





AWARDS UPDATE: A historic win for Zendaya as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, her first ever Emmy making her the youngest recepient for this, and also the second black woman to win this category (in Emmys history) after Viola Davis did in 2015 for How To Get Away With Murder.



Winning a total of 6 Primetime Emmys in 2020, including other catergories:

Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic) - Doniella Davy, Kirsten Coleman and Tara Lang. Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics - Labrinth. Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) - Labrinth. Outstanding Music Supervision - Jen Malone and Adam Leber and Outstanding Contemporary Costumes - Heidi Bivens, Danielle Baker and Katrina Danabassis.





★★★★★





2019 Image via HBO/A24 Television/The Reasonable Bunch/Little Lamb/DreamCrew/Tedy Productions (Pictured right to left: Zendaya as Rue and Hunter Schafer as Jules)







If you miss the joyous dramatic teens of Skins, then look no further than this HBO original series, Euphoria!

Content warning, 18+: Contains adult themes, reader discretion advised. And spoilers on Euphoria's first season if you haven't watched, please avoid this until you have watched!

Sex, drugs, relationships, blackmail, sexual identity and mental health - some of the themes portrayed in Euphoria.

If you or someone you know needs help, click here for UK, or here for US crisis resources.





Who knew we needed another teen drama?





Euphoria based on the Israeli series of the same name, (by Ron Lesham), now developed and created by Sam Levinson who also serves as an executive producer along with Grammy award-winning rapper Drake. The series focuses on a bunch of teens struggling in today's world with issues of relationships, sex, drugs, mental health and the dark side of social media that concides with this all.





Zendaya shines in this dark teen drama as Rue, a drug addict who befriends Jules (played by Hunter Schafer) a transgender girl, and decides to stay clean. They both form a close friendship very quickly, and are somewhat devoted to one another. We also learn about Jules' character in a much broader way, who is most of the time on dating apps hooking up with cis married men. One of them turns out to be a Dad (played by Eric Dane) of a popular jock at the school, Nate (played by Jacob Elordi). This situation turns the series into a dark and unsettling story involving emotional abuse and blackmail.





A teen drama fit for the Digital Age.





Further into the series we're introduced to the likes of Maddy (played by Alexa Demie) whose toxic relationship with Nate emphasises domestic abuse in teen relationships. Which is a rarity in many teen dramas today but then again this is HBO, so pretty much every scene is gonna be a bit full on. Nate's confusion in his sexuality perpetuated by his father's extra-marital activities exposed to him at a very young age. There's no doubt this plays a huge part in the inevitable demise of Nate and Maddy's relationship.





The explorative Kat (played by Barbie Ferriera), who is introduced as the so-called shy one, and has a sex tape that immediately explodes into views and fame on notable adult sites. Continuously denying this at school however. She eventually finds a whole online market humilating older men in exchange for money. This was not what I expected the direction of her character to take but it is quite exraordinary, being online is a staple part of the youth of today. Feeling, perhaps, sexually liberated most of the time, Kat struggles to find that connection with someone, particularly when she meets fellow classmate Ethan (played by Austin Abrams), whose ridculed by Kat constanly pushing him away. Jealousy and denial over a misunderstanding can make people act out of character or change drastically.





Then we come across Cassie (played by Sydney Sweeney) who has a college boyfriend that knows a lot about her lucrative past with relationships, like sexual encounters filmed. Ah, the beauty of revenge porn, which has been a controversial subject in society in recent years. It was interesting to see a modern take on it with vulnerable teenagers. Its as if smartphones or devices in general these days are like Big Brother watching everyone's move, where nothing is private. Cassie's storyline is quite a saddening one involving her parents' bitter relationship leading to her Dad's drug addiction and to Cassie emotional downfall leading to her unexpected pregnancy. A woman's right to choose, IS a woman's right to choose.





And of course there's Lexi (played by Maude Apatow) the left behind and childhood friend of Rue who always has her back. Like peeing for Rue's drug tests, now that is a dedicated and loyal friend. But her isolation from Rue and seeing how Jules changes her probably makes her feel somewhat jealous, but this isn't presented in a malicious way. Lexi seems to be the only character that helps out the others when they're in trouble. It will be interesting to see more of Lexi's character in the second season.





Euphoria overall, symbolises today's struggles with teenagers, especially with every move documentated on social media and the Internet.





The harsh reality of it all is that mental health is considerably more prevalent in youngsters today, but what can we do to help combat this?





A much broader education on consent, abuse and relationships.





Euphoria has now been renewed for a second season at HBO





The first season of Euphoria is now streaming on NOW TV in the UK (with varying expiry dates) and on HBO Max in the US, and airs on Sky Atlantic (UK)

TRAILER: