“Euphoria” took risks for the right reasons

Days before “Euphoria” premiered in June, the Hollywood Reporter ran a piece with a headline that asked, “How much teen sex and drugs is too much?” The mild apprehension behind that question infiltrated most early discussions of the HBO drama, an exceedingly explicit show about suburban teenagers in California that, as creator Sam Levinson has said, isn’t really intended for a teenage audience at all.

A network executive told the magazine “Euphoria” wouldn’t be “sensational to be sensational,” and the first season, which wrapped Sunday night, largely backed that promise. While some remained wary of moments in which the beautifully choreographed show appeared to favor style over substance, critics seemed to warm up to it as the weeks went by. For curious adults — including Leonardo DiCaprio, a professed fan — “Euphoria” is a brutally honest answer to what growing up Gen Z might be like.

It’s an answer and not the answer, of course, as there are surely kids out there who identify more with the demure Lexi Howard (Maude Apatow, who barely gets screen time) than with her depicted peers, whose actions are more likely to shock viewers. But Levinson consistently contextualizes their actions in a way that aims to explain without excuses — starting with Rue Bennett (Zendaya), a somewhat unreliable narrator who serves as our primary lens into the high schoolers’ wild world.

The season begins with Rue’s return home from rehab, where she spent the summer after an overdose, and ends with her relapsing after three months clean. The six months in between — she still used for the first three, unbeknown to her worried mother — paint a complex portrait of what life becomes for not only the person in recovery, but also for those around them. Levinson’s own struggles inform his depicproviding tion of Rue, who also has bipolar disorder, as is addressed in the penultimate episode of the season. Manic episodes inspire her to figure out why her best friend, Jules Vaughn (Hunter Schafer), has been so distant, while depression gives Rue a kidney infection, and the episode its title: “The Trials and Tribulations of Trying to Pee While Depressed.”

Rue’s season-long arc deals with her inability to break down the walls she built up throughout the course of her father’s terminal illness, the period in which she began to use. She attributes her early relapses to a lack of care about her own well-being but, after getting closer to Jules, re-evaluates that stance. Of course, relying on another teenager for emotional stability isn’t the healthiest way to go about sobriety, as Rue’s Narcotics Anonymous sponsor warns her, but Levinson leans toward depicting reality in its harshest form.

Unlike many of its peers, “Euphoria” could have benefited from a few more episodes to fully flesh out some of the characters who simply exist within the universe. Fans have argued since the start that Fezco (Angus Cloud), Rue’s regretful drug dealer, deserves as an episode of his own.

While it lacks in certain areas, Levinson’s risky storytelling highlights his potential, as well as that of his young characters. Luckily, HBO renewed “Euphoria” for a second season, giving Levinson — and the teenagers — ample opportunity to grow.