It’s a Sunday night, and the credits roll at the end of the new episode of Euphoria for the final time until 2024.
Eleven college girls sit in an apartment living room, clutching their friends with the same tears rolling down their cheeks as the screen closes on Lexi, Cassie, Rue, and Jules.
Savannah Beville realizes out loud to her roommate, Marie Huber, that “this is the last time we’ll watch Euphoria together.”
Season two of Euphoria attracted “close to +100% the 6.6 million average audience size that was drawn by season one episodes” as reported by variety.com. The show releases its episodes on a weekly basis – instead of the popular format of releasing entire seasons at once. What was the result? Virality.
Each week, a new sound byte from the most recent episode inspired a trend for videos on TikTok. Angus Cloud’s voice saying, “You’re confused? I’m fucking confused bro,” was used to express situations in which the creator found themselves in an ironic position, Alexa Demie screaming, “You’re fucking Nate? Are you kidding me?,” prompted creators to try their lip syncing acting skills, and this edit posted by @evphorialuv amassed 3.8 million likes in five days.
So what is it that attracts viewers to create watch parties and carve time out of their weeks for “Euphoria Night” as if it were NBC’s Thursday night “Must See TV” of the ‘90s?
Viewers found this season relatable. It’s the classic teenage-high-school-coming-of-age-finding-yourself TV show. The series discusses serious topics that have a strong footing of relevance in society today. Domestic abuse, substance abuse, racism, homophobia, grief, sexual and gender identities are among the list of issues covered in Euphoria. We see teenagers struggling to maintain their friendships and relationships after many of them had difficult relationships with their parents. MSU graduate student, Baylie Horan, said she felt sympathy for Maddy Perez, a character in the show. A great deal of criticism fell upon this character after she accepted her abusive ex-boyfriend Nate’s apologies, and Horan said “when you’ve been through similar experiences you understand how powerful manipulation is when it’s coming from someone who is good at it.”
I’m Tired by Labrinth and Zendaya play as the eleven women exchange glances ridden with tears and wariness. They say a temporary goodbye to the show that helped them bond for eight episodes. The anticipation for season three has already begun.