Euphoria Season 1 - Episode 1
Euphoria premiered on June 16, 2019. The series was renewed for a second season in July 2019. Two one-hour specials were broadcast in December 2020 and January 2021. The second season premiered on January 9, 2022, and in February 2022 the series was renewed for a third season. The series has received numerous accolades, including a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. For her performance, Zendaya has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Critics' Choice Television Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. Sydney Sweeney, Colman Domingo, and Martha Kelly have also received Emmy nominations for their acting, with Domingo winning Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Euphoria Season 1 - Episode 1
As a child, Fezco was taken in by his grandmother, who introduced him to the drug trade. In a continuation of a scene from the season one finale, Ashtray kills Mouse with a hammer. On New Year's Eve, an intoxicated Rue accompanies Fez and Ashtray to an intense drug deal, in which Rue and a new character, Faye, are violently forced to strip down to prove that they aren't wearing wires, before attending a large house party. At a convenience store, a drunken Cassie runs into Nate, who offers her a ride to the party; upon arriving, the two have sex in a bathroom and are nearly caught by Maddy, forcing Cassie to hide in the bathtub. Rue takes a concoction of drugs with a boy named Elliot and nearly enters cardiac arrest before taking Adderall to stabilize her heartrate. Outside, she and Jules reunite, where Rue tells Jules that she relapsed the night Jules left her at the train station. Later, the two confess their feelings for each other and kiss. Fezco has a conversation with Lexi and they exchange phone numbers. He then confronts Nate and viciously beats him until the other partygoers intervene and stop him.
Nate recovers from his beating in the hospital and refuses to tell his father who attacked him. He finds himself strongly attracted to Cassie, who has been undergoing a depressive episode since her abortion and feels uneasy without a boyfriend. Cassie continues to see Nate, knowing that she may ruin her friendship with Maddy by doing so. As the spring semester starts, Jules becomes insecure about Rue's friendship with Elliot, unaware that the two are regularly taking drugs together. Kat begins losing interest in Ethan, fantasizing about more stereotypically masculine men and briefly becoming consumed by an online culture of toxic positivity. Cal begins investigating Nate's assault and pressures Cassie into naming Fezco as the perpetrator; when Lexi decides to visit Fezco and get his attention, she gets caught up in a tense standoff between him and Cal. Cal then confronts Nate, who reveals that he is aware of Cal's secret sexual exploits, including the video of him and Jules. Nervously, Cal asks for the tape; Nate smiles in response.
Lexi's play, Our Life, is performed for the East Highland students, parents, and faculty. Lexi's classmates quickly realize that the play is based on their lives with their names changed. Earlier, Lexi is seen talking to Fezco as she worries that people will be upset by the play; he later promises to attend her play. The episode traverses between the present and past as the play depicts significant events and relationships from Lexi's perspective: Rue's father's wake and her descent into addiction, Cassie going through puberty, Rue and Lexi's friendship, Lexi's relationship with her father, Cassie and Maddy's friendship, and Maddy and Nate's relationship. Custer arrives at Fezco's house before the play starts and Ashtray is suspicious of him. Cassie and Nate continue their relationship despite his sustained feelings for Maddy and Jules. Leslie tells Rue she is done dealing with her drug addiction and plans to focus on Gia. Immediately after Rue exposes the relationship, Cassie locks herself in the bathroom. Maddy demands an explanation and asks whether it was worth it; Cassie does not respond. Jules destroys the disc Nate gave her. Maddy swears to leave East Highland after the school year is done since she feels misled and has nothing to keep her there, but she is sad to be leaving Samantha and Theo, to whom she has become close. Fezco fails to make it to Lexi's play. The episode ends with a rendition of "Holding Out for a Hero", depicting Nate's character, played by Ethan, and other male students working out in a homoerotic manner. An offended Nate leaves the play early and angrily breaks up with Cassie, telling her to pack her things and leave his house.
