u/luckon9s

I know a lot of you got exausted of Euphoria, and honestly, so did I. At first, I thought this season was way too messy. But now hear me out.

Cassie/Nate/Maddy storyline aside, I kind think it’s really interesting that Euphoria (Rue's arc) is leaning this heavily into a neo-western vibe now, because it’s a surprisingly creative way of dealing with how messy and chaotic the show’s writing has become. Like, it has become so exaggerated and absurd that fully embracing that energy almost gives it a new identity.

A lot of people think, correctly, that Sam Levinson completely lost control of the series, especially with how this season handles sex work, exploitation, and female characters in general. But at the same time, there’s something fascinating about how unpredictable and extreme everything has become.

The Rue storyline especially feels straight out of a weird Coen brothers western now. Religion, crime, fate, absurd violence, characters convincing themselves they’re finding meaning while their lives completely collapse around them.

I don’t know, this season definitely has its lows, and I do think Cassie’s storyline feels way too out of tone. But the thing is, I still get completely locked in whenever the show focuses on Rue, and this latest episode especially really fascinated me.

Anyway, I wrote an article about all this stuff, if anyone wants to read/discuss :D

I honestly think the funniest thing about this new Charli XCX rollout is that she spent months hinting at “rock music” just for the actual songs to still feel deeply rooted in PC Music aesthetics.

Even with the guitars and dirtier visuals, Rock Music still feels super repetitive, minimal, ironic, and emotionally detached in that specific way a lot of classic PC Music releases did. It doesn’t feel like she abandoned that sound at all. If anything, it feels like she’s stripping it down even further.

What feels different is the mood around the rollout itself. The whole “b.sides” account, the behind-the-scenes posts with A.G. Cook and Finn Keane, the black-and-white visuals, the vinyl-only track she told fans to literally pirate… it all feels weirdly intimate while still being self-aware and performative at the same time.

And honestly I think the second song is the most interesting part so far. The “late bloomer” line and the way she talks about obsession, identity, and confusion feels surprisingly vulnerable for her without ever losing that detached Charli irony.

This whole era feels less like Charli trying to reinvent herself and more like her pulling apart the version of herself that Brat turned into a huge internet character.

I wrote a longer piece about this whole rollout if anyone wants to read more.