Euphoria Season 2 Episode 4 review: All glitz and no substance

The fourth episode of HBO’s teen drama focuses on Cal Jacobs, and the multiple love triangles

Rating: 2.5/5

Story:
Two love triangles are on course for imploding. The trio Rue, Jules, and Elliot have begun showing signs of fracturing their relationship with each other, whereas Cassie, Nate, and Maddy’s toxic love triangle are heading towards uncharted territory. Elsewhere, Cal Jacobs has a breakdown as the realisation dawns upon him about himself and his family.

Review:
The series has put more focus on Cassie and Cal over the last couple of episodes, exploring their personal struggles on how to deal with Nate. For Cal, it is the guilt of not being able to be the ideal father for Nate, whereas for Cassie it is the guilt of having an affair with Nate behind her best friend’s back. It shouldn’t be surprising that Nate is central to all the major issues central to the plot. But, surprisingly, they have focused on this aspect of Nate’s arc rather than his more sinister subplots as seen in season one.

Zendeya’s character Rue has undergone a few minor changes from season one. Rue has become a far less sympathetic character and it has come to a point where her self-destructive trajectory offers very little incentive to the audience to root for her. While the narrative seems to suggest that her callous disregard for and disrespect towards those trying to help her in her addiction getting the better of her, it lacks a degree of conviction. This presents a unique problem for the series because the narrator and primary protagonist have become the weak link to the story.

The only storyline that did show plenty of promise was Lexi’s newfound calling in theatre, and Fezco interest in Lexi. Unfortunately, these storylines are barely explored in the three episodes that followed the explosive first episode of season two. The overindulgence in the ‘soap’ stories has brought down the overall quality of the show. The two characters worth rooting for are Lexi and Fezco but their lack of screen time or any kind of solid character progression makes the fourth episode one of the weakest in the series so far.

The visuals, the music, and the editing remain excellent, and it is the one redeeming quality of the show. In fact, it also helps mask several of the show’s narrative shortcomings which would have otherwise stuck out like a sore thumb. Cal Jacobs’ (Eric Dane) excellent monologue towards the end of the episode is well written, but the same cannot be said for the other moments of the episode.

Verdict:
Euphoria continues to excel in terms of its technical aspects, but the characters arcs have become bland and the storylines repetitive. There is plenty of potential within the series to mount a stirring comeback for the second half of the season but showrunner Sam Levinson needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat to make that happen.

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