EUPHORIA SEASON 1: The Trip Of A lifetime

2019 has been a less than stellar year for HBO so far. Two of their most successful shows in Game of Thrones and Veep came to an end, and with what many thought would become their new network staple, Big Little Lies, marred with controversy whether it be because of a lackluster (maybe final?) season or behind the scenes turmoil. And even with Watchmen and His Dark Materials coming soon, HBO has come to the end of an era, and they need their next cultural phenomenon.

Enter the demented yet brilliant problem child of writer-director, Sam Levinson, Euphoria. Behind its glitzy and slick exterior lies an intricate web of complex and flawed teenagers using drugs and sex to navigate the most difficult years of their lives.

Euphoria series stars Zendaya as Rue. A young woman who returns to school after a brief stint in rehab and, despite the wishes of her mother and younger sister, has no intention of getting clean. However, she soon meets Jules, a new girl in town who is about to turn her world upside down.

A Sincere Portrait of the 21st Century Teenager

Whenever a straight white guy in his 30’s or beyond decides to make a series about teens today, it’s almost always met with vicious apprehension (and to be honest, rightfully so). And even with Levinson’s directorial debut Assassination Nation, focusing on a group of teen girls, albeit in a very different type of story, there was still a superficial quality to the way they were portrayed that many found off-putting. But with Euphoria, he takes a much different approach to introduce his characters and the world they live in.

Each episode focuses on one specific character, giving you the chance to see their childhoods and their relationships with their families and friends. This structure is unique in more than a few ways. Since you meet each central character in the first episode, you develop your own opinion of them from the outset. But as the show progresses and you get to watch their individual episodes, your perception of them shifts as you see how their experiences and the way they’ve been treated have shaped them into who they are in a way that’s immensely satisfying.

It’s not pandering or trite. It’s raw, uncomfortable, honest, and exactly the kind of portrayal we need in 2019. Levinson approaches the trials and tribulations of teens with a level of empathy and sensitivity that’s unprecedented. It would also be criminal not to mention how Levinson handles the treatment of LGBTQ teens, people of color, and mental health.

They spend the majority of an episode with Rue as explains how her depression has become so severe that she can’t even get out of bed to pee, resulting in hospitalization. That kind of commitment to portraying an accurate depiction of how mental illness can affect teens is practically unheard of.

The character of Jules, played by Hunter Schafer, is truly a one of a kind creation. She’s a badass, emotionally grounded, self-assured genius who, out of everyone in the show, is the most confident in who she is and who she wants to be. Jules is someone who not only embraces her sexuality but seeks to conquer it. There’s so much depth to her character, and though her story is sad in many ways, it never becomes a tragedy. When you open up your story in a way that allows the LGBTQ community and people of color to have their stories told in a fashion that’s respectful and does not seek to victimize or exploit them, it becomes that much more refreshing and authentic.

It’s the little things that make Euphoria so unique. From the music they listen to, to the way they talk to each other, there’s an unmistakable authenticity to the show that demonstrates how committed Levinson is to doing Generation Z right.

Give Zendaya all the Emmys

A while ago, I was talking to my Mom about how the best thing Zendaya has ever done and will ever do is Shake It Up. The Disney Channel Original series that most know her from. I had never really gotten why everyone had loved her so much or why she kept getting a seemingly never-ending push from the industry.

And then came the announcement of her accepting the lead role in Euphoria, a move that at the time seemed like the prototypical role former child stars take when they want to shed their family-friendly image. But because of the involvement of spectacular talent on and off the screen in Levinson, Alexa Demie (Mid90s, Brigsby Bear), and Algee Smith (Detroit, The Hate U Give) I was interested. To be honest, I was interested in everything about the show but its leading lady.

So after all of that, guess who’s the clown? It’s not Sam Levinson. It’s not Zendaya. It’s not even HBO after the mediocre year they’ve had. It’s me. I’m the clown. Because she’s incredible, she’s absolutely extraordinary and gives a performance that I think very few actors working today could pull off.

I’d imagine that Rue is a character actors would consider a dream role and a nightmare all the same. You have to be extremely likable and funny to make the audience to relate to your character. And at the same time, make them feel pity, anger, and contempt for you, sometimes all in the same scene.

And make no mistake, Levinson makes it as hard as possible to like her. She’s rude, flippant, frustrating, and I often wondered, between switching perspectives of characters which are easier to embrace, why we didn’t have one of them as the narrator? Admittedly it took me a while to get that the audience inherent aversion to Rue was the point. She embodies that desire to indulge in what we know will torment us, but it’s just so much simpler to engage than to face it head-on. It’s a feeling many teenagers have, and it’s what makes her ups and downs and highs and lows so enthralling yet painful because you could be just a few steps from becoming her.

It’s a tightrope-like balancing act Zendaya and Levinson are able to pull off, and given to a lesser actor she could come off as one-note or annoying. But she nails it, and because of that, we have one of the most dynamic, fascinating and genuinely relatable heroines ever put to screen.

A Beautiful Nightmare

While a few other directors helmed episodes of the season including Augustine Frizzel who was behind 2018’s Never Goin’ Back and Pippa Bianco who directed Share, a standout from this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Stylistically, Euphoria is definitely a product of Levinson’s vision.

And that isn’t a bad thing by any means. From the small sample size of Assassination Nation alone, it’s clear that Levinson has a keen eye for things like color, camera technique, how to construct an aesthetically pleasing scene. The camera moves fluidly throughout every environment of each setting, establishing this incredibly distinct sense of space and atmosphere. Allowing you to take in every inch of room the characters are in, and immersing the viewer into each scene as if you’re there.

From the sound, to the production design, to its lush color palette to things like the makeup, Euphoria is the kind of show where story and subtext lie in the visuals as much as it does in the dialogue. This is especially true for the makeup in which each characters specific look is painstakingly designed to not only give them a unique sense of style, but to correspond with their mood in the scene with the use of things like the color of their eye shadow or glitter and rhinestones.

At the start of the season, Jules always has very elaborate makeup with neons and other bright colors. But towards the end when her life starts to become much more chaotic, so does her look, with darker shades of eyeshadow and less color to her. It’s endlessly innovative and entertaining to watch how they use things like that to tell a story and adds so much personality to characters who already are bursting at the seams with depth and charm.

Euphoria: That Feeling You’ve Been Looking For

Anchored by the nuanced and breathtaking performance of Zendaya, and narratively guided by the steady hand of Sam Levinson, Euphoria is ultimately a story about coming to terms with who you are, who people perceive you to be, and who you want to be.

Ambitious in scope and scale, all while taking the time to flesh out all of its characters and immerse the viewer in moments of striking intimacy, Euphoria leaves no stone unturned. It’s a harrowing, heartbreaking, and often hilarious look at Generation Z that you can’t miss. Not to mention, it delivers a much-needed message that no matter how rich or poor, or ugly or beautiful you are, we should all go to therapy.

What did you think of Euphoria? Do you think it can be HBO’s next big thing? Let us know in the comments below!

Season one of Euphoria is now available to stream on HBO Now and HBO Go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzPtTPtW-qg