PHOTO BY Gizmo Story

Euphoria Season Finale: a Review

Pop Culture

May 06, 2022

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Euphoria could arguably be seen as one of the most, if not the most popular shows amongst teenagers today. From fashion, dialogue, and overall quality of creativity, Euphoria will notably go down as an iconic show within the Gen-Z Generation. For nearly an hour, teenagers around America stay glued to their screens, allowing their emotional connections to blossom with each character.

Only recently I began to watch Euphoria. Over the span of two weeks, I analyzed, digested, and formed opinions pertaining to the popular HBO Teen Drama Series. Prior to viewing, I would see different posts on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, but never really felt an interest in viewing the show.

That is, until I watched it. Through my journey, I spend days loving, hating, judging, and sympathizing with each of the characters.

I found it difficult not to fall in love with each of their quirks and personality traits.

In the start of episode eight of season two--the finale--we begin with the hope of Lexi and Fezco beginning a romance they both deserve. Although they have two completely different backgrounds, they mesh well together--having similar personality traits. Fezco is more street, he lives to protect and will die protecting.

With his loyalty, he would risk his life for the people he loves the most. All of Lexi's life, she made sure to cater to each person she loved. Her mom said it best, "I feel like you have spent your whole life being forced to take care of other people."

We all hoped for Lexi's chance of finding love and excitement in her life. With the opening act of "Our Life", a theatrical memoir of her life, and the realization that there is more to life than being the third wheel, we knew everything was going to work out in her favor. But, the writers had other plans. Our optimism hurriedly vanishes as Ashtray stabs Custer: a drug dealer turned rat.

Throughout the entirety of Euphoria, my favorite character was Ashtray. His standoff-ish personality along with the blood is thicker than water trait he possessed, made it hard for me not to love him. I would watch in amusement as to how a child could be as street smart as he was. The way he was portrayed gave me hope for the future, that is, until the biggest moment of the finale played out.

It was just before Fezco was about to leave to see Lexi's play. He was prepared to gift Lexi with red roses, a card, and most importantly, his presence. Unfortunately, the gifts were never able to reach Lexi due to Ashtray being impulsive as always. Instead of letting the tension air out, he decided to make a bad situation worse by stabbing Custer.

This could have been okay.

Fezco could have hidden the body and acted as if nothing ever happened; just like the incident with another drug dealer by the name of Mouse. But, the only issue is that Custer had the place bugged due to him trying to set Fez up. Therefore, Ashtray, being the hotheaded, overprotective little brother, felt like he needed to do something to save himself and his brother.

After understanding that the place was going to be raided by police at any minute, Fezco decided he was going to take the blame for everything so his brother could walk free--which is something I can respect. Ashtray feels the need to defend himself and locks himself in the bathroom with guns, preparing for a shootout. And a shootout he indeed received.

My mind was in a whirl as I watched my favorite character fight for his life while the other pleaded outside the door begging for him to stop. I had the feeling of what would happen towards the end. I feel anyone watching the scene would know future happenings, but no ounce of preparation could prepare you for what happened. Even if you knew the ending was sure to end the way it did.

Following a strenuous shootout with the police. There is silence in the bathroom. No more shooting, no noise, no movement, no nothing.

Just silence. One swat team member opened the door to see Ashtray lying on the ground as if he had been hit. But no, not Ashtray, he's invisible.

He hurriedly shot up, shooting the cop in the shoulder, causing him to fall down. From that moment on, his fate was sealed.

A red dot appeared on his lower chest, steadily rising to the middle of his forehead. The camera abandoned Ashtray's face of fear and showed Fezco's detained and helpless body as he cried, knowing what was about to happen. Before changing scenes to Oklahoma, Lexi's play, you heard a thump, signifying Ashtray was down.

I felt as if my heart stopped. How could this happen? How is season three going to have the same quality without Ashtray and Fezco in prison?

From the beginning of season one to season two, we as viewers become engrossed in each character--whether it be emotionally, physically, or intuitively. We spend our nights watching and building a bond with every character, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. In season one, we were able to see Rue's post-rehab mindset.

We took a journey with her through a nonchalant mentality towards wanting to better herself for the person she loved, to eventually falling off the wagon due to blaming everyone but herself. In the last episode of season one, we watched a graceful transition to a more memorable and powerful season. In season two, viewers were able to connect the dots--understanding why situations were happening as they were. Although the quality of season two was incredible, you couldn't fully understand what was happening until the very last episode: the season finale.

Autumn Cooley

Writer since Mar, 2022 · 1 published articles

Autumn Cooley is a current freshman attending Savannah State University with a major in Music Performance and a minor in Journalism. She enjoys writing, music, and acting. As the future hastily approaches, Autumn is determined to peruse her music journalism career aspiring to be the best.

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