Euphoria
S.02, E.02 – “Out of Touch” (2022)
With the premiere episode of season two, there was a promise of the show going even further, pushing everyone beyond the pale into something much more uncomfortable than before. Rue would be relapsing with a new friend named Elliot. Meanwhile, Nate had a newly bloodied face from Fezco that would potentially leave him out. But not for long. Following one of the tightest hours in the show’s young history, there is the need to expand. Sam Levinson packs a lot into this second episode, and at times they are exhausting while others are just so fraught with tension that you need some space. It isn’t shocking in the same way that the first one was. In some ways, the long game is what’s unbearable this time around.
It’s only the second time that an episode has featured not a flashback, but a cold opening that provided missing details of the story we know. Nate would be in the hospital suffering from seizures and potential brain damage while courting Cassie into a relationship. Meanwhile, the news is dropped that Nate and father Cal aren’t exactly the most functional of family members. In fact, the voice-over goes so far as to suggest that Cal outright hates him, disappointed in his reckless ways. The mystery for him in this episode is who assaulted his son while Nate is trying to determine how many more shady practices he can get away with.
Because the relationship with Cassie goes from bad to worse so gradually that by the end of the first 10 minutes, there’s been such a severe gut punch already. Add in one of Levinson’s patented montages set to the most manic editing imaginable of seizures colliding with births and sex, and every violent and sexual habit in-between. This is the world inside Nate’s head, and his eventual come-up with a smile feels bizarre, almost darkly comic. Given that this sequence also features imagery of Cassie being pregnant in some fantasy where Nate will claim to be a better father than Cal, breaking generations of inflicted trauma on the next. But he won’t. If anything, he’s about to ruin another relationship in the most bastardly way imaginable.
The issue with watching the premiere episodes of Euphoria seasons is not being totally sure if the new characters will be relevant in the long run. It is especially true this time around where a party scene paves the way for a handful of recurring faces. Another thing that doesn’t seem obvious upon first glance is that Cassie would end up with Nate, especially after the horrifying bathroom scene from before. Who would want to enter into a bargain with the devil like that? Maybe Cassie does. Maybe there is something to Nate that is alluring, and she just can’t deny it. Even if their relationship isn’t all that old yet, one thing is clear: Nate has already won. He has pitted Cassie against Maddy and puts them into an N.D.A. just to protect his image.
Other characters with similarly complicated backgrounds include Faye: a drug addict who first appeared in Fezco’s car not even aware that it’s New Year’s Eve. While she gets one of the early memorable lines of that episode (“It’s New Year’s Eve? My boyfriend doesn’t tell me anything!”), it wasn’t known that she would not only be back but crashing with Fezco when her personal life involves a murder. What better place to stay than with a drug dealer with a heart of gold, who only acts out when he needs to. Fezco’s code is that he’s a protector, someone who watches over his friends like family. It’s unclear how true that is of Faye yet, but something suggests that whereas Rue at least has a known moral code, Faye may attract some dangerous attention in not too long.
The more obvious return is Elliot, who becomes Rue’s drug dispensing musician friend. Whereas we get a brief comical moment with him last time, this time he’s given a chance to become more dimensional, appearing in East Highland and interacting with the cast in ways that are substantial to the story. The only person that likes them is Rue, and mostly because it’s an easy gateway to drugs and free music. Given that Rue has revealed that she’s only ever capable of being vulnerable while intoxicated, there is a freedom that Elliot provides. There’s a room that Jules’ no-nonsense policy would insinuate conflict. Even as Jules tells Rue once again “I love you,” there is a flippant reply, a suggestion that the three of them meeting at school is just plain awkward.
The convenient web that made Euphoria’s first season so endearing is starting to unravel into a greater tragedy. Will Rue leave Jules for Elliot? It would be a downward spiral for our protagonist while creating inconceivable guilt for Jules, the belief that she needs to be a motherly figure for her addict friend. Even Ali tries to reach out to her, but it’s not going to work. Together they keep a secret from Rue’s mother. The idea that everything is calm when it’s not is an underlying theme in this episode with the image of Nate’s bloody, smiling face being the perfect embodiment of how everyone feels.
They all have some bludgeoning, mostly emotional. Jules’ conversation with her father reveals a certain hesitance to embrace Rue returning into her life. After all, Rue was the reason she got on the train and (at least implied) “caused problems.” It becomes heartbreaking when it’s revealed that Rue skips dinner at Jules’ house to go get high. In return, Jules goes out with Kat and Maddy for bowling. Jules and Maddy discuss how they’re jealous of Kat’s seemingly perfect relationship. They are happy. Everything is going well while the duo’s romantic lives are so entangled in conflict. Maddy in particular is suffering from low-grade depression and considering celibacy for the time being. She even wonders if she should get back with Nate, which Jules at least tries to talk her out of.
