Okay, you’re back. You’re probably wondering, “What did I just watch?” as your mind scrambles to remember anything that happened in season two. Because, even though it is only about four years old, it feels like it aired nearly 20 years ago. The infamous time skip, the characters’ respective occupations or lack thereof, and the overall tone of the show feel… different. Levinson’s creative direction, however, hits that thematic mark. The internet claims Levinson’s ideas went south the moment he decided that a near four-year hiatus would swell fan excitement. But, everything about going “south” is actually just an organic devolution of each character’s outcomes from poor choices in their youth. The internet’s negative reactions to the Euphoria season three trailer speak to a handful of Levinson’s shortcomings. But as an avid watcher of the show since its 2019 debut, I’m not disappointed in where things are headed.
‘Euphoria’ Thematic Crash Course
To understand why the internet insists they’ll only be hate-watching the third season of Euphoria, it’s important to examine and identify the obvious cinematic and thematic shifts that have prompted former fans to develop an aversion to the series.
A viewer can only extract so much information from a two-and-a-half-minute trailer, but we’ll work with what we have. Euphoria was given its flowers because the cinematography and makeup effectively branded the franchise and set it apart from other teen dramas on television, often aestheticizing the ugliest moments in the characters’ lives. The pink and purple glitter and glamor invited viewers to step inside the mind of Rue, the protagonist who used multiple substances to escape her harsh realities.
In an attempt to mask the show’s dark themes, Levinson chose to put his characters in sparkling costumes, hidden with several layers of cool-toned color-grading and glittery eyeshadow. A niche visual aesthetic can take a good show and make it great, but not without fooling certain audiences into thinking that the show exists solely to highlight that aesthetic.
In contrast to the visual themes, the series’ plot is dark, confrontational, and uncomfortable. Viewers witness Rue’s struggle with substances, Nate’s turbulent relationship with his father and sexuality, and Jules’ internal battle with her gender, among many other real issues that many teens of 2019-2022 faced. The allure of the show in its first season was its high school setting. Audiences either saw the characters as a mirror, a figment of their past that they overcame with time, or vessels to live vicariously through while they led a relatively tame lifestyle. Euphoria’s glittery aesthetic, combined with its dark plot themes have evidently caused viewers to miscomprehend what story Levinson is trying to tell. Select viewers often focus on one or the other rather than connecting that existing dichotomy between visual themes and the overall narrative to tell a cohesive story.
Abandonment of Core Visual Themes is Integral
Euphoria fans haven’t been quiet about their opinions of the upcoming season’s overall visual palette. They go so far as to claim that it pales in comparison to the cool-toned, neon, glittery aesthetic of its first two seasons. There are reasons why the former aesthetic existed in the first place, and this ties directly into the theme of Rue’s romanticization of substances. Rue’s vices allowed her to disregard the pain she experienced in the first two seasons; ergo, she saw everyone and everything else in technicolor, even if that perception of the world was exclusive to her. Now, her problems are out in the open, and high school is over. She can no longer retreat to her family for support because those bridges have been burned. And… Rue’s on the run in Mexico after she fails to repay a queenpen dealer for substances she lost in season two. Rue is the narrator for the entire series, and when she is inhibited, the narrative we, as viewers, receive is unreliable because of Rue’s bad habits.
Rue can’t hide anymore, shown in the trailer when the queenpen Laurie finds her in Mexico and presses her for the debt she owes. Aside from Rue, the trailer also showcases Nate and Cassie, who are set to be married. All Nate wanted was a nuclear family, which allowed him to suppress his innermost desires for what his character considered unconventional love via the Jules plotline in season one. Cassie betrayed her former best friend, Maddy, years earlier, after she decided to form a romantic relationship with Nate despite his mistreatment of his ex-girlfriend, who is also Maddy. Messy stuff. What happened to girl code?
None of the characters has anything left in them to romanticize their current outcomes. They wanted a better life for themselves in high school, but fell short because of familial, relationship, and substance struggles. The characters were allowed to exist in a state of denial, looking toward greener pastures in their distant future. The future is now here in season three, and nothing is how they pictured it. So, of course, Levinson will abandon the glittery pink-purple aesthetic, because it no longer suits the narrative.
Tying Themes in a Neat Bow
I applaud Levinson’s choice to embrace the raw grit of the show’s plot points, without hiding behind flowery visual aesthetics that initially boosted the series’ popularity. Though the show’s four-year hiatus and departure from glitter damaged many fans’ relationship with the program, Levinson continues to stand behind the unpopular creative choice.
Photo courtesy of @Variety on X
Hardship doesn’t end after high school. Usually, if you’re a poor decision-maker like the characters featured in Euphoria, it only gets worse. Rue’s substance issues come back to bite her tenfold without any solid resolve. This is the cyclical nature of excessive substance use. Cassie’s decision to choose male validation over a friendship with Maddy sentences her to a life of stepping on eggshells with a particularly angry Nate, who will remain angry so long as he avoids his sexuality and what demons attach themselves to it. The show isn’t darker than reality; it simply is reality. Levinson wants viewers to chew on that, and as of right now, it seems like a good portion of Euphoria’s audience has lost their teeth.
Viewers claim they dislike the coming attractions for season three because they claim they’ve “outgrown the narrative,” but really, some viewers don’t want to stomach what the show has been about this entire time. The visual aesthetics that originally popularized Euphoria were solely a vessel for the plot, and now that the plot requires different aesthetics (or none at all), many viewers have tuned out. It is realistic that Cassie will be subject to a life devoid of love and validation, which is what points her in the direction of a rather adult career choice. It makes complete sense that Rue very possibly won’t receive the happy ending that viewers want for her, because Euphoria doesn’t exist in a separate world; it is a mirror to the world around us. Will viewers be brave enough to look at themselves in the mirror this time around? Only time will tell.
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