This week on “Euphoria,” it’s time for Lexi’s long-awaited play. A few episodes back, narrator Rue told us that Lexi was writing a play based on her life and, more importantly, the lives of those she surrounds herself with. The two-part season finale, of which this episode was one, is apparently split between the acts of said play. Part one offered immaculate artistry that, in my view, perfectly argued the “Euphoria” thesis of curated artificiality for audience recognition.
The episode spent its entire runtime watching the play itself unfold, though at points indirectly. Lexi’s play is very obviously based off of her friends and essentially encompasses the “Euphoria” story as a whole. Through this setup, we got to see characters reacting to their own lives unfolding, leading to interesting reactions and emotions. As a result, nothing really happens that moves the story along, save for a few cutaways to an ominous Fez plotline.
I think the most significant piece of this week’s episode is its pointed self-awareness. Much like the show, the play makes a maximalist spectacle of borderline normal high school happenings: the awkwardness of puberty and supposed importance of the physical body. The show even mocks its own homoerotic locker room sequence from season one by having a troupe of muscular men perform an overtly sexual locker room / weightlifting musical number to “Holding Out For A Hero.” Nate, the subject of the season one sequence, cringes with discomfort as he watches the satirized version of himself on stage thrusting about.
Most crucially, the episode makes the line between stage and screen incredibly thin as scenes from the show’s plot seamlessly transition into scenes from the play. This makes the viewer incredibly aware of the distance between themselves and the events on screen, and forces them to acknowledge the carefully constructed artifice of the show itself. By showing the show’s characters react to their own dramatized lives in the play, the episode encourages “Euphoria” viewers to relate to these characters and re-evaluate their own behavior. This is made more clear when, in the first transition from screen to stage, a “Westworld” song plays. Like the hosts in that show, the characters of “Euphoria” are highly intentionally crafted for both entertainment and, more importantly, soul-searching within the participant/viewer.
These transitions from the show’s diegesis to the more obvious artifice of the stage mimic the same technique used in early television shows like “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.” In that show, a live broadcast before a studio audience, George Burns would transition from monologuing about his family life to becoming a character in a sitcom about his family. The set of the sitcom was placed on a stage, and Burns would occasionally step off the set, onto the stage, and begin a monologue directed at the live and television audience. This was important in early television because it brought a sense of liveness and theatricality to domestic life, and the television worked as a portal between audiences and the theater.
In “Euphoria,” this method essentially does the same thing in that they both aim to theatricalize otherwise ordinary experiences. From its visual style alone, it’s clear that “Euphoria” is not presenting any semblance of realism. However, this episode makes clear that its theatricality is directly pointed at the viewer in an attempt to force some kind of recognition. It’s a hard balancing act between audience recognition with the characters and intentional over-dramatization of the characters, but it’s one that this episode manages quite well. As if to emphasize this thesis of theatricality, the title card of this week’s episode is placed squarely on the stage directly after a makeshift title card of the play is presented on stage by a few lowly stage techs and Lexi herself. The play is the show, and the show is theater.
Niche tangent aside, the only significant points deserving plot recap are about Fez and Nate. As Fez gets ready to go to Lexi’s play (with roses in arm), Faye’s police-informant boyfriend shows up and starts acting sketchy. We see that as of this point in the play, Fez hasn’t made it yet. Will he make it at all? Was he killed? Is he killing this guy? It’s unclear and ominous. My money is on another Fez-related death soon. On the other hand, Nate, after seeing the homoerotic locker room dance number, decides to make Cassie move out. Cassie is Lexi’s sister, after all, and clearly Lexi has gotten too close to Nate for his comfort. “That shit is so fuckin’ homophobic,” he complained.
Also worth mentioning is a scene of Rue and her mother, in which Leslie tells Rue that from here on out, she’ll be prioritizing younger daughter Gia’s wellbeing over Rue’s. “If I have to choose between losing one daughter or two,” she says, “I’mma fight to save her.” Careful to not overdo it, the actors are nonchalant through the scene – it’s a fair concern, and Rue knows it. It’s heartbreaking nonetheless.
I suppose if there’s one more scene worth highlighting, it’s a dream that Nate has in which he confuses Cassie for Jules and himself for his father. The dream ends with a psychoanalytically fascinating shot of Nate in the position of Jules as Cal climbs on top of her. There’s a lot there – gender, sexuality, and the obvious daddy issues, but it’s immensely revealing of Nate’s anxieties and feelings. It’s an important insight into his character who is otherwise a symbol of pure anger and cruelty.
Next week’s episode should be more of the same in terms of artistry and theatricality, so if this week is any indication of the rest of the season, we’re in for great television.
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Emmy is a big fan of all things TV and movies. Among her current favorites are The Matrix, Midsommar, Titane, and Fleabag. Catch her on Letterboxd @ewenstrup !
