‘Euphoria’ reveals the tragic plot of the biggest psychological drama

Last week’s episode was a fresh diversion from Happinesstypical structure of, which begins in the present as opposed to the cold openness that depicts someone’s terrible upbringing. But Levinson remains as committed to the questionable “trauma plot” as he was when he was filming male roles. And there’s hardly anyone in the set of characters that fits this device more perfectly than Eric Dane’s Cal Jacobs.

Cal’s cliché poignant plot is pretty much written down thanks to years of teen programming with its “closed jokes” and the societal misconception that the worst men are gay. secret. Accordingly, we were introduced to a young Cal who was competing in a high school wrestling match. We also meet his teammate and best friend, Derrick, whose role in Cal’s sexual awakening becomes apparent pretty quickly as he stares directly at his penis in the locker room.

Despite the romantic elements of their friendship, they both pursue relationships with girls. Cal begins dating a classmate named Marsha, who turns out to be Nate’s mother, and convinces himself that he enjoys having sex with her. At this point in the sequence, the amount of topless, buttocks, and genitals we saw was pretty jarring, even by HBO’s standards. If viewers were taken aback by last week’s sex scenes, this episode is sure to spark more discussion about Levinson’s handling of female nudity and what appears to be a tactic to protect protect ourselves from criticism by giving us close-up shots of the penis.

But back to Cal and Derrick. Their feelings for each other finally blossomed when they went to a bar after graduation, started lip-syncing INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart” in the most stereotypical style, and shared a kiss. . The next morning, Cal received word from Marsha that she was pregnant in a “Timothee Chalamet in the late stages of pregnancy.” Call me by your name” that moment made Cal’s disdain for Nate a lot less complicated. Technically, this story is sad but not necessarily sympathetic, considering what we know will play out in the future.

Speaking of which, we advance to the present when Rue is singing and dancing around Frank Sinatra’s “Call Me Irresponsible,” as if the list of pre-millennial songs this boy knows by heart doesn’t seem to go away. can be silly. Gia catches her and asks if she’s tall, which leads Rue into a fourth wall presentation on “How to Get Out of Being a Drug addict.” Essentially, Rue tricks Gia into thinking she’s suicidal and therefore needs to smoke weed, which she uses as a “cover-up” for the harder stuff. This hilarious segment serves as a reminder that no matter how “adult” this show is, much of Zendaya’s acting is still Disney Channel.

After questioning Elliott about his sexual orientation, Jules is finally convinced that he’s not just trying to sleep with Rue, and the three of them become their own little quirky group. They play Truth or Dare and later, Elliot is admitted by Jules that Rue is not a sex person. In a not-so-shocking turn of events, it seems Rue should be worried about Elliot wanting to get to know Jules.

In a more wholesome part of the episode, Lexi has a self-edited school play that replaces the usual production of Oklahoma. Rue says via dub that Lexi has always lived her life as an “observer”, compared to Cassie and her more daring peers. So far, we don’t know exactly why Lexi suffers from supporting character syndrome – other than how she’s written – or her views on what she observes, other than bewilderment. But it seems like an appropriate tactic for an introvert to gain control of their life by narrating it themselves and forcing others to watch. Anyone with a social media account can be involved.

Likewise, Lexi has always “imagined her life as a movie,” so, of course, we move on to where she literally produces a movie about her life, leaving Cassie dressed in disgusting costumes and showed us behind the scenes of the trip. She told us from a director’s chair that “the supporting characters are often the smarter, the more sensitive, the more engaging characters, but for some reason they get overlooked.” Such public admission makes me wonder if Levinson is really exploring why this notion holds true for Lexi’s character or just paying for lip service.

Meanwhile, we find Cassie in what we can only hope is the height of her neurosis. Her obsession with Nate has now manifested into a three-hour beauty routine before going to school and wearing Fashion Nova outfits to prove her devotion to him. One of the most interesting aspects of this show is its presentation of Generation Z fashion and makeup trends that seem to overlap across borders. Likewise, it is interesting to watch Cassie transform herself into her current super-feminine image to the extent that she, a blonde, white woman, is letting her non-existent baby hairs and unwittingly look Just like Maddy.

However, Cassie’s best moment in this episode is when she arrives at school with her hair flowing and a puffy plaid shirt that makes the other girls think she’s auditioning. Oklahoma. Likewise, Cassie, deeply offended, begins to tell her, “And I’ve never been happier!” monologue, revealing her affair with Nate with Maddy. But thankfully, this rant is just fantasy.

The crime-related sections of this episode prove that the series really thrives when it comes to its focus on relationships and lower historical drama. I’d rather watch Fez and Lexi go on a clumsy ice cream date. Instead, we watch Fez and Ashtray interrogate Cal after catching him lurking outside their house. Cal accidentally mentioned recording himself having sex with Jules, assuming Fez knew about it. Realizing he’d dug himself into an even bigger hole, he promised to leave them alone. But I doubt this will be the last time we see Cal’s serial killer-like trend.

HBO

In the end, Rue decided to get into the drug trade so she could “use drugs for free”. She devised a scheme that involved blackmailing student salesmen with data from their phones so they wouldn’t get caught. It’s hard to believe that even the silliest teenagers are signing up for this instead of working at the mall, but the stoic drug mogul from the season premiere, Laura, thinks it’s cool. great and gave her $10,000 worth of drugs to sell. It’s unclear if Rue will follow through with this plan, but if she doesn’t Laura tells her she will be “kidnapped and sold to some really sick people.”

Rue boldly walked straight from Laura’s house to an AA meeting, carrying drugs. Ali asked her later in his usual wise speech, but Rue wasn’t amused. She upsets him by cursing him and leaving with her suitcase.

“The Rumors: Big and Little Bullys” ends with Cassie being raised by Nate, who will instead appear before Maddy’s creation with flowers. So far, it seems Levinson doesn’t know what to do with Kat, with this episode’s plot including going out to dinner with Ethan’s family and stuttering before a question during a brief scene. It’s not surprising, however, that the show’s writer isn’t interested in the only character with a healthy relationship.