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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
We’ve been catching our breath with HBO’s hit teen drama series Euphoria since the year started; now it is time to exhale. The show’s second season finale is titled, “All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I Cannot Name”. This episode is written and directed by the series creator, Sam Levinson.
In this review, I will be discussing Euphoria Season 2 Episode 8. There will be no spoilers here, as the title of this article suggests. Although, I will discuss major themes present in the episode. Nonetheless, please read ahead at your own discretion to avoid any possible reveals!
Plot Summary
Following last week’s penultimate episode of Euphoria Season 2, we get to bear witness to the second half of Lexi Howard’s (Maude Apatow) high school play.
Discussion
This week’s Season 2 finale of Euphoria breaks loose a bit from Lexi’s life-to-stage adaptation and splits into focus on brief character subplots. Serving as Act II to “Our Life”, this long-titled episode does have answers for viewers who have been tuning in over the past several weeks. However, such responses are not what we might have been hoping for. Rév’s cinematography, along with the editors’ work and Labrinth’s musical composition make great highlights that keep us enthralled by the story. One first example is Cassie Howard (Sydney Sweeney) trying to regain control of her personal ecologies — personal, familial, and social.
Levinson’s writing of the narrative — as has been the topic of discourse since the season started — is radically different… Some lines of dialogue seem to be meant not for those on stage or in the audience but directed instead at us, the unseen viewers. Through Lexi and Fezco (Angus Cloud), we get a critique of social media and how we “be ruining the mystery”, that “sometimes people need to get their feelings hurt”.
The subtle messages are mostly lessons we’ve learned in philosophies and aren’t anything new. One quote — where Rue Bennett (Zendaya) cites her late father — piqued my interest. It’s something that we heard a few episodes ago in “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird”: “Memories exist outside of time and have no beginning”. The return of this line in the finale takes on a new meaning.
Performance defies space and time; not only does this apply to the theater but to the film/television medium as well. The stage (or set), as I have explained last week, widens the realm of possibility while also being contained within space and time. Therefore, in Rue’s case, her father is not truly gone and she can still return to this moment whenever she feels like it. In fact, the series itself is about her recollection of events that the protagonist revisits for her sake — as well as ours.
The Crew of The Euphoria Season 2 Finale
Marcell Rév returns as this week’s director of photography. Aaron I. Butler and Darrin Navarro join series co-producer Julio C. Perez IV as the editors. Andrea Espinoza serves as the assistant editor, while Laura Zempel does additional editing.
Labrinth serves as the music composer, while Jen Malone acts as the music supervisor. Wylie Stateman designs the sound. Jason Tregoe Newman, Bryant J. Fuhrmann, and Zak Millman serve as the music editors, with Andrew Ransom as the assistant music editor. Evyen J Klein serves as a music consultant.
Jason Baldwin-Stewart does the production design for the episode. Nick Ralbovsky serves as the supervising art director, with Alyssa Hill serving as the art director. Marcie Maute and Steven Hudosh serve as the assistant art directors. Eugene Adamov serves as the lead set designer. Sofia Midon assists Julia Altschul in set decoration.
Angelina Vitto joins Heidi Bivens in the costume design. Lauren Ron Penizotto serves as the on-set dresser, while Ryan Salisbury does additional on-set dressing. Jason Drury, David Sanford, and Ted Hardwick serve as the set dressers. Susan Nininger joins Devon Patterson in costume supervision. Lola serves as the key set costumer, while Claire Redman is the costumer.
Doniella Davy is the department head of make-up and is assisted by Tara Lang Shah. Alex French serves as the make-up artist. Kim Kimble serves as the department head of hair and is assisted by Kendra Garvey. Teresita Mariscal joins as the hairstylist.
The Cast
Zendaya and Hunter Schafer play Rue Bennett and Jules Vaughn, respectively.
Maude Apatow portrays Lexi Howard and a depiction of herself, Grace. Sydney Sweeney plays her 433-day older sister, Cassie. Alexa Demie and Barbie Ferreira play Maddy Perez and Kat Hernandez, respectively.