But again, not everything is calm under the surface. In one of the episode’s more flamboyant subplots of the week, Kat’s fantasies take center stage as she contemplates how happy she actually is. She imagines a medieval, Game of Thrones-esque knight slaying her boyfriend and having sex with her. She is confronted by a series of traditionally beautiful women telling her to love herself. Kat yells that she has mental problems, that she is not attractive. These are all concerns that are in keeping with her trajectory. It’s a painful truth and makes sense that she would suffer body issues.
The only conflict is that Levinson as a filmmaker sometimes goes overboard with his style. While this is nowhere near as flashy as last season, these moments with Kat feel like glimpses into the mind that say something in ways a bit too overbearing. She has a creative imagination and it makes sense that she has these fantasies, but they all feel gimmicky when placed around the rest of the episode, which has more of naturalism to it. This is especially evident in the “influencer” segment where she is crowded by beautiful bodies and panics. The point makes sense and there’s a strong provocation, but it feels like too much, especially when following the medieval sex scene earlier in the episode.
For the most part, this is an exhausting episode because of how dense and depressing it all is. Euphoria is pretty much known for making episodes that push boundaries, but the choice to make it feel so real at points is haunting. There is distress watching Cassie get roped further into Nate’s web of conspiracy, that he is the only one with answers. He is forceful, refusing to accept any fault with his image. When he’s told that dating was a mistake, he tells her never to write that again. There is no desire for him to ask “Why?” and instead just keep pushing people into corners, hoping they won’t rat him out. It’s in part what drove him away from Maddy, who had compromising evidence to suggest he was gay. Likewise, Nate seems to have taken up the blackmail route and is threatening to rat out his dad if he doesn’t comply.
Nate as a figure is amazing because of how realistically he fits into the box. Everything he does feel worse than before, and yet there’s a practicality to it that makes it believable. He is a great con artist, someone who knows how to cheat the system and make his image look clean. Maybe there’s a few smudges on it at the moment, especially with his ego as well as his face bruised, but he’ll find a way to make his own redemption. He’ll find happiness in other people’s miseries, which hangs over most of the characters like a grey cloud for the rest of the episode. Even Cal’s visit to a gas station upon realizing that Fezco beat up his son is tense, making the simple act of paying for gum feel like a life or death situation.
Other loose ends throughout the episode include Lexi deciding to talk with Fezco for the first time since that night. Blasting hyperpop, she books it to the gas station and tries to have a conversation. In the perfect cliffhanger moment, she is interrupted by Cal’s presence. The question becomes whether Lexi will be a passive figure or go down a dangerous road, hanging out with a rowdy group that seems destined to be felons. As it stands, the season arc may just come down to Fezco fighting Nate with someone’s entire life being ruined. It would be tragic if Lexi ended up in the mix, turning her innocent demeanor into one of the saddest fates on the show. After all, passive people acting out are usually the most irrational, not understanding the boundaries of safety and doing what they can for validation.
That’s all that Lexi wants, validation. Every character on the series seems to want the same thing and is not getting it. Even Cassie who believes she’s getting it is probably pushed to the brink emotionally. She’s giving into a toxic relationship that’s likely reminiscent of her own male figures in her life: tragic and negligent. While her father is a bit different from Nate, the absence likely adds to her willingness to settle. Again, given that Lexi is winding up on Fezco’s side, one has to wonder if it’s sister against sister by the end, where somebody tears The Howards apart and leaves season three in a much bleaker state.
In terms of being entertaining, this is one of the weaker episodes. While there’s still a lot of decent character moments, the conflict takes center stage and every scene is racked with a familiar guilt. Euphoria has a bad habit of ending every episode on a down note, and this is one of the most down that has happened in a while. Everyone doesn’t seem well and the only one happy is Rue, still getting high and acting like this hazy fantasy is the best way to live. Given that she suffered an episode last time, there’s reason to believe that an overdose or something foreboding is in the works. The dread alone makes this show difficult to stomach in large doses, making the week to week more tolerable.
There’s so much that feels like it’s borderline Greek tragedy for the depressed suburban set. This week was more of a chance to see what cards Levinson wants to play going forward. The best that can be said is that every role feels stronger this season and every piece of chemistry has more excitement in it. Even if this is a tedious watch, there’s something there that is keeping the show propelled in an interesting direction. The only question from here is how long it can keep getting away with the horrors. Some characters even seem on the verge of a better life. They’re at a crossroads, waiting to begin that journey. Will they? Based on their codependence on the past and Levinson’s need to make everyone not calm down for more than five minutes, it’s unlikely. Still, there’s so much at play that’s juicy, and that alone encourages the mind to go crazy with conspiracies. Not bad for a show that’s a dark comedy one week and a bleak tragedy the next.
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