Euphoria is a combination of too many shows in one

Slate

"There are a lot of reasons to love Euphoria: You can come for the LGBTQ+ representation and stay for the sheer number of female leads; show up Zendaya’s endearing portrayal as Rue, stick around for the music; tune in for the make-up and fashion looks, but really tune in for the debauchery," says Madeline Ducharme and Nadira Goffe. "Euphoria is lovable because Euphoria isn’t just one show, but a lot of them. It’s a Russian doll in 60-minute, televised form, struggling to remain cohesive as it switches between them all. After last Sunday’s episode—the third of Season Two—Twitter user @blairsmani astutely pointed out that the bathroom scene in which Rue, Lexi, Cassie, Maddy, and Kat talk to each other felt like a crossover episode. But, at the same time, we’re supposed to believe that these girls are friends! Good enough friends to be a part of each other’s lives so that when they simply have a conversation, it doesn’t feel like a mash-up of completely different shows. Euphoria’s attempt to give us a lot means that well-deserving characters are given next to nothing." Ducharme and Goffe have divided Euphoria into a dozen distinct shows: "It’s Always Sunny in Psychedelia (aka The Rue Show)," "10 Things I Love (and Hate) About Rue (aka The Jules Show)," "Menace to Sobriety (aka The Fezco Show)," "The Bad Bitch Baby-Sitter’s Club (aka The Maddy Show)," "The Blonde and the Restless (aka The Cassie Show)." "I Don’t Want No [Scrubs] (aka Narcs and Recreation aka The Nate Show)," "I Love Lexi (aka The Lexi Show)," "Not So Insecure (aka The Kat Show)," "Three’s Company (aka The Elliot Show)," "Cal(l) Me By Your Name (aka The Cal Show)," "(No One Wins When the) Family Feuds (aka The Gia and Leslie Show)" and "Big Mouth (aka The Faye Show)."

ALSO:

• How Euphoria's nail art is used to tell its story: "The nails feel very current and fresh, yet individualized for each character," says Natalie Minerva, the show's nail artist. "I was trying to incorporate designs that felt on par with trends but weren't exact copycats of trendy nails, if that makes sense. I'm always aiming for new takes on art when I'm designing while keeping in mind what's popular in nails at the time." Minerva adds that as a general rule, my main focus is: Who am I doing this for? What makes this person tick? What is their personal style? What will make them smile? So when it came to Euphoria, I had to look at the characters as real people in my mind. The difference is all of the outside factors when it comes to shooting TV: What kind of scene will these nails be in? Does this scene have a lot of action? Is there a possibility of wardrobe changing? I think what also made this different was that we have sometimes three to five people all in talks together about our nail looks, and we're all making these decisions together. Usually on projects, I'm shown inspiration boards and I make those decisions solo, or maybe sometimes the artist I'm working with will be involved. This project had many creatives collaborating."
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