Euphoria is a co-production of The Reasonable Bunch, A24, Little Lamb, DreamCrew, and HBO Entertainment.[34] It has 16 executive producers, including Levinson, Leshem, Levin, Yardeni, Hadas Mozes Lichtenstein, Mirit Toovi, Yoram Mokadi, Gary Lennon, Zendaya, Canadian rapper Drake, Future the Prince, Ravi Nandan, and Kevin Turen.[33][35][36] The pilot episode, "Pilot", was directed by Augustine Frizzell.[37]
Levinson has served as Euphoria's showrunner since its premiere, and has written every episode.[36] He has directed every episode except the Pilot and the season one episodes "03 Bonnie and Clyde" and "The Next Episode",[37][38] which were directed by Jennifer Morrison and Pippa Bianco. Zendaya will probably direct the third season's episode.[39]
The production was given a pilot order on March 13, 2018,[40] and on July 30, it was announced that HBO had given the production a series order.[36] The series was renewed for a second season on July 11, 2019.[41]
Production for season two was scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2020, with the first table read on March 11,[45] but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the production.[46][47] Production resumed in March 2021, with filming from April to November.[48]
Before the series' second season, HBO ordered two specials. The first, "Trouble Don't Last Always", premiered on December 6, 2020, and follows Rue as she deals with the aftermath of leaving Jules at the train station and relapsing.[49] The second, "Fuck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob", premiered on January 24, 2021, and follows Jules's side of the story.[50] The second episode was co-written and executive produced by Levinson and Hunter Schafer.[51] HBO announced that the special episodes would air two days early on HBO Max.[52]
On February 4, 2022, HBO renewed the series for a third season.[53] In September 2022, HBO's CEO Casey Bloys said the series could go beyond four seasons, and would not end after season three.[54] Production of season three started in February 2023,[55] aiming for a late 2023 release,[56] but according to a Vogue interview with Apatow, filming is set to start in the second half of 2023.[57]
In April 2020, Kelvin Harrison Jr. joined the cast, but by May 2021, he had dropped out due to scheduling conflicts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[61][62] In August, Dominic Fike, Minka Kelly, and Demetrius 'Lil Meech' Flenory Jr. were added to the cast.[63] On February 22, 2022, it was announced that Smith had quit the series after starring in two episodes of season 2.[64] On August 24, 2022, Ferreira announced via Instagram story that she had decided to leave the series.[65]
Primary photography takes place in Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. Ulysses S. Grant High School in Los Angeles stands in for the fictional East Highland High School.[66] According to the California Film Commission, the first season of Euphoria received $8,378,000 in incentive tax credits. The first season was filmed over a combined total of 104 days; the second season's production costs totaled $96,685,000 after a total of 176 filming days. Subsequently, the second season received a $19,406,000 tax credit for employing over 15,000 people in California.[67] Zendaya received $500,000 per episode in the first two seasons and will receive $1,000,000 per episode in the third season.[68][69][70][71]
For season one, the show was shot digitally. Starting with season two, the show was shot on Kodak Ektachrome film stock, which cinematographer Marcell Rév attributed to a desire to invoke "some sort of memory of high school."[72]
For season three, Rue's sobriety journey, Zendaya opened up about exploring characters outside high school,[73] with the filming locations of New York City, Singapore, and Warner Bros. Studios lots in Burbank and Leavesden.[citation needed]
Many of the episode titles for season one are references to late-1990s and early-2000s song titles that correlate to the episode itself. For instance, "'03 Bonnie and Clyde" is a reference to the 2002 Jay-Z and Beyoncé song of the same name. The loyal relationship between Nate Jacobs and Maddy Perez in the episode mirrors that between Jay-Z and Beyoncé in the song.[74][6] For season two, many of the episode titles are references to books and quotes.
The series premiered on June 16, 2019, on HBO. In Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, it premiered on June 17, 2019, through HBO Asia.[75] In Australia, it premiered on June 17, 2019, through Foxtel.[76] In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, it premiered on August 6, 2019, through Sky Atlantic.[77] The specials were released on December 6, 2020[e] (as Part 1: Rue) and January 24, 2021[f] (as Part 2: Jules). The second season premiered on January 9, 2022.[78]
Euphoria's first season was met with a positive response from critics, with much of its praise going to its acting, story, visuals, and approach to mature subject matter. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 80%, with an average rating of 7.4/10 based on 100 critical reviews.[81] The site's critical consensus summary states, "a uniquely challenging and illuminating series, held together by a powerfully understated performance from Zendaya"[81] The review aggregator website Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[82] Ben Travers of IndieWire praised the show's authenticity, how HBO "grounds itself in stark reality", and Zendaya's performance and narration.[85] Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter noted Zendaya's performance and the handling of the subject matter.[86] Pilot Viruet of Observer called the show "visually stunning" and praised the ensemble's performance, but criticized the writing as "shaky, filled with clunky lines", and recommended that the show "keep its focus narrow".[87] Jamila Stewart of Vogue stated that Euphoria still has a palpable impact on where fashion trends fall today.[88] 041b061a72