I don’t care what anyone says Euphoria is one of the few shows that actually gets how confusing being young feels. Not just the drama people assume teens care about, but the stuff you don’t really talk about: feeling unsure of yourself, wanting to escape, trying to figure out who you are while pretending like you already know.
It’s messy in a way that feels real.
Whenever I rewatch an episode, I catch something I missed the first time. Sometimes, it’s Rue just lying there, zoned out, not even sad, just kind of detached. Or Lexi trying to make sense of herself from the sidelines. It’s those little moments that hit, because you remember what that felt like. Even if you weren’t doing drugs or sneaking out every weekend, you still felt the pressure. To be someone – and to feel something.
And Nate Jacobs. Ugh. It’s easy to write him off as the villain, but we all knew a guy like that in high school. Controlling, emotionally weird, and says all the right things when he needs to. Not full-on Nate, but enough to make you look back and think, “Why did I let that slide?” There’s always that one high school boyfriend with a little bit of Nate. You probably didn’t even see it then.
Then there’s Maddy. Her whole “I know this is toxic, but I’m still here” thing? Too familiar. A lot of us have been there. Not necessarily in her exact situation, but in that feeling of being stuck. Maybe love is supposed to be dramatic. Of not knowing how to let go, even when you want to.
People always say the show is unrealistic, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be a carbon copy of real life. The storylines might be extreme, but the feelings underneath aren’t. That part is what makes it relatable. Feeling like your emotions are too big to explain. Wanting to be seen but not wanting to show too much. All of that is real.
Euphoria doesn’t speak for every teenager, and it doesn’t have to. It just makes space for the ones who’ve felt lost, overwhelmed, or like their heads were full of thoughts they couldn’t say out loud. For a lot of us, that was high school. And weirdly, it feels good to see that on screen, even if it’s uncomfortable to admit.