The two-year-plus gap between “Euphoria’s” first and second seasons was nothing if not eventful, producing two specials filmed under COVID restrictions and star Zendaya’s maiden Emmy win. Still, it’s been refreshing to have HBO’s gritty teen drama — created, written and directed by Sam Levinson — finally back on TV week in and week out this winter, serving up fodder for outrageous memes and “absolutely belligerent” behavior.
So, did Sunday’s Season 2 finale top the most expensive high-school theater production of all time? Avid viewers and comparative geriatrics Lorraine Ali and Matt Brennan are here to break down all of the Gen Z hijinks at “Euphoria” High:
Matt Brennan: “Euphoria’s” Season 2 finale, “All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I Cannot Name,” takes its title from the French writer Andre Breton, whose most well-known work may be the “Surrealist Manifesto.” It’s a fitting allusion for an episode that features, in its first 25 minutes alone, a knifing-slash-suffocation, a high-school play turned onstage riot, and an extended acoustic musical number — exactly the kind of pharmaceutical-grade chaos that has made “Euphoria” HBO’s latest Sunday-night darling.
