Second season
It awakens more philias than phobias, and it is not for less. The teenage series of the moment is a formal virguería that flees from conventionalisms and takes risks by crossing genres. Her second season has confirmed that nothing is a coincidence
There is more cinema in ‘Euphoria’ than in many films that are shown at festivals. Who does not see it is because they do not want or need. Because he is not interested at all in the issues he deals with and does not necessarily identify with the problems of his protagonists. He is not attracted to the story and what happens on the screen, regardless of its essence and the way it is told. Generational conflicts are not a dish for all tastes, especially when we grow up and change the decade, inevitably, while gray hairs sprout. Prejudice aside, we must recognize the value and interest of a proposal that cannot be dispatched with a simple “I’m bored” or “I’m not hooked”. It is not for all existing audiences, but it is making history in the serialized format -today it is strange to say “on television”-. Its second season, just finished, has confirmed the talent of its head, Sam Levinson, who already surprised those who left with the movie ‘Wild Nation’, pure fun with a background of social criticism that was seen in the great ‘Spring Breakers ‘, by Harmony Korine -to the parrot with the influence of the once enfant terrible of indie cinema-, expressing the problems of the first world and social networks with sarcasm and an unusual rhythm. Barry’s son, the one from ‘Rain Man,’ ‘Good Morning, Vietnam,’ and ‘The Secret of the Pyramid,’ knows what he’s doing, visually and narratively. He writes, directs and produces all the episodes, making anyone who endorses the label of ‘showrunner’ pale as if nothing had happened (without having actually filmed anything in his life, the position shines on Instagram profiles of content creators delighted to meet) .
Nothing is random in ‘Euphoria’. From the outset, that continuous “tragedy is chewed” that forms the backbone of the series seems sublime and fundamental. Anything can happen at any time. It is palpable in the environment. The sexual tension is cut to the knife. The drama, the mystery, the symbolic violence, the fascination with drugs, the contradictions and longings… It’s all there, shot with elegance and aesthetics in keeping with current times, the Instagram era, with the precise presence of the new technologies, always well integrated. Levinson shoots on film and has ample budgets, which means time and money. Fortunately, the media are seen, unlike other expensive productions that do not know how to take advantage of their privileges (yes, also for these payments).
Sex, drugs and instagram
The second season of ‘Euphoria’, available on HBO, a streaming entertainment platform that premieres fewer projects than its direct competition but cares more about its results, begins with an episode where Scorsese’s cinema, youth comedies go hand in hand and, at times, horror movies. The game with the tone, let’s say cinematographic even if it is seen at home, is one of the strengths of a drama built from the relationships between characters who face their traumas as best they can. Portions of life intersect, sometimes violence explodes, nothing is simple because human beings like to complicate their existence and, as commented in one of the timely dialogues at the end of the last session, sometimes «we like to hurt others the rest”. Any behavior is possible as long as we feel better without thinking about collateral damage.
The beginning of the second season is a class in audiovisual language, how to cross genres like the best Korean cinema and take the viewer where they want to, controlling the show. A simple scene of entanglement in a bathroom at a party full of teenagers can become the height of horror while, in parallel -a common resource in the series-, a visceral and disturbing story about small-time drug traffickers breaks out. Due to the blow of the coronavirus, the production had a break that made his fatal fans nervous. To alleviate the wait, two special installments were shot, released at Christmas 2020, which offered more information on two of its most beloved characters, Rue and Jules. These almost minimalist pieces, filmed with scant equipment due to the pandemic situation, rely mostly on dialogue, revealing the ability of the person behind the camera and in front of the blank page to convey emotions. In the episode dedicated to the role played by Zendaya, for almost an hour two people talk and exchange reflections on the unbearable lightness of being, the divine and the human. One of them is a middle-aged ex-drug addict who sponsors his companion, a young addict in the process of rehabilitation. Her conversation delves into drugs, their passing pleasure, and the dire consequences of it. The pain they can transmit to those close to them. The devouring disease is described without sensationalism or preposterous value judgments. A masterpiece on such a thorny subject.
In search of identity
Slow-cooked in vital moments of transition, where the characters skin each other and themselves, ‘Euphoria’ hits a remarkable rush in terms of pretensions as its remarkable second season progresses. The last two episodes, clearly interconnected, are a brave closure where reality and fiction are mixed with the excuse of staging a play in high school. Formally pampered, it displays a grateful metalanguage with an energetic visual look, at times risky, where the conscious use of light highlights the sensations. The art design and staging draw attention, not to mention the cast, with Zendaya at the helm, whose expressiveness is overwhelming. The look and gestures of the entire cast underline a desperate search for identity in a complicated age, where fashions, what they will say, bullying and so many other factors emotionally affect any personality to unsuspected limits. As ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ reflected, the student era can be a real hell.
The use of music is essential in the current series. The selection of themes has an obvious objective: to emphasize the meaning and emotions of certain scenes. There are sequences that can be understood as a video clip that fits perfectly into the narrative structure, without fanfare. On some occasion a character interprets a song directly, enriching the story. The essential importance of the soundtrack is underlined, for example, at the end of the seventh chapter of the series. As a prelude to what is going to happen in the eighth installment, the conclusion of the session, the mythical chords of ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ are played. A beautiful composition that shines even more in its context if the origin is known -a capital wink-. What will happen next will probably be an emotional apocalypse, a catharsis where hatred and desire, head and heart, will collide. Bonny Tyler, Piero Piccioni or Ennio Morricone have sounded before, a whole treatise on principles. Other hits that can be heard throughout this story arc: Air, Sade, INXS, Sinead O’Connor, Lana del Rey, Jonathan Richman, The Cult, Selena, Depeche Mode or Ministry. ‘Euphoria’, an estimable reflection on adolescence and our existence, may not interest you, but it has great merits.
The two seasons of ‘Euphoria’, as well as the two specials, are available on HBO.