Jacob Elordi plays Nate Jacobs. Austin Abrams portrays Ethan Lewis, as well as depictions of Suze Howard and Nate Jacobs. Angus Cloud and Javon “Wanna” Walton portray Fezco and Ashtray, respectively.
Storm Reid and Nika King appear as Rue’s respective family members, Gia and Leslie Bennett. Eric Dane and Dominic Fike make play Cal Jacobs and Elliot, respectively.
Sophia Rose Wilson, Chloe Cherry, and Veronica Taylor return as Barbara “BB” Brooks, Faye, and Bobbi, respectively.
Harvey J. Alperin and Audrey Linden appear as Robert Bennett’s respective father and mother, while Gwen Mukes returns as Leslie’s mom. Bernardo Hiller plays a rabbi, while Lamar Lyas plays a preacher.
Ethan J Runburg plays Mick, while Clara York plays a neighbor. Jacob Clarke plays a guy sitting next to Suze. Ansel Pierce plays Caleb.
Kathy Dorn plays an invested audience girl alongside Maddy Perez. Brynda Mattox plays Fezco’s grandmother. Ricky Guzman, Ashley Lane, and Liam Manfredonia play Skye, Bambi, and Hard Harry, respectively.
Adam Popp, Joe Robinson, and Jeffrey G. Barnett play cops. Derek Graf, David Castillo, Joe Dominguez, Wilson Wong, and Nickolas Epper play members of a SWAT team.
Guest appearances include Alanna Ubach and Nick Blood as Suze and Nick Howard, respectively; and Tyler Chase as Custer. Aja Bair, Eden Rose, Izabella Alvarez, and Isabella Amara play Jade, Hallie, Marta, and Luna, depictions of Rue, Cassie, Maddy, and Kat.
Performances and Character Developments
Zendaya doesn’t top previous performances of hers in previous episodes such as “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird” and “A Thousand Little Trees of Blood”. Although, her character has sobered and cleaned up her act. We see that she is willing to change for herself. She shares heartwarming and tranquil scenes with Lexi and Jules Verne (Hunter Schafer), and the writer’s attention to Rue is meticulous. When she speaks about her father, she says she will close her eyes. In the audience, she sees this moment reenacted, and so she does, suggesting she is ready to move forward.
Cloud’s Fezco and Walton’s Ashtray, in contrast, have a suspenseful dynamic in the continuation of what we’ve been given in last week’s episode. Personally, I felt this moment coming since the end of Summer 2019 with the first season finale. Fezco has always had the ability to take control of a situation while keeping composure. However, Ashtray has made this a challenge as the loyal yet constantly frustrating younger brother. The character has made victims over the course of the season. Yet, with what happens in this episode, he’s finally made Fez snap. The actors prove themselves deserving of Emmy considerations for their portrayal of drug-dealing brothers in what has been a tough season to top Euphoria Season 1.
Final Thoughts
While this second season finale might not be as lovely as the first, we do get answers to many questions we have been asking while still leaving room for others. Cloud and Walton prove themselves deserving of Emmy considerations for their portrayal of drug-dealing brothers in what has been a tough season to top Euphoria Season 1. While Sweeney, Demie, and Apatow are posited as the focal points of previous episodes, Cloud and Walton steal the show, even if what they have as siblings may seem like a fleeting memory.
With Euphoria Season 2, Levinson does raise the stakes, but at a high cost of being the sole writer. It makes sense to watch the narratives every week, and the editors facilitate the storytelling. The issue is that Levinson goes all over the place during these eight episodes. The finale’s ending is not as potent as Zendaya’s musical number in the Season 1 finale. I felt like this would be where the show would end. However, we need to see becomes of certain main characters. Levinson gives us a whole range of characters with potential such as BB (Sophia Rose Wilson) and Bobbi (Veronica Taylor) but never tells us of their stories. At least we got Faye (Chloe Cherry) to finally gain our trust.
Overall, what the best characters yearn for is more than one quality: love, completion, healing. Only time can tell.
Euphoria Season 2 is now available to watch on HBO and HBO Max!
Have you been tuned into Euphoria Season 2? If so, what are your thoughts? Who is your favorite character? Let us know! For more drama-related news and reviews visit and follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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