still, felt disjointed in this season for sure.
I could have done without Elliott’s song, and TBH, Elliott as a whole this season.
Your note about Hays Code is so accurate. Queerness is presented in such a negative light in this show and it seems to have no self-awareness.
I also feel that Cassie’s character is so dripping in misogyny, and again, the show acts as though it’s radical to portray this but… Why, exactly, is this portrayal radical? The actress does a great job but I don’t think it’ says revolutionary as it thinks the show thinks it is.
Thank you so much for these recaps to validate all my feelings after this disappointing season!! I love all your writing and these recaps most of all.
In The Cut interview, while talking about how season 2 got completely rewritten during Covid, Zendaya says, “The things that didn’t make it definitely needed to die.” I can’t help but wonder if Sam Levinson had written stuff for Jules and Kat (maybe even something with Maddy & Minka Kelly) that got cut because it was problematic/offensive/harmful and the actors called him on it (like the rumor that Kat’s character was supposed to have an ED plot line).
Otherwise, why assert that Jules is one of the main characters with the two special episodes only to completely drop her this season? Like you’ve said before, it really is so obvious that this season the only characters we got to focus on are the ones that are Sam Levinson self-inserts. Sydney Sweeney has talked about beefing up some of the fight scenes between Cassie and Nate, and adding to that all the repeated footage, it seems like all this is filling time where other story lines were supposed to be.
I’m frustrated because Lexi was a fun and weird character first season and turning her into this vehicle for Sam Levinson to defend himself reallllly ruined her for me.
Also, the optics of Bobbi repeatedly (in both episode 7 & 8) talking about what a *genius* Lexi Howard is made me uncomfortable.
I will end with a quote from Hunter Schafer in The Cut’s interview about adding Elliot this season: “Wait, why are we throwing, like, a dude into the middle of this?”
To be honest this whole season was a spit in the face for everything queer viewers liked about season one. Fans responded so passionately to season one being about Rule and Jules and then Levinson just decided to make the entire season about…Nate and Cassie, a relationship with no prior buildup??? And Nate’s dad issues??? And now every single queer storyline is portrayed negatively? It feels like this season catered hard to the cishet part of the fanbase that villainized Jules (now she’s a cheater that gets mad at Rue for liking the guy she’s cheating on her with!) and Kat (don’t like seeing a fat girl on your screen? now you don’t have to).
Rue/Jules and Rue’s struggle with addiction was the premise this show was built on and they’re treated as footnotes. Something barely mentioned in the end so that we can focus on more important things, like sad men feeling sad. I know he’ll go back to Rue’s addiction but Jules…it feels he got bored of. Maybe now that Jules and Kat are both non-characters they can get together (listen, their conversation at new years was dripping with chemistry and I know that characters can just be friends but also they should be gay together bc I said so).
Okay, I liked season one a lot. Season two just felt….off. I truly did enjoy the intervention episodes.
I really like Rue as a character, as well as that whole storyline. Zendaya and Hunter are what I’ve been mainly watching for, honestly. But having Rue narrate that she stayed sober and not show us? I don’t like that.
I don’t understand the whole Fez/Ashtray ending. What In the world was the point of that? Seemed like there was a lot of glorifying violence this season.
I’m hoping I can chalk this season up to a COVID fever dream and maybe season three will be better? I’ll probably attempt to watch the first few episodes, but if they’re as bad as this was…I’m gonna be done with the show.
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This episode was definitely terrible, but the dramatic down the hallway shot of vape girl yelling “beat her ass!” then pausing to emit a massive cloud of vape steam was the high point for me.
Yes, and thank you. And also yes, why did I even watch that???
This season was terribly written! In regard to Laurie, I assumed something terrible was going to happen to Rue. Especially after Laurie threatened her about the missing drugs. Like… that didn’t sound like an empty threat so what was the point of introducing her? Is that going to come back at Rue or is Laurie going to prison since what’s her name said she killed Mouse?
I have some mixed feelings about Cassie, but I feel for her completely. It was not that long ago when I measured my worth by whether or not a bad dude was into me. Her waking up at 4 am daily to prepare her body for his attention was me throughout my adolescence and twenties. All the people talking about beating Cassie up or watching her get beat was unnerving. I mean sleeping with a friends very recent ex in my opinion is a super bad idea. But how she has been treated and how the audience sees her I don’t think is very fair. When Maddie told Cassie, “Don’t worry this is just the beginning” after Cassie told her Nate broke up with her. I felt fear for Cassie. Her single tear told me she was also fearful.
Why did we get a backstory for Cal (Nate’s dad)? What exactly was the point of it? Is the sexual encounter with Jules on the zip drive or is it him with other people? Why did he record himself? Like are we supposed to feel bad for Cal because he couldn’t be openly queer in the 90s? Girl, join the club but that is no excuse for recording people during sex without their permission. Or being a total dick to your family.
I’m tired of Nate. I’m verrrry irritated Kat did not get more screen time and she was made to look like the bad guy in the Ethan break up. I am the minority here who likes Ethan but not for Kat. That storyline could have been a solid one but no, lets stare at Nate some more.
And everyone feels bad for Ash. Why? That kid was reckless. If he just CALMED DOWN for a minute. If it wasn’t then it was only a matter of time before he got everyone killed.
I want Jules, Rue and Kat to have their own spinoff. Or to idk get their own individual episodes. The Jules in therapy episode is my favorite of the series.
agree very much with your characterisation of Cassie. She messed up bad, but she’s not an evil mastermind. She’s a victim of her own boobs and the way the world (and Sam Levinson) treat them/her
“The way Sam Levinson writes just feels very Hays Code to me.” YES
Anyhow thank you for all these recaps Drew!
I felt so IRKED by her final few sentences, it felt like she was writing Jules off as someone she loved when she was high (and also wasn’t she sober for most of season one?) in a way that felt dismissive and sort of cruel, which undermined her growth, and then “sober for the rest of the school year” um ok, and then what??? it just felt like a few lines tacked on that said too much too blithely to be worth being there at all, i would’ve preferred for it to end with her kissing jules on the forehead.
anyhow i enjoyed the stagefighting and i am going to do heroin if i have to watch rue’s dad’s funeral again it is TOO MUCH for me to HANDLE emotionally and simply unnecessary repetition!
So, I was out as queer in the 90s. Yup, out at work, out at home, out everywhere. A lot of us were. And nope, I have never once responded to those painful years by filming myself fucking a teenager.
“There is such an intense Rachel Berry/Ryan Murphy energy coming from Lexi Howard/Sam Levinson.”
This! Thank you! I absolutely found myself thinking “this play feels like it should have been on glee” while watching. I was hoping for so much more from euphoria.
Making my earlier comment a lie, I caved, finally caught up, agree with this whole recap even more, will probably not even give S3 a chance, AND have a nitpick on the level of Drew’s poppers criticism from season one.
When Fez and Lexi were talking about Little House on the Prairie and focused on the TV show??? From the 70s??? I was obSESSEd with the books (I know :/ I’m grown now) when I was a teen. I’ll accept begrudgingly a studious Lexi (Rilke) who didn’t know it at all since it’s not so done in schools anymore (but WILL I? Is it actually gone), but who on this green earth calls back to the TV show. Hey, maybe I”m wrong, but that unsuspended my belief more than a high school affording multiple revolving set pieces.
Does this matter at all? No! I just had to say something, Drew made all the smart points already anyhoo. SMH that was something.