S02.E00: Fuck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob (Part 2: Jules)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

TBA

Promo:

Original air date: 1/22/21

Edited January 20, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[aghst]

Jules and Rue are two intense 17-year olds.

They're each so much in their heads, from being damaged as children.

So all the affectionate kissing in the first part just cloaks the massive insecurities each have.

Both these special episodes are like souped-up In Treatment episodes.  It seemed like the pandemic forced them to keep cast sizes small and maybe distanced but then there are all these intimate scenes where they're right up against each other.

I don't even recall if Jules and Nate (ShyGuy) ever met in real life.

Jules falls for people easily because her mother was such a mess?

These two are probably not so good for each other.  They feel like they have to be together but being together messes them up even more.

[SeanC]

Schafer is such a talent.

From Levinson's interviews, parts of these specials involve plot developments that would have happened in Season 2 -- in this case, obviously, bringing Jules back home, and presumably the revelations about her mother.

[Liamsmom617]

Zendaya and Hunter Schaeffer on that are undeniably talented actresses. But this show… Not even sure what to think. I mean it’s not boring and I’ll keep watching… Last night’s episode was confusing.

[BigDfromLA]

Both of these episodes were outstanding! I love shows with heavy dialogue. My favorite scenes from the Sopranos were the therapy sessions with Tony and Dr. Melfi, and I also loved the show In Treatment. In just two episodes, a great deal was revealed about Rue and Jules and how each sees the situation they are dealing with. It is such a huge advancement of the story. The acting and writing in both episodes was amazing. I imagine that many of the very young Euphoria fans may have been bored with these episodes and maybe didn't like the "lack of action". I thought they were excellent! The bad news is that I read in the paper that there is still no announcement of when production and filming will start for Season 2. The filming of Season two was three days away from starting when the pandemic shut everything down last March. It looks like Season 2 will not be coming any time soon, which is unfortunate. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I enjoyed this episode more than the Rue one. I felt like we didn't learn a whole lot of new things about Rue or gain a lot of new insight into her character in her episode, but we did get to know Jules a lot more in this one.

ITA that both episodes are very reminiscent of In Treatment, which I loved.

On 1/23/2021 at 5:24 PM, aghst said:

I don't even recall if Jules and Nate (ShyGuy) ever met in real life.

They met in the woods the night of the carnival, which is when she found out that Tyler was really Nate.

9 hours ago, BigDfromLA said:

The bad news is that I read in the paper that there is still no announcement of when production and filming will start for Season 2. The filming of Season two was three days away from starting when the pandemic shut everything down last March. It looks like Season 2 will not be coming any time soon, which is unfortunate. 

There's an article posted in the media thread that says they plan to start filming at the end of March and they hope to begin airing S2 episodes at the end of 2021 (like the very end, as in December).

[LaMatadita]

On 1/23/2021 at 5:24 PM, aghst said:

These two are probably not so good for each other.  They feel like they have to be together but being together messes them up even more.

As sad as it is, I feel the same. I really love both characters and want them to be happy, but the back half of S1 and this episode made me feel like they're making each other miserable even though that's the last thing they want. I already had some reservations about whether their personality types were compatible in the long term (Jules is impulsive, Rue needs stability), but this episode was... a lot. It's not just the overlap between Rue and Jules's mom both being addicts, but it also seems like there's a subtle implication that there's a bit of a sexual disconnect between them (which wouldn't be a problem if they were both asexual, but Jules, at least, is clearly not). 

My old ass knows that first loves are learning experiences, and relationships that begin with this much heartache rarely last (and they're often not healthy when they do). I'm still invested in seeing where things go, but I think they both just have too much overlapping trauma and too little maturity to work through it any time soon. I hope they give each other some space next season.

I did enjoy the episode, though. Hearing Jules's perspective in her own words was refreshing and relatable, and I thought the dialogue, Hunter's acting, and the cinematography were all fantastic. This show is always messy and beautiful at the same time.

