THEY’RE BACK! The highly anticipated season two of HBO’s hit show Euphoria premiered in the beginning of January. To say fans were excited is an understatement. Fans were reacquainted with their favorite overdressed and drama-filled characters at a New Years Eve party. However, any Euphoria watcher knows these teenagers are anything but average.
The episode begins with the backstory of one the most beloved characters, Fezco. Throughout the entire first season, every main character received a backstory to explain why they were the way that they were. Fezco’s grandmother took him from his abusive father and taught him the trades of the drug dealing business. During this time, the odd pair “adopts” Ashtray because his birth mother offered him up as collateral and never came back for him. Fez’s grandmother passes out for some unknown reason and now only operates in a comatic state. This leaves Fez with the responsibility of handling the family business and taking care of Ashtray and his grandmother.
After the audience is caught up in the innerworkings of Fez’s life, the show cuts back to Rue, Ashtray and Fez riding to an undisclosed location to handle some business. Ashtray and Fez leave Rue in the car and this is where the audience meets Faye. The audience figures out Faye is a junkie when she tells Rue “it’s just heroine”. This drug exchange forces Fez and his counterparts to undress to prove they are not a part of any police activity.
The next scene shows Rue at the New Year’s Eve party and everyone looking for Cassie. Cassie, a fan favorite finds herself with the show’s antagonist, Nate Jacobs. The two find themselves hooking up in the party’s bathroom, while Maddy, Nate’s ex-girlfriend and Cassie best friend, bangs on the door trying to get inside to pee. Trying to salvage her friendship with Maddy, Cassie decides to hide in the bathtub when Nate leaves and Maddy comes into the bathroom.
During all this drama, Rue is constantly trying to avoid Jules and in true Rue fashion, trying to get high. The relapsed teenager unlocks a new series character, Elliott. The two end up doing drugs in the laundry room of the house party. Their first encounter centers around Elliott having to check Rue’s pulse because she has put herself into cardiac arrest.
In a different room in the house, Fez and Lexi are on the couch making casual conversation. However, the audience soon realizes that Fez is really interested in what Lexi has to say. Lexi, also a series favorite, is the only “normal” one throughout the entire show. She did not have much of a story line in season one but Fez finds her relatively interesting and different from anyone he has ever encountered. Lexi Howard is a breath of fresh air to his regular vulgar lifestyle.
Cassie finally gets released from the clutches of the party’s bathtub and runs into her ex-boyfriend, McKay. McKay is currently in college, however, always finds himself at the high school parties. His character cannot get over his high school glory, especially because he is constantly bullied at his college. McKay wants to get back together with Cassie, but she no longer has feelings for him. This would have been the beginning of Cassie’s emancipation from the approval of men, however this will only add to the show’s drama because McKay and Nate are somewhat best friends.
Rue and Jules finally unite at the party. The duo’s rollercoaster love story was one of the main story lines in season one. The audience finds out in the series’ special episodes that Rue blames Jules for her relapse. In the season two premiere, the two decide to rekindle their relationship and try to make it work this time.
Just as the clock hits 12,celebrating the start to the new year, Fez makes his way towards Nate. In the previous season, Fez and Nate have beef because Nate was tormenting Rue and Jules. Fez sees Rue as family and would do anything to protect her, therefore, he threatens Nate. This ultimately leads to Nate calling the police on Fez which leads to Fez’s house getting raided. The season two premiere ends with Fez knocking a bottle over Nate’s head and punching him until Nate goes unconscious, audiences were relieved that the show’s villain finally received some consequences.
“Damn!”, the last words said in the season premiere. Audiences are in for a wild season with these high schoolers as they manage issues of backstabbing, drug abusing and lying with a side of glitter and impeccable fashion.