Euphoria : Season 2 Character Power Rankings
In case you didn’t notice (I assure you the entire world did), HBO hit series Euphoria ended its second season last week. It was an inspiring, game-changing run that will, most likely, inspire its own run of radical experimentalists and boring copycat. My point is: we all collectively give a shit about these characters now. They are not just drugged-up kids. They are OUR drugged-up kids and we’re entitled to wonder what the fuck is going to happen to them given the fucked-up, scarring ending to this season.
So, I thought of writing this State-of-the-Game article in the same vein of my Game of Thrones power rankings from 2018. Unlike the previous piece, these characters very much have a life to look forward to, so my criteria for power ranking go as follows:
Have they been useful to the plot so far? Is their existence warranted or could they basically exist in any television show? Also: have they been a positive or a negative force? Euphoria is very much about Rue Bennett and her struggle against addiction, so are they helping or not?
Will they be useful to the plot going forward? One thing about season two is that it shed a lot of characters and introduced new ones. Some of them might be in the background, but their use going forward is self-evident. Therefore, there will be no dead or likely-to-be-dead characters. That means no Ashtray. I like him as much as the next guy, but he served his purpose.
Are they even merely likeable? Euphoria being a character-driven show, it’s important that every character is even a little bit interesting. But not all of them unequivocally are. Some of the characters are simply meant to be decorative to a certain degree. So we’ll sift through it.
There have been more or less 30 to 40 characters getting screen time in the two seasons of Euphoria, but not all of them matter. Here’s a top 20 power ranking of every character that matters going forward. Read from the bottom up for optimal enjoyment.
1-Rue Bennett
Rue still holds this rank somewhat by default. Euphoria is more or less about her and her addiction problems. But damn if Zendaya isn’t the absolute best at selling it. Rue is a great, richly written character who could be everyone’s little sister, but the soulful teenage angst energy she imbues into Rue really makes her larger than life. She’s beautiful and ugly at the same time. Truthful and deceiving. Smart and unable to help herself. It’s difficult not to see your own teenage self in Ruby Bennett.
2-Fezco
I almost put him number one, but the finale made that impossible. Tragic, drug-dealing heartthrob Fezco is a quirky character who’s sheer soulfulness outweighs his own clichés. He’s going a lot of bad by selling drugs to kids, but he’s doing a lot of good by sticking up for Rue. His beatdown of Nate Jacobs has been one of the highlights of the season and one of the most cathartic moments in recent television. Not sure if the character will be in season three at all, but you’re not done seeing Angus Cloud.
3-Maddy Perez
This character was completely reinvented in season two. What was first a boring quarterback girlfriend turned into a no-bullshit abuse survivor who’s just beginning to understand how fucked up her life has been so far. Her makeup scene in Lexi’s play was my favorite moment of season two. It got me to rethink Maddy from A to Z and I live for moments like this. She’s shot up the rankings from least interesting to most interesting high school student in the show and my favorite character from season two.
4-Lexi Howard
Lexi shot her way up the rankings from the lower part of this top 20 over the last two episodes of season two, where her perspective on the events of Euphoria have taken quite literally center stage. David Foster Wallace said that good fiction is supposed to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable and it’s exactly what he play did. She completely changed the way we’re going to think about several characters going forward. I think she’s going to end up a unifying character and perhaps the new narrator.
5-Jules Vaughn
Jules was the clear number two after season one, but she receded a little bit as the show explored the depth of its cast. We’ve barely seen her after episode 5 because of her falling out with Rue, but she’s still the gold medallist for best person in East Highland. Not sure where Jules is going to land in season three after getting metaphorically dumped by Rue at the end of season two, but she’s going to be there and she’s going to keep catching shit for being a good person with normal needs. That’s part of who she is.
6-Nate Jacobs
An original, quirky character who can be frustrating at times. Self-absorbed high school football players are nothing new, but the way Nate Jacobs is portrayed in the show kind of is. The end of high school is a very turbulent time for kids like him, because they’s slowly losing grip of something they once completely controlled and Nate is having an awful time with it. Which makes HIM an awful person. He gets his way too often, but he still offered us the most intense television scene in recent years.
7-Cassie Howard
The Ophelia of season two. The tailspin of Cassie’s mental health has been absolutely riveting to watch. Set up in a psychological background explored in season one, Cassie’s desire to be taken care of has gotten the better of her and sent her into the arms of a dangerous man in season two. Actress Sydney Sweeney has absolutely ROCKED a couple scenes of mental breakdown. She’s a character more on the classic side, but there’s a lot of tragic nastiness awaiting Cassie in season three.
8-Gia Bennett
Although she’s been the quiet little sister so far, the battle for Gia’s soul feels very much like the endgame of Euphoria. Will she capsize into a drug habit like her older sister? Will she become an addict because of it? Every second of screen time Gia gets, these questions inherently come up and manufacture its own intensity. Shout out to young actress Storm Reid who understands the nuances of her character and interpret them to perfection without even opening her mouth. She’s a special talent.
