Only those currently taking up residence under rocks have been able to avoid the pervasive popularity of the HBO teen drama “Euphoria.” The show has faced backlash and praise for being extremely provocative, with some critics saying it glorifies drug use and sex and others claiming “Euphoria” actually shows the dire consequences of drug use and enlightens parents to what’s really going on with their teens.
Love or hate the series, there’s no doubt that “Euphoria” has become incredibly popular. Twitter announced that the series has produced the most activity of any television show in the 2020s so far, Variety reported. The social media company said there were 30 million tweets about the teen drama ahead of the season 2 finale, which is 51% more than there were for season 1.
Buzz only grew as HBO announced “Euphoria” was renewed for a third season, which came as a surprise to no one seeing how popular it’s become, especially over the past season.
According to Variety, Twitter shared that the most-tweeted-about “Euphoria” characters this season are Fezco (Angus Cloud); Rue Bennett (Zendaya); and Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi). There are around 270,000 tweets using the hashtag #FexiHive, indicating the popular romance between Lexi (Maude Apatow) and Fezco.
HBO also boasted that “Euphoria” is the second-most-watched series since 2004, with only “Game of Thrones” as a more popular show, according to A.V. Club. They also said the per-episode ratings are up “nearly 100 percent” compared to the first season. “Euphoria” hit “a new series high” with the episode that aired opposite the Super Bowl early in February.
Even mainstream reviewers were slightly scandalized by this season’s content, which ramped up the nudity, sex, and violence, even by HBO’s extreme standards. The Guardian gave season 2 a two-star rating, saying the shocking scenes were gratuitous and unnecessary for storytelling.
“‘Euphoria’ is unrelentingly explicit this time around, as if it took one look at its former self and thought: no, not shocking enough, try this. There is so much nudity, so much sex and so much violence; its characters batter each other senseless, mentally and physically, and the camera lingers on each and every mark,” the publication wrote early in the season.
“At times, the most shocking thing about ‘Euphoria’ is that there are still some scenes set at school,” a Guardian reviewer continued. “It is easy to forget that the characters are supposed to be 17; their lives are a joyless mess of affairs, hookups, drugs and drink-driving, all wrapped up in a gloomy bow of dread.”
Main character Zendaya even provided fans with a trigger warning tweet before the season premiere last month. “I know i’ve said this before, but I do want to reiterate to everyone that Euphoria is for mature audiences,” Zendaya tweeted to her fans. “This season, maybe even more so than the last, is deeply emotional and deals with subject matter that can be triggering and difficult to watch.”
Despite the backlash, the show has grown even more popular with fans as time goes on.
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