Yes! 'Euphoria' portrays Drug Addiction, Teenhood, Sex; but it's a lot more than only that

So, just how do you make a series about teenagers and their narcissistic, brittle and been-there-done-that factor seem fresh and relatable? HBO’s latest, Euphoria may just be your answer.

Already having sparked debates, controversies, and problems, Euphoria is described as ‘a group of high school students as they navigate drugs, sex, identity, trauma, social media, love, and friendship.’ It is easy to assume how this show may be just another show which has highlighted the aforementioned things in several ways that it now seems repetitive. However, we would be considered facile to think that is it.

Euphoria presents and explains a lot more than the above and in spite of being of the nature it is of; it isn’t clichéd for sure.

Zendeya plays Rue, a 17-year-old addict who is also the narrator of the show and as she explains, her addiction began with a panoply of different diagnoses including ADHD and OCD, and with medication that left her feeling numb even as it failed to alleviate her semi-permanent state of panic. The other leading role belongs to Jules, played by Hunter Schafer. Jules like Hunter in real life is a trans, a fact that the show underlines only to explore Jules’s compulsion for risky sex with strangers and her dependency on being desired. Apart from these two, we have a range of characters to not only look at but gaze upon. Here are some of the highlights that make Euphoria, at the least, a show that needs to be given a chance-

9/11 to ADHD and OCD

The moments of Rue’s birth to her being an addict should probably be served a lesson for the filmmakers out there who try to incorporate a developmental story of their protagonist from being a child to adulthood. These scenes are usually so boring that you just want them to cut to the chase but, that doesn’t happen here. In a mere few minutes, not only is Rue’s true state established but everything is made ‘crystal clear.’(see what I did there?)

The Moments of Addiction

Scenes of teenagers snorting drugs with trippy music playing in the background have been done-to-death now and on paper, the idea of showing it again doesn’t seem a smart one. But as mentioned above, things are different here. The scenes involving a ‘high’ Rue are so claustrophobic that you almost feel the same yourself. Credit to Zendeya’s brilliant performance, you as a viewer are not only invested but almost feel the pain and agony of taking drugs and the want to not take them too. One of the most beautifully shot scenes is when Rue takes a snort in the washroom and when she comes out and is walking, every wall moves clockwise as Rue tries to balance herself. Know how Spiderman can crawl and walk on the walls? Well, Rue can too, only when she’s high. In spite of showing something that is done a thousand times before, it still stays original.

Jules and her arc

Just like the way Rue describes her, Jules is an interesting character right away from moment one. From riding her bicycle to being at Mckay’s party, she is constantly harassed on different instances. But it is her budding friendship with Rue at the end of the pilot episode that sets the tone for the upcoming storyline. Also, for all the hullabaloo over the penis-festooned locker-room scene in the second episode, the most disturbing and questionable moment by far comes when Jules is shown having sex (an act of statutory rape) with a much older man (played by Eric Dane). Augustine Frizzell, who directs the pilot, portrays Jules’s obvious physical pain, and her helplessness, in a way that feels almost obscene.

The Emotional Bonds

In such a convoluted story, it can be easy to miss out on important emotional reliefs but Euphoria doesn’t do that. Rue is idolized by her little sister, Gia and even though her mother is troubled owing to her drug addiction, there is the obvious mother-daughter love there. Hell, there is even an amazing bond of Rue with her drug dealer, Fezco where they share an unexplained friendship and affection for each other.

Giving a Reality Check

What are the best moments of the show? And I mean in a crowd-pleasing way; apart from Jules revolting against Nate, and Rue meeting a probably 10-12-year-old drug dealer, the best moment was the biggest con of social media that is shown. Surrounding a character Cassie (played by Sydney Sweeney), the scene shows on how Cassie clicked nude pictures of herself and somehow they get leaked which leads everyone to slut-shame her and of course, judge her to infinity. This also involved good-guy Mckay (Cassie’s boyfriend) being affected by it. During this, the voiceover of Rue says the lines, “I know your generation relied on flowers and father’s permission, but it’s 2019, and unless you’re Amish, nudes are the currency of love. So stop shaming us.” The timing of this couldn’t have been better where there is a similar thing going on involving Whoopi Goldberg and Bella Thorne in real life.

Another important scene comes when Cassie and Mckay are about to have sex. The latter directly goes for hurting her which involves pressing her throat and having rough sex. Reason? The maximum porn videos you see. As Rue explains, a majority of Top 10 videos on a porn site has violent sex, BDSM and other forms of it which many to assume that’s the best way to do it. But Cassie stops it immediately as she is caught off-guard and another example of how consent is so important too.

Not Being Preachy

Another obstacle that a show like this faces is the risk of sounding either preachy or glorifying it too much. Euphoria does none of it and still manages to get you feeling irked from the sight of drugs. A scene Rue has to have a drug test at home urgently, she voices over three possible ways of not getting caught if you’re high. And while all those three ways work, the way it is shown makes you understand there is literally no way out of this mess and you’re in a trap.

The Big Twist

What sets things perfectly well for the later episode is the twist in the end about the man who Jules has sex with and that turns out to be Nate’s father, (played by Eric Dane). That is also when Rue describes it about that is when things got weird.

The Fear

In less than an hour, Euphoria does so much so well that one can easily fear on how things can go downhill in the upcoming episodes an even though the bond of Jules and Rue can have its own moments, the fear stays on the deterioration of the several parallel plots teased . But I am being totally optimistic and hopeful that doesn’t happen.