9-Cal Jacobs
By far and I mean, BY FAR the most interesting parent in the series. Cal has been given his own episode in season two and by any means, he D E L I V E R E D. Drunken Cal cursing out his family with his dick out might be the absolute peak for this character (he more or less disappeared afterwards), but the deadlock he seems to be caught in with his prodigal son is one of the most captivating unresolved plotlines of season two. He could very well disappear to jail, but I don’t believe he will.
10-Kat Hernandez
The sex hungry Kat receded into the background in season two after two strong opening episodes, where she wrestled with her desires in a colourful, yet heartbreaking fashion. She became Maddy’s lieutenant, which didn’t mean the same thing at the end of the series than at the beginning. Still, Kat is interesting and her double life as a webcam girl is worthy of its own storyline going forward. Her relationship to her inadequate lover Ethan is worth investing in also. A lot of potential left here.
11-Leslie Bennett
Leslie’s kind of a mandatory character to have in a show about troublesome teenagers, but she’s this high on the list for two reasons: 1) she’s the main protagonist’s mom and 2) despite facing a shit storm of adversity, she refuses to suck at her job. There’s nothing special about Leslie or, at least, she never really had special scenes where she was more than the drug addict’s concerned mother to shine in, but she’s a reassuring presence to have around. By far the best parent in the entire show.
12-Laurie
Laurie’s been very much a background character in season two, but I think she’ll be the main antagonist of season three. Dealers in fiction are a dime a dozen, but female dealers with psychopathic tendencies are worthy of Euphoria’s boundless originality. Rue inexplicably made a Faustian deal with her in season two and now that Fezco is not around anymore to protect her, I think she’ll have to answer to this cold, unsettling character going forward. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am.
13-Elliot
A milquetoast mystery that wasn’t quite appreciated by fans in season two, but Elliot has a lot of potential. The Apple logo tattoo’ed kid has a good heart and a better handle on his drug intake than Rue, but his mere presence seems to tilt her towards relapse. He’s a Faustian bargain and a potential tragic lover all rolled up in one. Elliot will DEFINITELY get his own episode in season three. I’m telling you right away though, he and Rue are going to break each other’s heart. That shit is written in the stars.
14-Ethan Daley
I’m not sure what to make of Ethan. He’s thorough unimportant and inadequate for Kat, but he’s all over the show. He’s he bound to take more place? Will he simply stop showing up? It could go either way. One thing sure is that the most normal kid in East Highland will need his own episode where Sam Levinson digs into his character development to warrant further interest. He’s very much neck-to-neck with Faye and Suze in my mind, but he’s simply too freakin’ present in the show to put lower.
15-Faye
Truth to be told, I had her 19th before the finale. Faye is a borderline silent character with freaky lips who’s claim to fame was showing Rue her vagina in the first episode of season two before trying to save Fez’s life in the finale. That made Faye weird and intriguing. Does she have a soul or not? Does she even want things or she’s just happy with her swollen lips? Perhaps we’ll find answers in season three. Perhaps we won’t. She’s one of these characters who may or may not come back.
16-Suze Howard
The coolest bad mother in the world. Suze has completely given up about taking her daughters seriously and surrendered herself to the demons of wine. Her importance in Lexi & Cassie’s life is very much first season and prior, but her failures have shaped two characters in the top 10. So you have to give her that. Her daughters will also very much be at the forefront of season three, one having a lot of potential and the other showing a lot of potential to become a fucking fiasco.
17-Bruce
Bruce hasn’t seen much screen time over the first two seasons, but he’s undoubtedly more important to the plot than the three characters below him and his importance will only grow now that Fezco isn’t there to screen Rue from her demons anymore. I mean, we’ve seen his dick already and you know how important male nudity is to this series. It’s a rite of passage for fringe characters. I don’t know if he’ll be a main antagonist OR just an enforcer, but expect more Bruce down the line.
18-Marsha Jacobs
The highlight of her tenure on Euphoria was getting daytime drunk her own son after Cal walked out on his family. Otherwise, Marsha shows signs of a typical housewife suffering from psychological violence: shy to a point she’s almost self-effacing and way too supportive of people who are doing dark shit to others. Marsha is undoubtedly one of the most useless characters of the story, but her arc still has potential now that freakin’ Nate called the cops on his old man. We’ll see what she’s made of.
19-Aaron Jacobs
Unlike his old man, Nate Jacobs’ limp dick brother is still around for mysterious reasons and it’s the most interesting aspect of him. Although he never really had any character development, no one seems to like Aaron. Not even his family. Nate thinks he’s stupid. Cal thinks he’s a coward and Marsha doesn’t think about him at all. That gives him all the potential in the world to be troublesome and important, but right now he isn’t. Right now he’s exactly what his family thinks of him and he might be just that.
20-Ali Muhammad
The worst sponsor in the world. I understand that sobriety sponsor are supposed to help you STAY clean rather than GET clean, but Ali doesn’t even provide anything of value in that regard. He’s too busy going on long, philosophical rant on how difficult it is to be an addict, how difficult it is to be a black addict, how much he hates himself or how much Rue SHOULD hate herself. He doesn’t even seem to like her, really. Fuck you, Ali. You’re a useless, self-congratulatory piece of shit and you're not helping.
