Euphoria is a vibe! Here are 4 reasons why should be watching

Every once in a while, a teen drama series comes along and captures our attention. From Gossip Girl to Teen Wolf, we’ve definitely seen our fair share of hit teen series. However, nothing could have prepared us for the force that is Euphoria.

In 2019, HBO released the first season of the teen crime drama series, Euphoria. The show follows the lives of a group of teenagers who are finding their way through life, love, and friendships in a world of sex, drugs, emotional trauma, and social media.

If you haven’t already watched this critically acclaimed series, here are 4 reasons why you should jump on it.

1. It has a stellar cast

Euphoria boasts a very diverse and inclusive cast led by Zendaya who delivers an Emmy award-winning performance. Describing her performance in the hot new second season of the show, The Hollywood Reporter wrote Zendaya “continues to excel, finding new ways to embody her character’s erratic shifts from elation to cruelty, insouciance to anger”.

The young star made history as the youngest person and the second black woman to win the award for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

The show is also the first break-out role for most of its cast including Hunter Schafer (who plays Jules ) as well as Barbie Ferreira (Kat Hernandez), Alexa Demie (who plays Maddy Perez), and Maude Apatow (who plays Lexie Howard). 

Together, the cast deliver a noteworthy performance with powerful scenes that evoke emotions from the viewers.

2. The critics love it

Euphoria has gained praise from fans and critics alike earning an approval rating of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes with the website’s critical consensus summary stating “though at times hard to watch, Euphoria balances its brutal honesty with an empathetic – and visually gorgeous – eye to create a uniquely challenging and illuminating series, held together by a powerfully understated performance from Zendaya.”

In 2020 the show received six Emmy nominations and won three including Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. The show also won the 2019 Favourite Drama Star People’s Choice Awards for Zendaya.

With ratings of 8.4/10 and 86% on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, it’s little wonder why Euphoria is one of our absolute faves.

3. The show highlights trauma and mental health issues

Euphoria brings to the fore important conversations on mental health issues, drug/substance abuse, and addiction among young people. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, show creator Sam Levinson said he hoped the show will lead to conversations between parents and their children.

“I hope that it at least opens up a dialogue between the two (parents and children) because it’s hard being a teenager. It’s difficult, especially too if you’re struggling with addiction and battling those things. Hopefully it’ll open up those means of communication.”

The show’s lead character, Rue Bennett (Zendaya) is bipolar and suffers from ADHD, general anxiety, depression and Borderline Personality Disorder. 

In what feels like a rare TV feat, mental health issues are neither glamorized nor romanticized but rather, the show provides insight into the daily struggles of mental illness and the use of drugs and other vices as a coping mechanism.

4. It’s real

In an interview with EW, Levinson shared that he tapped into his own personal experience as a teenager dealing with drug abuse which made for an extremelly raw and realistic script.

“I just wrote myself as a teenager. I think those feelings and memories they’re still extremely accessible to me. So it’s not a hard reach. I just write myself and what I was feeling and what I was going through when I was younger and I was dealing with addiction”.

The series gives us a window into the anxiety of being young and the insecurities and unsureness of relationships but in a way we’ve hardly seen on TV. With its gritty depictions of sex and drugs, Euphoria unapologetically pushes the boundaries of what we consider normal. Nothing is off-limits and that’s probably our favorite thing about it.