Euphoria
S.01, E.03 – “Made You Look” (2019)
I suppose the biggest conundrum of Euphoria is whether it’s all style or if there is any substance. More so than any episode before, Sam Levinson front-loads this with an overbearing mix of styles that would argue compensation. After all, how does the story of Kat’s dysmorphia lead to an animated sequence around One Direction erotic fan fiction and a full-on Medieval battle scene before the title card comes up? Given that this is also an episode that will feature Rue giving a slideshow presentation on dick pics and feature Jules and Nate talking in a very clever split-screen, it’s easy to get lost in the visuals. So many small moments fit perfectly into the jpeg model. That in itself is an achievement, I guess.
But this is brought up because we are officially three episodes in and it’s hard to tell what Levinson is truly like as a filmmaker. It does feel like he’s borrowing heavily from across a wide spectrum of voices, creating a pop-art style that constantly provokes. In fact, mixing that with the nudity and budding sexuality of the characters, it sometimes seems like a dazzling collage. It’s definitely designed to be a fantasy, a heightened awareness of what the real world looks like. Still, when so many difficult subjects have been brought up this quickly in succession, one has to ask what it’s all for.
To be completely honest, I want to like Kat’s story more than I ended up. As someone who continues to suffer from weight issues, the crux of her flashback is very familiar. There’s an initial unawareness of the harm that eating can have on a person, especially if they are impulsive. As with Kat, there is something that feels tragic when the validation is taken away, and one is seen as nothing more than reprehensible. She found her outlets, but not without having the other option behind a void of loneliness, an inability to ever feel like she was able to reach her true potential. Is the whole act of her cam girl persona desperate, or is there some greater freedom in it?
Given that among her early clients is an obese man, it does reflect the void that she could’ve been in, where her body is so rejected that she’d be forced to have masked strangers online shame kink her. In some ways she is taking advantage of it, finding loopholes in other people’s desperate form of pleasures for self-satisfaction. It’s scary to think where things will go, but for now, one cannot help but notice the birth of a new, more confident era for Kat. While I recognize her body issues, I honestly say that’s where our overlap ends. I wish I could find confidence in my own skin the way that she does, and maybe even use it for financial advantage. It’s crazy to think that Bitcoin remains a largely decried currency despite being around for years now. But hey, it’s doing Kat favors.
The episode largely centers on that quest for validation, and it comes in various forms that largely have to do with the internet. For Rue, it’s lying about her sobriety to get a 60 Day Chip. Ali can sniff her out, even offering to buy pancakes and talk things out. He remains one of the noblest characters in the series, sometimes only rivaled strangely by Fezco who makes the most of his limited screen time this week by refusing to give Rue drugs when the addiction chills kick back in. Zendaya knocks with such ferocity and vitriolic words on that door that it makes sense why she won an Emmy. It’s amazing to see Levinson strip away the artifice and just show the low, the turning on friends who refuse to make your life what you want. You know that sobriety may be a better route, but it’s still not as fun.
Again, the relationship between Rue and Jules remains one of the series’ greatest moments. Whereas couples like Chris and Cassie have failed to gain any traction so far, Rue is in constant flux. She is trying to fight her demons and it’s compelling to see her surround herself with such a negative view of the world. Everyone is in their own state of peril. They are all trying to beat some conflict. For her, Jules is maybe the best thing that’s ever happened. There’s a dutiful sense that Jules will protect Rue, help her get sober. There is a love there that is beautiful in its own way, managing to suggest that if they pull it off, they will be inseparable for the rest of their lives, escaping East Highland’s cesspool of negativity.
But then again, Jules is wrapped up in her own controversies. As a song by Devonte Hynes/Blood Orange from Palo Alto (2014) plays, Rue takes suggestive pictures for her online boyfriend “ShyGuy118” a.k.a. Tyler a.k.a. Nate. The initial mystery is fun, but what makes this grow into something greater as the series progresses is when that reveal comes. The audience is already aware that it’s Nate, who is very homophobic and will do everything to deny his relationship to Jules most likely. After all, she is transgender and that’s even more taboo (or “gay” since that is the type of dating app he used), and that could destroy his image. And yet he seems so nice, so willing to be cutesy.
