It begins as a Martin Scorsese film. There is a mature woman with a gun in her hand who, walking on her heels, enters a strip club, walks confidently among half-naked girls, then opens the door of a closet, shoots a man in the legs with a stripper who is practicing oral sex. . You see the man’s penis stained with lipstick, you hear the screams, chaos erupts. A little further on, a child in a sink eats the butt of a cigarette. Where are we? These are the first fifteen minutes of the second season of Euphoria and this is only the first of many flashbacks in the lives of the characters that characterize this second and very dark season (on Sky and streaming on Now tv): the woman is the drug-dealing grandmother of Fezco, from whom he inherited the family business.
Sam Levinson, creator of the series, mentions and plays with Scorsese only in the fulminating opening, perhaps to make us understand that this season the underworld enters the lives of all the characters with a straight leg, not only in that of the drug addict Rue, played by the always magnificent Zendaya. In short, drug dealers and drug traffickers are not just side figures, as in the first season, but here they mix and give their dangerous and substantial contribution to the dynamics of the group. And what happens when drug villains come into contact with a group of teenagers? Breaking Bad meets Euphoria? We don’t do spoilers, but of course it’s the perfect storm.
The flashback of the drug grandmother is also one of the ways in which Sam Levinson illuminates the boys’ past and their relationship with their parents, to connect the dots and understand the motivations of each character in the present. Fezco, for example, and the work of the drug dealer. But also Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) and the status of sexy school queen, Lexi (Maude Appatow) and the role of wingman, McKay (Algee Smith) and the fate of the first of the class.
At the end of the first season we were left at the break between the protagonist and narrator Rue, and Jules (Hunter Shafer). Rue has plunged back into addiction, and from a narrative point of view this was the only possible solution to continue telling the adrift world of this group of American teenagers who are relatives of Bret Easton Ellis’ disbanded and amoral youth in Los Angeles. In fact, a comparison could be made between this generation Z and the one described by Ellis The rules of attraction in 1987, an obvious reference from any author who talks about adolescents today, here, however, a sense of morality with which to confront in reality resists and in fact the question that the characters ask themselves is: am I a good person? For example, Cassie, the beauty of the group, a constant object of sexual attention, a victim of slut shaming (a very American thing that translates as the slut stigma) and in constant search of love and sexual fulfillment. Kat (Barbie Ferreira) asks this, increasingly torn between the search for love, self-contempt and cam girl sexual games. Maddy (Alexa Demie) asks, trapped in an ultra-toxic relationship with Nate (Jacob Elordie), aware that she has ended up in a spiral of self-destruction. Jules also asks, confused between opposite feelings and impulses.
In addition to the individual portraits, Sam Levinson continues to do what he had done in the first season: the confusion between fantasy and reality (appropriate, given the theme), even a musical number, nude scenes (mostly male) in profusion and an abundance of those graphics of sex. But in addition, there is an intention to push even more on extreme emotions – such as adolescence is extreme – and situations always on the brink of disaster. And then there is the depth of the story of the thoughts, manipulations and punishments that the toxic Rue inflicts on herself, who has no equal on TV.
Speaking of Rue: is it correct to still call her the protagonist of a series that has increasingly embarked on the path of the choral story? Maybe yes, since it is she who with her humor keeps the role of the narrator. Not only. “As a beloved character that a lot of people cheer for, I feel a certain responsibility in making good decisions,” says Rue in a meta-narrative sequence in which she explains to a class how to get by as an addict. “But I relapsed. Now, in all honesty, I said from the start that I wasn’t going to stay clean. But I got it. Our country is dark and messed up and people just want to find hope. Somewhere. Somewhere. If not in reality, on television ». Finally he adds: “Unfortunately I’m not like that.”
It is true and it is the reason why Euphoria it’s a series to watch, because Rue – as well as all the other characters, except perhaps the bad guy Nate, a bit cut with a hatchet – are complex and contradictory characters. Zendaya’s character is by no means a role model: she is a weak but selfish girl, a liar and manipulative like all junkies. The dark side of adolescence – extreme impulses, the search for one’s identity through extreme experiences, less noble feelings, promiscuity – is not told to launch “messages” or represent uplifting rehabilitation paths, but is packaged in a package of dreamy songs and glitter to apply on the fluo eyeshadow.
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Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
