The new Euphoria trailer is out now and I have some criticisms.
The trailer for season 3 of Euphoria has just been released and, given my expectations, it was honestly a disappointment.
After two seasons of watching irresponsible, rebellious teenage characters with addiction problems, who make bad decisions and experience common teenage situations, one would expect the next installment to be a transition into adult life, right after high school.
However, the trailer for the new season 3 skips several years and shows the main characters almost fully formed as adults.
Placing the third season right after high school would have been the natural evolution of a teen series. That moment when they are no longer "protected teenagers", but not completely adults either.
β’ First real responsibilities.
β’ Precarious and frustrating jobs.
β’ The fall of ideals or dreams.
β’ The clash between who you 'thought' you were and who the system lets you be.
β’ Continue dealing with addictions, but now without the "they're young" clichΓ©.
That would have allowed the story to mature without betraying what it seemed to be:
A series that wanted to accompany its generation and make them feel understood.
To show how a sense of life is built (or broken) beyond friends, love, and addictions. Being the most logical and honest thing for most fans.
An apparent new change in visual style?
Nor does the lack of visual style that characterizes this series go unnoticed; it's not just about aesthetics, but also about emotional communication.
The dreamlike, excessive, and unreal style was an expression of the characters' emotional state:
β’ Adolescent intensity.
β’ The distortion of reality by drugs.
β’ Confusion, desire, anxiety, fear.
It's not just a change of look, and of course, colors can fade with adulthood, But that involves a narrative decision behind it, not just a "we are more sober now".
time jump gives the impression that:
β’ The process (which is the most interesting part) from adolescence to adulthood is not shown.
β’ Key stages are 'resolved' off-camera.
β’ The characters appear already mature/formed, when 'Euphoria' was always about conflicting identities.
Interesting narrative ideas
Addiction, guilt, unresolved grief, an identity completely shaped by substance use. Rue never had a βlife plan.β
Trying to work and failing (due to schedules, responsibilities, relapses).
Clashing with the reality that there are no longer adults obligated to take care of her.
Asking herself for the first time: βWho am I if I donβt use?β
An uncomfortable emotional truth:
Early adulthood as something terrifying when you donβt have the tools. Showing that βgetting betterβ isnβt a linear process.
Searching for identity, wanting to escape, romanticism, the contradiction between freedom and the need to be loved/seen.
Moving out on her own or with roommates and romanticizing it⦠until it stops being so sweet.
Exploring more mature relationships that challenge her emotionally.
Clashing with the realities of the system (money, work, structural transphobia).
Beginning to differentiate between love and dependency.
Uncomfortable emotional truth:
The fall of the ideal of absolute freedom. Understanding that running away isn't always growing up.
Male validation, abandonment, shattered self-image, trauma disguised as hypersexuality.
Relationships with older (and dangerously unbalanced) men.
Jobs where her body is still used as a commodity.
Starting to wonder if anyone truly loves her without using her.
Perhaps therapy forced by an emotional crisis.
Uncomfortable emotional truth:
Showing how many "pretty" girls pay the emotional price of growing up without support.
External trust, normalized violence, identity built around the gaze of others.
Her charisma for survival (events, appearance, fashion).
Repeating toxic patterns even though she believes she has learned.
Slowly building her self-esteem outside the relationship.
Discovering her emotional and social intelligence.
Uncomfortable emotional truth:
A narrative of true empowerment, not just for Instagram.
Violence, control, repression, trauma, fear of himself and his sexuality.
Choosing a "suitable" career to fill the void.
More subtle and dangerous violence.
Confrontation with legal or social consequences.
The possibility (or not) of breaking the cycle.
Uncomfortable emotional truth:
Proving that some men don't "grow up," they simply learn to camouflage themselves. The toxic stereotype of 'man'.
ΒΏWhat could have given us euphoria in season 3?
β’ Growing up without a manual
β’ Entering the adult world without being ready
β’ Asking yourself what the point is of going on when you are no longer young and innocent.
ΰ±¨ΰ§ Λ ΰ£ͺ βΉ β’ β§ β’ βΉ β β ΰ¨ΰ§
Hopefully the trailer is just playing around and trying to mislead, and the season has more depth than it seems. My disappointment comes from feeling that a huge narrative opportunity is being wasted/abandoned.
I'd like to know your opinions on the trailer and what you'd like to see in this third season.
I'm also working on a Nate Jacobs x Fem Reader fanfic series if you're interested.