Levinson’s style as a director is often distracting, but the split-screen where Jules and Nate are walking around campus is one of the better points in the series so far. As text messages bounce back and forth, there is near synchronicity to how they interact. They are in classrooms, following stray conversations. Even the people they talk to overlap in different ways, sometimes even being from similar friend groups. It’s all clever and the dialogue playing out beneath them suggests a fantasy that everything will work out, that they will be happy. Even when Rue suggests that this is a bad call, it’s not enough. Jules is addicted to the potential that this is the one.
To be fair, Rue’s suggestion that she will randomly meet ShyGuy118 at some shady location is a self-fulfilling prophecy in the next episode. Given Nate’s track record, it’s haunting to think what could happen when they finally cross paths. Will she be assaulted, or will there be something worse? What will happen when it comes out that she has connections also to Cal?
It all feels tragic because of the Jules and Rue friendship. As the epicenter of the series, there is a sweetness when they are together. They are supportive and in some ways want what’s best for each other. They are happy when they’re alone, even getting intimate as the story progresses. If it’s a doomed romance, it’s one made worse because each has good intentions. Jules may want someone else that she’s never met and Rue may just want to get high, but when they can pull themselves away from their other addictions, they are in a state of bliss, capable of imagining a better world. As Jules would say “I hate everyone in the world but you.”
Along with Maddy being onto Nate’s secret, the episode feels like it’s in the familiar groove of the past few episodes. Along with a stellar soundtrack by Labrinth, the whole episode manages to embrace its wild and sometimes unpleasant tone perfectly. These kids are not all right, often heading down bad paths while their parents look on in frustration. Cassie is told not to get pregnant by her mom while Maddy eludes to naughtiness with suggestive hand gestures. They’re hiding their lives from their parents, which is odd given how transparent the internet can be. The fact that Maddy was able to hack into Nate’s phone while he was in the shower suggests a vulnerability that can spiral out of control. After all, Nate is a loose cannon already, beating up people for petty reasons. Imagine what happens if the word comes out that he might be gay?
I continue to give the show credit. For as much as it lives in this elaborate prism of style, it is doing enough that’s interesting on a story level. Not every character gets something interesting to do, but there’s enough there that someone is bound to be shocked by something. Maybe it’s just that these are all teenagers, at the precipice of adulthood with the worst possible influences backing them up. Still, the idea that they blindly leap into these roles in the hopes of validation and fulfilling some ego addiction suggests that they are doomed, at least for now. They are living fast and leaving handsome corpses.
But yes, for all of the boundary pushing discussion of notably sex addiction and the pains of sobriety, it does feel ridiculous to have a show that is so openly confrontational at times. Given that the previous episode featured a record-setting number of penises on display in a two minute sequence, having Rue give a dick pic speech in front of a class feels almost numbing already. This is the life Levinson believes his characters, a Gen-Z stand-in, to have. It’s so shocking that they are exposed to so much corruption in the world. How will they possibly cope?
To be fair, the following episode is considered the series’ best, and for great reason. Whereas everything so far has been a weird mishmash of ideas, it does feel like things will start to click more properly. Still for now there’s something amazing about entering Levinson’s brain and seeing how he writes a teen drama. It’s definitely more grounded than Assassination Nation (2018), but in what ways? The characters feel more real and alive, though it does feel like many exist solely to push boundaries. Aren’t they having a lot of sex? Aren’t they putting themselves in compromising positions a bit too easily? I suppose that’s all part of reality, or at least the kind that draws in viewers.
Don’t get me wrong. This is a good show, but I don’t know that it has yet fully understood what makes it that way. I appreciate how they are trying to do something different and the clash of dazzling style with vulgarity is sometimes effective, but at a certain point I want them to shift more towards the heart, focusing on characters instead of the fact that this is HBO and because of that they can show just about anything. Did we need to see that One Direction erotic fiction? It definitely gives the show a little piece of personality, but it also feels distracting when in that close of a proximity to about four other cinematic style changes within the first 20 minutes. Still, one can’t fault a show for trying new things. It’s time to see if it can succeed as something more than one of the most impactful forms of shock value. If that final Rue scene has anything to say, I’m sure they’re more than capable of pulling it off.
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