Euphoria
S.01, E.08 – “And Salt the Earth Behind You” (2019)
It’s hard to believe, now that season two is airing, but there was a time where many believed that this could’ve been the end. On the one hand, it’s a risk every Freshman series faces. The chance of finding an audience isn’t guaranteed, and Sam Levinson was a divisive figure already. Many called the show style over substance, that it lacked any greater profundity on the subject of teenage angst. So much felt surface-level, more done for provocation than any deeper message. At least, that’s what the detractors said who felt more overwhelmingly loud, thinking that it wasn’t a fair assessment of Gen-Z culture, what with its drugs, sex, and gender identity politics. So much of the show was bold, confrontational, and even fatalistic.
Still, the idea that the show would gain much of a following was only really backed by its lead Zendaya, whose film career has only bloomed in the years since. In 2021 alone she’s starred in four of the most noteworthy titles, including the billion dollar-grossing Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). With an Emmy in tow, the show became a hit and set a new bar for what the teen drama could look like. The first season was far from perfect and its messy finale reflected it. Even at its most dazzling, it felt like a bunch of swings for the fences that didn’t always land. That is why it’s fascinating to think: what if this was the end?
For starters, the ending would have an even bleaker note. In collaboration with composer Labrinth, Zendaya sings a new song. It’s the most fantastical sequence in the show, finding her dancing into a dark abyss, climbing atop bodies before diving into the unknown. What does this all symbolize? Did she just overdose? As Labrinth calmly says “Till then,” the show cuts to black and leaves us with the questions. If it ended here, who would say what this all meant? It would be self-defeating, reflecting how an addict is incapable of escaping their demons. As the previous episode suggested, this is a period of waxing and waning. Still… was Rue dead?
At least based on the continuing existence of this franchise, the answer is a hearty “NO.” Still, it’s a finisher that concludes the bleak undertones that the series has had all along. It’s the rug being pulled out from under her feet as Jules leaves her at the train station, unable to get off for reasons that may irk many viewers. Rue simply needs her medication and to go home. Jules needs to escape from this hellhole in large part because Nate has ruined her reputation, but also because she seems happier with Anna, in this new relationship. Given that Nate preceded this scene by telling Rue that Jules is an unreliable person only helps to build the villain argument, though even that feels rooted in ignoring Jules’ own problems within the larger picture.
It’s definitely not the way that the relationship should’ve gone. For most of the previous episodes, there was an affection between them that suggested kinship. They will find each other again, hopefully, and patch things up. But will it be toxic this time around?
A perfect example is Nate and Maddy, who was broken up with prior to this episode but got back together. Maddy was told not to, but there was something drawing them closer. As Kat would suggest, they seem destined to be together, maybe divorce a few times, but they will always come back. It’s a toxic relationship and the perfect antithesis to how Rue and Jules should be. They are in the middle of a scuffle at the moment, but who’s to say that they don’t fix things? Maybe they don’t and Rue still finds a way to recover yet again, finding herself able to remain stable.
Because after all, her family seems downright noble in a lot of senses. They sacrifice a lot for her and Levinson’s ability to reflect that is effective. They don’t have a convenient conclusion. There’s a lot of arguing, a lot of trauma as Gia watches her sister attack her mother. Given that there are allusions to drug use in Gia’s future, one has to wonder if this is where her storyline is going to travel. Will she be a fatal victim, or is there hope in her future? It’s not really a show that caters to happy endings (as we’ve just seen), but one can hope that things turn out differently this time.
I would love to see the world expanded upon in season two. I’m assuming that they will keep the flashbacks on prominent display, maybe even adding depth to the parental characters, or even Fezco or Lexi. While I wouldn’t like everyone to have a tragic origin story, I am curious to see how the show can continue to build subtext onto what exists. After all, it worked for Cassie in the previous episode, managing to create a sad excuse for her life after Chris left. She’s vowed not to be in a relationship anymore, but will she? In some ways, she envies Lexi’s disinterest in romance, which even as she declares that she’s going to chase people, she does it with her head on her arm in a very childish manner. Does she mean it? Probably not. Everyone agrees that they are miserable in high school.
