Though The Script Is Still Being Written, Filming Is Speculated To Start In The Next Couple Of Months
According to Variety, the new season of the well-known teen drama series has been delayed once more. HBO and Sam Levinson confirm that the script is still being written and have allowed the actors to pursue other jobs in the meantime.
Internet users still find it suspicious. On X, there is already talk of canceling the series altogether. HBO claims that this is simply a delay; the script had to be completely redone in part due to the actors’ strikes and the death of actor Angus Cloud.
Although a set date for filming is unknown, Deadline reports it should begin in the next couple of months. Actress Sydney Sweeney, who plays Cassie (and was also recently seen in Anyone But You), revealed that after her hectic press run promoting her many new projects, she will go straight into Euphoria.
In season 1, Rue (Zendaya) has just returned from rehab. This queer teenage addict who is still reeling from the shock of her father’s death must reintegrate into the school environment and mingle with a whole host of characters, each with their own problems. Among them is Jules (Hunter Schafer), a newcomer to the school with whom Rue will form a friendship (and more). There is also the popular Maddy (Alexa Demie) and her abusive boyfriend Nate (Jacob Elordi), Kat (Barbie Ferreira), who struggles with body image and self-acceptance, and sisters Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) and Lexi (Maude Apatow) and their gloomy family life.
If season two was a rather realistic high-school drama, according to Internet users, the sequel leaves those rails a little and takes a more dramatic route, in the exaggerated sense of the word.
When Jules leaves town, a devastated Rue relapses. True to form, the season explores themes of love, friendship, identity and the complexity of human relationships. However, Rue is thrust into a kind of gang war, an entire episode is dedicated to an autobiographical play/musical written by Lexi, and the characters, so real in previous episodes, are caricatured to the max. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, it just differs widely from the foundations the series had layed.
Still, the series won a considerable number of awards. Out of its 25 Emmy nominations, the crew went home with 9 trophies. The series also won 4 MTV Awards and a Golden Globe.
Most importantly, it earned the fidelity of its public, who gathered around their screens to watch a new episode each Sunday evening. As of February 28 2022, episode one of Euphoria season 2 had approached 19 million viewers in the US, and an average of 16.3 million viewers tuned in to watch the overall season.
Not every single viewer likes what they see. Much ciritcism has been adressed to Euphoria and its creator due to the sometimes poor handling of such tricky topics. The show has been accused of glamorising drug use and overly sexualising underage women —although the actors are in their twenties, the characters they play are still in high school.
It doesn’t matter how problematic it may be because people still talk about it. Euphoria is the most tweeted show of the decade in the US with 34 million tweets. So despite the criticism addressed to Levinson and the show, spectators are probably still eager to watch a new season.
A Mysterious Plot
We don’t know much about where the new storylines will go. Some speculate on the timeline going only forward and the series making a jump of 5 years after the events of the previous episodes. Levinson has spoken about taking inspiration from the film noir and continuing exploring the show’s preestablished themes on a deeper level.
A Changed Cast
But one thing is sure, some events that you may have had in mind for the season will sadly never see the light of day. The endearing drug dealer Fezco developped a touching friendship with Lexi, but Actor Angus Cloud passed away in 2023 from an overdose. The streaming platform Max has added an in memoriam message to two episodes of Euphoria to commemorate him.
The character of Kat will probably not return either. When actress Barbie Ferreira announced she was leaving the series on Instagram, everyone rushed to share rumors about her. Suddenly, she and Sam Levinson had an altercation in the middle of the set about her character, and Ferreira was unhappy with the treatment of Kat (who takes a back seat as the series progresses). However, all this was denied by the actress, who simply felt that she had reached the end of her character.
The second season introduced us to a new character: Elliot, played by Dominic Fike. When asked about it, the actor was still unsure about his inclusion in the third series, but claimed he would like to reappear on screens — and withouth the long guitar song this time, viewers hope.
CREDITS: Malena Cortizo A.