Edited January 27, 2021 by LaMatadita

[RedDelicious]

I like that Jules brought up to her therapist that she was thinking about going off some of her hormones. For all the kids who want to or are or have transitioned*, there have to be a few who change their minds. I feel like we never hear about the kids who change their minds. Jules didn't say she wanted to de-transition, but I felt in that scene they were able to expertly capture the presence of mind of a trans child and what they think about as they evaluate their identity. Sometimes I feel like advocacy for transitioning is so directly forward that it excludes those who decide to transition back. Like they're traitors to the movement or something.

*I say kids bc I'm talking about Jules and she's under 18

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 minutes ago, RedDelicious said:

I like that Jules brought up to her therapist that she was thinking about going off some of her hormones. For all the kids who want to or are or have transitioned*, there have to be a few who change their minds. I feel like we never hear about the kids who change their minds. Jules didn't say she wanted to de-transition, but I felt in that scene they were able to expertly capture the presence of mind of a trans child and what they think about as they evaluate their identity. Sometimes I feel like advocacy for transitioning is so directly forward that it excludes those who decide to transition back. Like they're traitors to the movement or something.

*I say kids bc I'm talking about Jules and she's under 18

Jules saying she wanted to go off her hormones didn't seem to be about her saying that she didn't feel like she was a girl anymore. To me, it sounded like a combination of her being depressed in general and being tired of being treated like shit due to the constant male gaze that she was subjected to.

[RedDelicious]

24 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Jules saying she wanted to go off her hormones didn't seem to be about her saying that she didn't feel like she was a girl anymore. To me, it sounded like a combination of her being depressed in general and being tired of being treated like shit due to the constant male gaze that she was subjected to.

Right, and I acknowledged that she said she didn’t want to de-transition. What I was trying to convey is that scene made me think (separately) about the kids and people who *do decide to de-transition. 

I interpreted Jules expressing that she didn’t like being treated like shit and the male gaze as her ongoing examination of her identity, what it means to her and how it affects her. I liked that they went there. I feel like in other content or shows that I’ve watched, and this is just me, they talk about things like depression and objectification but I’ve never seen someone say they might want to make a change like going off hormones because they were sick of it. I like that they weren’t afraid for Jules to admit that. Maybe other kids feel that way too. 

Edited February 18, 2021 by RedDelicious

[kieyra]

I struggle with this show because I don’t quite have a sufficient attention span for some of the artsy scenes, and the way the episodes are structured with this discordant rhythm (narrative, narrative, looooooong artsy scene, very quick piece that advances the story a tiny bit, flashback, etc) means I lose track of what’s real and what isn’t. Like, I didn’t realize until the specials that they never really got the lip tattoos. So I don’t know what else I think happened but didn’t really happen.

I also feel like I’m being assaulted by the musical choices at times. You WILL listen to this song.

But I really love Rue/Jules and believe in their relationship and love for each other, and it keeps pulling me along. I just don’t know where it’s going. 

The way the special ended (they see each other, they both start sobbing, Rue flees) kind of reminds me of Normal People. There’s a semi-addictive tension in watching two characters who desperately want to be with each other but also each keep getting in their own way.

But it’s also supremely frustrating because I want to see more of them onscreen together. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Zendaya hosts Sam Levinson and Hunter Schafer for a discussion about the writing for Euphoria “Part 2: Jules”.

More:

 

[LaMatadita]

On 2/18/2021 at 9:25 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Jules saying she wanted to go off her hormones didn't seem to be about her saying that she didn't feel like she was a girl anymore. To me, it sounded like a combination of her being depressed in general and being tired of being treated like shit due to the constant male gaze that she was subjected to.

I took it as her being tired of feeling like she has to "pass" and allowing men to be the arbiters of her passing, and also as realizing/accepting that her biology has less to do with her femininity than how she feels about herself internally. She was letting go of her strict interpretation of feminity and aiming for self-acceptance and duality. No idea if that's the right take, but that's what I got out of it!

Also, many people who appear trans along the gender binary actually identify as nonbinary, so I think it was a shift toward that as well. I think I remember her wearing a jacket with both male and female symbols painted on it in the season finale.