Somebody once told me that Euphoria is the best show that they have ever watched.
I hope that sentiment is keeping them awake at night after the trainwreck that was the Euphoria Season 3 premiere.
While my expectations were low, I was still let down.
From a confusing aesthetic shift to flimsy character development, the Euphoria Season 3 premiere has us gritting our teeth for what this season has in store.
Importantly, all these changes raise the bigger question: who’s the target audience?
No Longer A Sight for Sore Eyes
Let’s be honest: Euphoria was never the beautifully written show everyone remembers.
Admittedly, the early seasons had some really great moments, especially in their empathetic portrayal of Rue’s struggles with her drug addiction.
The latest episode of Euphoria has lost any and all resemblance to its former identity.
Part of what made this HBO drama so alluring was its dreaminess.
Virtually none of that is present during the hour of hastily shoved-together storylines in the latest episode.
Watching the oversaturated or underlit scenes in the Season 3 premiere made me forget that this show once had a visual identity strong enough to inspire a makeup brand.
There are moments when the series tries to capture a glimmer of its previous aesthetics, especially in scenes set in Cassie and Nate’s ridiculously large house.
But none of them felt very grounded.
This issue mainly arises from the show’s jarring shifts between Rue’s underground drug-dealing adventures and everyone else’s upper-middle-class, cookie-cutter lives.
Euphoria was never close to reality, but it feels even farther now that it doesn’t even have a visual identity to ground itself in.
A Drama Show Without The Drama
To put it plainly, the Euphoria Season 3 premiere felt lost in its own story.
It didn’t answer any of the burning questions left over from Season 2.
Instead, the episode took a turn, giving us entirely new stories, opting to overexplain the changes rather than organically following up on established plot points.
Each character’s motive is also confusing, as they mostly seem to be aimlessly moving about their own worlds.
Out of all the characters, Rue has the strongest sense of direction, but even then, the show seems to be shoehorning religion into her storyline.
Cassie’s main goal seems to be getting married to Nate, but by the end of the premiere, I wasn’t sure if that’s what she really even wants.
Meanwhile, we’ve gotten more screentime with Faye, a forgettable recurring character from earlier seasons, than we have with Jules.
Euphoria has completely lost all sense of the complicated web of relationships, friendships, and enemies that made the show so fun to watch.
Instead, all the conflict seems to be relatively manufactured, such as Maddy’s unhappiness with her job.
At least earlier seasons were grounded in the high school setting.
Now, these characters don’t share anything in common, which begs the question: why should we keep watching?
Leaning Into The Hate-Watch Strategy
At the beginning of Euphoria’s reign, it was clear that the series was made to appeal to young adults.
But the series seems to have forgotten its key demographic.
After all, I don’t think high schoolers want to see Cassie wearing a dog costume and talking about creating an OnlyFans.
Sure, sex work has always been a part of the series.
However, it feels like creator Sam Levinson has become so fixated on hypersexualizing the female characters now that they are properly out of high school.
This confusing move has alienated most of the audience, who are tuning in to see whether Rue and Jules will get back together, not to see Jules as a sugar baby.
With every bone in my body, I hope that Euphoria Season 3 is its last.
After such a shaky season premiere, Euphoria doesn’t seem to have legs to stand on.
Maybe its strategy is to keep its core audience tuning in for the trainwreck it is.
But it’s just such a shame to see this show go out this way.
What did you think of the Euphoria Season 3 premiere?
Comment your thoughts below!
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