The question is if they will still be when they enter the real world. On some level, the scandal of the series may fade with that development. At times season one felt like its only real catch was taboos involving high schoolers. While that faded in favor of something more exciting, it’s still not clear if the show will lean into its worse tendencies or go for something greater. As the upcoming specials will suggest, having personal collaboration that emphasizes limitations actually works in Euphoria’s favor.
This wasn’t the worst episode of the show nor was it as rough to get through as the first three. It feels confident in a way that is downright admirable. However, it does feel like Levinson was having too much fun with visual metaphors, failing to get to a point on par with the previous episode’s concluding minutes. He mixes in Nate’s football game where he abandons his team in order to win (a perfect symbol of his bigger mentality), an ice skating montage to beautify an abortion scene with fantasy, and then the various plots overlapping. The school dance felt busy enough without having to cut to Fezco paying off some debts, robbing someone who may or may not sick the police on him in season two. If nothing else, it’s intriguing to see the most morally positive character be portrayed in a completely different way.
For what it’s worth, the show succeeded in finding its heart by the end. Even if the argument of how real and honest it truly is remains difficult to answer correctly, there are points where the show captivated and stuck with the viewer. Scenes like Cal trying to calm his son while he turns more and more into a yelling, incoherent monster. Maddy looks like she’s about to spill his secret, meaning that he’s only going to lash out in ways much worse than he has. Everything is still at odds. Nothing is resolved. It looked like it was, but save for Kat finding some form of happiness, nobody is really going home with a prize this week.
Levinson deserves some credit for not making the show an entire downer. His ability to give the audience enough happy moments was a nice bait and switch. There would be long stretches of an episode where it felt like things were turning around. Even if you could insinuate a subtext that was ultimately tragic, there was hope that the characters would find deeper meaning in their paths. Like Rue and Jules, they seemed like they would survive any hurdle. Even Jules’ new relationship probably wouldn’t have been that much of an issue. And yet, that moment as the train left the station felt like the greatest gut punch in the show to that point. We had just seen Rue overcome depression. There was so much potential, and it felt scattered to the wind.
Then again, this was an episode that didn’t have a familiar structure. On top of the fantasy song ending, there was no flashback to open the episode. It felt like maybe everyone was done living in the past. Rue was healing. Her mother was reading a beautiful poem over a montage of everyone getting ready for prom (or, in Fezco’s case, a robbery). The idea of childhood innocence is something the show never had, but you so desperately wanted to believe it would be there. Prom is supposed to be cutesy, not a moment where toxic couples reunite and Nate denigrates Jules with lethal language. The contrast has always been a tad ridiculous, but the teens on the cusp of adulthood already experiencing the world crushing their dreams is keeping with the show. Still, you want to believe it will be different this time.
If this was the end, it would’ve been quite a ride. I don’t necessarily believe that it would’ve been satisfying and the ending might’ve felt cheap. But because the story keeps going, it feels once again like a reset, where Rue gets to emerge from the ashes and try to experience joy once again. Hopefully, that will be the case. If nothing else, it has done everything with an enviable style and soundtrack that seems perfectly curated to each moment. Levinson has a knack for making scenes pop with a life that makes them feel iconic. Everything is orchestrated, stylized in such a way that fantasy blurs with reality just by how glorious the backdrop looks in contrast with the characters doing everything to not spin out of control.
This is the end of the season and the era before the pandemic shut things down. For most of these characters, it’s been 2.5 years of waiting for the next chapter. With exception to the two specials, it’s unclear what exactly would happen with the show and if it would actually return. To be totally honest, the wait produced some of the series’ best ideas to date. While Euphoria as a larger story remains intriguing to watch, the specials conveyed character and depth in ways that broke free of the gimmickry and just focused on character.
For what it’s worth, the show found itself in time for everything to fall into place nicely. I don’t know that every character had a phenomenal debut, but there was enough there that promised a greater story to come. So long as the show doesn’t just wax and wane, predictably pulling us back to misery with no positive dividends, there’s still hope that this could be something phenomenal. If not, it’s still got enough to keep me tuning in for the time being, making me hope not necessarily that Rue and Jules end up together, but that they end up happier than where they were at the start of the show. That’s going to take some time, and I hope Levinson is committed to finding that answer.
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