It’s possible this second “Christmas special” episode, “F*ck Anyone Who’s Not A Sea Blob” is setting the tone for what we can expect in season two of Euphoria.
Light spoilers ahead.
While both episodes feature an incredibly small cast, Rue’s episode was very dark both with content, conversation, but also in the physical lighting and background. Jules, on the other hand, was very light. We have pale shades and snapshots of beautiful waves and happy scenes with her father and with Rue. However, we come to find out very quickly that not everything is pure bliss.
Unlike every other episode of Euphoria, where Rue (Zendaya, Greatest Showman) is the narrator portraying the story from her own perspective of the world, we are treated to the world as seen by Jules (Hunter Schafer). Changing the narrator allows the audience so much more insight into past experiences that we’ve seen in season 1, as well as a deeper look into Jules’ family life, specifically her relationship with her mother, who is battling with her own addictions.
The episode begins with Jules in therapy opening up to Dr. Nichols (Lauren Weedman, Looking) about her time in New York and sharing that she’s considering going off of her hormones. This is due to the fact that she has come to believe that she is purely an amalgamation of the people she has seen in her life. Trying to, in essence, “conquer femininity, when in fact it is femininity that has conquered her.” She’s gotten to a point where she is tired of looking a certain way to make men happy, and simply wants to exist for no one’s approval or satisfaction.
Her therapist digs deeper into this topic and finds that Jules is still in love with “Tyler,” who we found out in Season 1 is actually Nate (Jacob Elordi, The Kissing Booth 2) catfishing Jules. But she has also fallen in love with Rue and says that Rue is the only one to truly see her, the real Jules, the way she is on the inside. With this statement, we also find out that a lot of her relationships with people take place in her head, which makes her contemplate if Rue is really into her or if she has just created this amazing relationship inside of her mind, as she had with “Tyler.”
We as the audience also get more insight into the struggles of dating someone with addictions that they are working through. Let’s face it, being a teenager is hard enough, then add in everything else from these girls’ lives and it’s a lot of emotional baggage to be working through. Jules feels Rue’s sobriety is attached, in some ways, to Jules’ availability to be there for Rue and that’s too much for her to take on, understandably. The significance of this goes deep into Jules’ past with flashbacks of her and her father having to navigate life with a recovering addict.
Her mother goes from working on her sobriety and subsequently falling back into her old vices several times, to the point where Jules refuses to meet with her mother the last time she stops by to make amends. This leads to her mother disappearing and relapsing right before the Halloween episode took place. Having this knowledge brings so much more depth to some past scenes from season one, but also allowed for Hunter Schafer to show off some incredible acting.
The episode was co-written by Schafer and series creator Sam Levinson, which helped to bring real authenticity to the character. There are some fantastic monologues throughout this nearly hour-long episode that help the audience to connect with Jules in a much deeper way than we ever would have otherwise. These two specials truly were a great holiday gift from the show, in part, because it’s great having new content in quarantine, but also because it has allowed us a deeper look into where these characters are starting from when we eventually begin season two.
If you have not had the chance to check out either Euphoria Special Episode, they are available on HBO Max, and I highly recommend you give them a watch. There is so much context to be gained from these intimate, in-depth specials.
Euphoria Special Episode Part 2 is Now Streaming on HBO MAX.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1P5czi0H_g
