**EUPHORIA SEASON 2 FINALE SPOILERS**
TW: talk of drug addiction, death, and abuse
Euphoria has given us a thrilling, scary and captivating story about love, violence, trauma and drug addiction. It made us angry, it made us laugh, it made us cry, and it made us contemplate. On Sunday, February 27th, HBO Max released the long-anticipated Season 2 finale of the Emmy-Award winning TV series Euphoria. Now, fans anxiously await the third season of the show, which is estimated to be released mid-to-late 2023 or early 2024. The finale has left fans with much to speculate about, prompting many interesting predictions for Season 3. So, let’s get into it.Â
Lexi’s Play, “Our Life”
Lexi’s tell-all play demonstrated her life leading up to high school and her intricate friendships with Rue, Maddy, Kat, and her sister, Cassie. Lexi used the play as a means to display her internal feelings on specific situations and thoughts regarding her friends and her sister. She also used the play as a way to cope with trauma, especially the devastating moment in which her dad left her family. For a majority of the series, Lexi’s character was predominantly in the background and regarded as, “Cassie’s sister, Lexi,” rather than simply “Lexi.” The play revealed Lexi’s struggle with living in her sister’s shadow and never feeling like she was good enough. With the show’s emphasis on the play, Lexi was able to receive the screen time she deserved and the audience was able to see the characters through Lexi’s eyes, finally giving Lexi the individuality she always wanted.Â
Cassie in Season 2Â
One of the most talked-about characters in Season 2 is Cassie, and her character development from Season 1 as a devoted best friend to Maddy and a loving, hopeless romantic, to becoming involved in an abusive relationship with her best friend’s ex. We see Cassie’s personality take a drastic turn as in Season 1, she’s depicted as sweet and naĂŻve, whereas in Season 2, she takes on a more villainous approach and fails to understand the consequences of her actions. She only sees herself as a victim.
Cassie compares the trauma of her dad leaving to Rue’s trauma of her dad dying, saying how her life is harder than Rue’s. Cassie interrupting Lexi’s play shows how selfish she has become and how she believes the world revolves around her and that everyone is on her side. Additionally, her saying that Lexi never accomplished anything in her life whilst interrupting the play Lexi created and starred in is incredibly hypocritical.
The relationship between Nate and Cal
In the finale, Cal finally told Nate that he loved him, the first time we’ve heard Cal showcase any form of fatherly love. Despite this, it doesn’t change Nate’s feelings about his dad. He finally acknowledged the horrible things Cal did as well as addressing his father’s lack of protection and comfort. Nate knows the destruction his Dad has left in his life and the lives of others, and he willingly hands Cal over to the police. This does not excuse the immoral actions Nate has done throughout the series, but it does showcase character development.Â
Rue and Jules’ relationship
In Season 1, Rue and Jules initially embarked on a close friendship that eventually turned into a romantic relationship. However, in Season 2, Rue and Jules’ relationship strains and they become distant following Jules cheating on Rue with Elliot and Jules betraying Rue regarding drugs. In the season finale Rue says, “Jules was my first love. I’d like to remember it that way.” This shows the emotional maturity that Rue has attained, and that she doesn’t feel disdain towards Jules despite everything she has done.Â
The death of Ashtray and his brotherly relationship with Fezco
The pivotal moment from the season finale was the devastating death of Ashtray. After Ashtray killed Custer once realizing he was a police informant, Fezco begs Ashtray to surrender to the police, telling him he will take the blame for Custer’s murder. Fezco ultimately tells Ashtray that he loves him. The extent of Fezco’s immeasurable love for Ashtray and his desire to protect him is revealed through the sacrifices he’s willing to make. Tragically, Fezco witnessing the police ~allegedly~ killing Ashtray makes this heartbreaking, as Fezco knew that at that moment, it was too late to save him.Â
Questions We Still Have
The end of Season 2 left us with some questions, and we wonder if they will get answered or resolved in Season 3.Â
- Does Fezco go to jail? For how long? How will he cope with losing Ashtray?
- What did Leslie do with the suitcase? Does Rue still owe Laurie money?Â
- Why did Nate suddenly give Jules the CD of her and Cal?Â
- What will happen between Cassie and Nate? Are they broken up for good?Â
- What did Maddy really mean when she told Cassie, “This is just the beginning,”?
- What happened to Faye? Did the police kill her?Â
- Will Nate and Maddy get back together?Â
- Will Maddy ever forgive Cassie?
- Will Kat and Ethan re-embark on their relationship?Â
- Will Rue relapse, and why?Â
- Will McKay ever make a comeback?
- Will Kat and Jules play more significant roles in Season 3?
To Conclude… We have all invested so much into the first two seasons of Euphoria. Season 3 is a long ways away, but we can still analyze what we’ve been given, and wonder if Season 3 will give us the answers we’re waiting for.