The New Euphoria: Euphoria Season 2 Premiere

For weeks fans have been anticipating the long-awaited season two of HBO’s smash hit Euphoria. It has been over two and half years since the first season premiered on June 16th, 2019. Halted by the pandemic, the show still prevailed to build a cult following amongst Gen-Z. Whether it’s the characters, plot, makeup, clothes, or all of the above that you love, Euphoria is back and better than ever. But, it looks a lot different now.

On January 9th the wait was over. At 9 pm EST, millions of people sat down to watch the premiere of season two, “Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door.” With millions of people logging onto HBO Max, simultaneously many viewers were not able to watch the show right at its release. However, after reloading your Smart TV or Laptop for about 10 minutes, the episode loaded and you could watch the show. This unfortunate crash of HBO just goes to show how many people love the show and were excited to see what’s in store for the characters.

Knowing this season displays violence and heavy drug use, Zendaya posted a trigger warning on Instagram just hours before the premier. She says this season “deals with subject matter than can be triggering to watch.” Boy, was Zendaya right.

With this episode centering around Fezco (Angus Cloud), the drug dealer and drop-out, scenes of violent fights and shootings took place on our screens. Similar to season one, this episode started with a backstory on one of the characters. Last season we got to see a glimpse into the lives of most of the characters like Rue (Zendaya), Jules (Hunter Schafer), Maddy (Alexa Demie), Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), and more.

In “Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door” we were shown how Fezco became involved in the violent world of hustling drugs. The flashback opens with a narration of his grandmother’s life and how he met Ashtray (who you may know as the little kid with the face tats) and became his caregiver.

The creator & director of the show, Sam Levinson says, “Fezco has such humanity to him as a character, so it serves as a pretty interesting juxtaposition to see how he came up, what his relationship is to what he does for a living, and just the kind of emotional toll it may or may not take.” It will be interesting to see how these brutal moments affect his relationships with people he deems family like Ashtray and Rue, and new friends like Lexi (Maude Apatow). Angus Cloud notes, “Some people do what they have to do and that doesn’t exactly define who they are.”

*Spoilers ahead*

You know what they say, “a little party never killed nobody.” Season two seems to push the boundaries of that. Just like season one started with a party, season two takes place on New Year’s Eve. Levinson mentions that the perfect place to show the tension between the characters that carried over from last season would be a party; one that ends with Nate getting what was coming to him.

Cassie left off season one saying she was “done with boys,” yet we see her getting wrapped up in some serious boy troubles with the most hated bad boy, Nate. Maddy, of course, was seen slaying in a cute outfit, but there is tension between her Nate and Cassie— for obvious reasons. Kat has become besties with Jules and has continued to date her BF, Ethan. Lexi surprisingly started chatting with Fez, and fans are loving that new relationship and are excited to watch it grow.

Source: Decider

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Source: TV Insider

One relationship we did want to see mend is Rue and Jules. After Euphoria’s hiatus of 2020, They debuted a two-part special episode, “Part 1: Rue” and “Part 2: Jules” that dove deep into Rue and Jule’s relationship and connected the dots to certain events from season one. This episode left off with Rue coming to see Jules around Christmas time, but she could not communicate her feelings and neither could Jules, so they went their separate ways in tears. At the New Year’s party they reunite but maybe not in the way we hoped. With Rue continuing to get high, a relationship with Jules may not be the best thing, despite what “Rules” fans want.

A new character has been introduced into the mix and possibly becomes the third point in a love triangle with Rue and Jules. With an intense scene in a laundry room at the party, Rue finds a new friend, Elliot, played by musician Dominic Fike.

Whether you know him from his time singing in the boy band BROCKHAMPTON or from his hit singles like, “3 Nights,” he has only been working in music for most of his career. The singer-songwriter has never before acted. So many fans of his were excited to see how he would play a role in the drama series.

With new characters and relationships forming there is also a new look to the show. You may have noticed that the vibe of the show has shifted. Season two has dimmer lighting, with tan hues and more grain. Where did the purply, dream-like hue of the show go? Sam Levinson, notes this difference in cinematography in Enter Euphoria. He says, “Despite how popular the look of Euphoria was, I wanted to create Something that still has the heart and soul of Euphoria but it looks different and it feels different.” Levinson wanted to honor the evolution of the show over the last two years by bringing in new elements that will stay true to the show’s euphoric aesthetic.

“If season one feels like a house party at 2 AM, season 2 should feel like a 5 AM, way past the point in which everyone should have gone home,” Levison mentions. One exciting aspect about filming for season two is that Levison and Director of Photography, Marcell Rév were able to get their hands on a discontinued stock from Kodak. “We had reached out to Kodak to see if they could remake Ektachrome for us because we both love that film stock,” Levison says. Kodak opened up a factory and redesigned the Ektachrome film stock to accommodate the video equipment for the show. Love it or not, this new aesthetic creates a vintage, dreamy look that plays to the growth and development of the show and its characters.

Just from the first episode of this season, there is already so much drama but it is delivered with scores of tension, scenes of violence, and images crafted like a memory of high school. This season we are in for the dark sides of romance, friendships, and drug abuse even more so than last season. This leaves us wondering will our beloved Euphoria characters get to heaven before they close the door?

What was your favorite part of the season premiere? And what do you think will happen next?

Leave a comment below.