I’ve read quite a few complaints that Euphoria’s second season, so far, is a meandering, pointless mess. I can’t say that the series has ever been laser-focused on what it wants to say about modern adolescence. And honestly, I have a better time consuming it as a teenage, R-rated Seinfeld. But the time we spent exploring each character in season one felt more balanced, at least. It’s frustrating that Kat and Maddy are being sidelined in order to give Cal, of all people, some interiority. And that interiority is a bunch of crap.
As far as the story goes, Sam Levinson has seemingly run out of ways to make Rue’s drug addiction compelling or even nerve-wracking to watch. The fact that he had to throw in a drug-dealing subplot to add more stakes to her already precarious life is telling. She’s had several near-death experiences. Most of her relationships are either significantly damaged or extremely fragile at this point. This episode, she falls into the arms of Labrinth playing a cantor in a literal coming-t0-Jesus sequence after getting high again. Unfortunately, I’m really not sure where else there is to go with this relapse storyline besides the most obvious outcome.
As most of us predicted last week, Jules and Elliot’s relationship becomes sexual. There’s a lot of flirting and rolling around and sucking thumbs. As much as Jules likes being physically desired, I wish she was written as a slightly better partner to Rue or at least honest enough to express that she’s not fulfilling her needs, considering that she’s genuinely concerned about Rue’s well-being. Likewise, she’s devastated when Elliot finally reveals that Rue hasn’t been sober.
It’s safe to say Cassie and Nate’s affair and the hope that Fez and Lexi will ride off into the sunset has kept this season exciting. “You Who Cannot See, Think Of Those Who Can” spends a lot of time building suspense around whether Cassie will come clean. Hence, she gets into an argument with Nate when she finds he met up with Maddy to try to rekindle their relationship. This scene’s direction and dialogue gave me flashbacks to Levinson’s 2021 film Malcolm and Marie with all the primal screaming and awkward rebuttals. There’s a point when Cassie tries to justify their hooking-up with the fact that Nate and Maddy were split, to which Nate responds, “that is a comfort to nobody but you!” like he’s reciting Shakespeare.
It’s hard to tell whether Cassie is suffering more from guilt, as we watch her look through scrapbook photos of her and Maddy, or disappointment that Nate is emotionally unavailable to her. Regardless, she has a meltdown when Nate shows up at a birthday gathering she hosts for Maddy and starts guzzling alcohol. At the end of the night, she ends up changing into a sexy bathing suit to get Nate’s attention and vomiting on everyone when they sit in a jacuzzi. She starts crying and aggressively saying sorry to Maddy. Everyone, besides Nate, assumes she’s talking about the vomit. But we all know what she’s really apologizing for.
Lexi’s presence at the party reaffirmed the worry I expressed last week about this whole “more than just a supporting character” bit. It’s been well-established, starting in season one, that Lexi is quiet and observant. But what’s actually going on in her brain besides a diary of other people’s problems? There are multiple shots of Lexi watching Cassie make bad decisions throughout the night, but she doesn’t say anything. When Lexi inquires about Cassie’s weight in another scene, Cassie quickly shuts her down. This moment becomes material for her play, as we watch several girls audition for Cassie’s character. Still, there’s nothing inherently interesting about this sisterly dynamic without hearing more of Lexi’s perspective.
Meanwhile, her flirtation with Fez has seemingly been put on hold. To be fair, Fez has bigger problems when Custer informs him that Mouse’s baby mama was asking questions about his disappearance. It’s not clear if Mouse is dead or just severely injured and tied up in a basement. But I’m glad we’re circling back to that incident because it seemed like too neat of a conclusion for that whole conflict.
Before that conversation though, we see Fez, Faye and Ashtray smoking and watching the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which Faye describes as “so real.” So far, everything that’s come out of Faye’s mouth has unexpectedly made me laugh. And I’m deeply interested in seeing more of what goes on in this trap house.
More Lexi, please!
HBOUnfortunately, we get less of that and more of Cal, whose spiraling sucks the air out of this episode. He starts drinking by himself and harassing Nate before he goes to Maddy’s party. Then we get a million cutaways to him driving wildly on a freeway. It feels like a fatal accident is about to happen, which honestly would’ve been a better alternative to what occurs later on. But he makes it safely to the bar where he kissed Derek back in the day and slow-dances with another man before getting himself kicked out. He then drives back home where he comes out to his family in the most obnoxious and deranged fashion.
This bloated scene is equally frustrating and hilarious in its execution, from Eric Dane’s over-the-top drunk-acting to his bombastic spiel about repression and shame. This monologue might have worked better if it wasn’t so self-victimizing. But Cal blames much of his closeted-ness on his wife and sons, as if they aren’t products of his internalized homophobia and fear of coming out. His indictment of Nate, in particular, is mind-boggling, as if he didn’t raise his son to be a nightmare and isn’t currently traumatizing him with the whole DVD scandal. He also tries to shame his other son Aaron for his completely fine porn preferences and equate them to his “secrets,” which include video-taping sexual partners without their consent and assaulting at least one minor that we know of.
As much as Levinson tries to give Cal a bold, triumphant exit, he makes him look more like a coward. I wish I could say that Cal’s point-of-view isn’t necessarily being endorsed here. (And I think Levinson understands that he’s at least partially a trash human being). But everything about this scene, from its blocking to the script, feels like Levinson trying to manufacture a mic-drop moment. I think it’s fair to say that nothing about Cal’s life circumstances warrants the psychopathic behavior he’s displayed for two seasons. It all feels reminiscent of Kevin Spacey’s weird coming-out that was attached to his statement acknowledging sexual-assualt allegations. Unfortunately for Levinson, this show’s audience is too smart to give Cal any sort of pat on the back.
Overall, the thesis of this episode seems to be that we’re all hiding something. Cassie and Nate are hiding their affair from Maddy. Nate’s trying to hide Cal’s DVD. Rue’s hiding her addiction from practically everyone. Jules will most likely hide her feelings for Elliot from Rue. Kat’s hiding how much she hates Ethan (this is one of three statements she makes in the entire episode). Fez and Ashtray are probably hiding a dead body. Lexi’s hiding all of her feelings. Hopefully, with Cal out of the picture, we don’t have to wait any longer for these secrets to come to light.
