THE STORY – A group of teenagers experiences the ups and downs of love and friendship in a world of social networks, sex, drugs, and violence.
THE CAST – Zendaya, Maude Apatow, Eric Dane, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer, Sydney Sweeney, Colman Domingo, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Martha Kelly, Chloe Cherry & Toby Wallace
THE TEAM – Sam Levinson (Showrunner/Writer/Director)
Plenty has changed in the four years since the last season of “Euphoria,” as the Emmy-nominated series has springboarded the careers of the next generation of Hollywood stars. Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, and Sydney Sweeney are names that have drawn people away from their television screens and out of their living rooms into movie theaters, so it begs the question: Why, after all this time, was everyone willing to come back? Especially with series creator Sam Levinson still at the helm, whose artistic process and creations in the years since have only invited criticism. If anything, this season of “Euphoria” is a supposed return to form after the debacle that was “The Idol.” Whatever the reasons for these young stars to return, it’s hard to see any reason for audiences to come back, because if the first three episodes of the season clue us into anything, it’s that Levinson is at his most creatively and morally bankrupt, opting for sleazy storytelling that’s a far cry from the propped-up imagery of prestige the series may have once skirted with a long time ago.
Levinson’s reinvention of “Euphoria” all but opts to stray away from the melodrama present in the confined hallways of East Highland High School, instead roaming the California and Mexican deserts filled with rivaling drug cartels and strip clubs. It’s the Wild West where people venture for the Gen Z-ified American dream, which, in Levinson’s eyes, typically involves some sort of sex work. Rue (Zendaya) finds herself in the midst of Laurie’s (Martha Kelly) wrath, forced to pay back the money owed to her by working as a drug mule, sneaking balloons of substances across the border. She’s navigating life the best she knows, even if it means deciding to work in this life of crime alongside Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a gun-toting purveyor of weapons, drugs, and a strip club dynasty. Rue’s storyline, as asinine as it sounds from her previous arcs, at least feels wholly suited to Levinson’s newfound vision for “Euphoria.” Mainly, it’s due to Zendaya’s consistency in her performance, easily slipping into the idiosyncrasies that make Rue, as frustrating as she can be, a magnetic protagonist. The series itself is running on empty, a shell of what made it magical in the first place.
No one’s heart seems to be in it, whether it’s the phoned-in performances from the star ensemble or the underbaked writing that seems desperate to push the buttons of those who watch in the hope of catching that spark once again. Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) is an overachieving real estate developer who is way over his head in a retirement home development project that is getting him in trouble with the wrong donors. It doesn’t help that his fiancée, Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), is desperate to make a big break for herself as an OnlyFans creator. Elordi, having to utter some of the worst dialogue of the series, is a performer as neutered as the dog Sweeney is having to pose as sexily. These characters all feel like broad strokes of the individuals they once were, not to mention Hunter Schafer’s Jules, who is all the more an object of desire that’s cast aside. The show has become a parody of itself, delving into revolting displays of sexually charged provocations that do little besides amuse Levinson, while others watch as he writes the series into a spiral.
Levinson’s decision to die at the altar as the sole creative force at the center of “Euphoria” has all but withered away the quality that was once there, even dispelling the presence of composer Labrinth, whose synth-based score was one of the core instruments in solidifying the aesthetic of a series that depended on it to thrive. Even Hans Zimmer’s attempt to create a serviceable motif does little to fill the space left by Labrinth this season. The series, however, remains visually stunning, thanks to Levinson’s visual eye and Marcell Rév’s cinematography. Shot on both 35mm and 65mm, it achieves a far more cinematic grandeur that Levinson aims for, one that dispenses with that signature neon, candy-coded look, which is now all but a thing of the past.
There’s not much in these first few episodes of “Euphoria” that suggests a potentially serviceable season of television. At best, it’s a guilty-pleasure consummation, and even then, it’s a boring husk of what the series once was. You can be somewhat piqued about where Levinson takes these characters, but enough time has passed since the impressive first two seasons that maybe we should’ve left “Euphoria” in the past. If a global pandemic and two strikes weren’t strong enough of a sign, these episodes are all the more proof.
THE GOOD – Zendaya and Colman Domingo make the most of what they’re given, showcasing why audiences have stuck with their characters since the very beginning.
THE BAD – Sam Levinson has taken everything worthwhile about the series and put it into a boring blender of ideas, turning it into a laughable departure from its previous work.
THE EMMY PROSPECTS – Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series (One Hour)
THE FINAL SCORE – 4/10
