Now that the second season of HBO's hit teen drama, Euphoria, has finally come to an end, fans are reliving their favorite moments of the season and looking ahead to the next one, which has already been confirmed.
Fans have already taken to Reddit with their season 3 predictions and one of the main themes has been character growth and development. Viewers have seen characters at their absolute best and worst over these past two seasons and are hopeful that they will continue to grow and mature. Which of the main cast has come the furthest so far? Which ones still have a long way to go?
Cal Jacobs
In some ways, Cal has turned a corner for the better. He has come to with himself and his sexuality, and he decided that he didn't want to live a lie anymore. In a way, embracing his identity gives him freedom and a new start. However, instead of taking ability, Cal runs away from his family and responsibilities as if they're nothing.
And, in Cal's drunken goodbye to everyone, he couldn't have been more callous and cruel. Marsha and his kids didn't deserve that, no matter how many awful things Nate has done on the show. He still deserved more from his dad and Cal is largely responsible for a lot of the issues that Nate is facing mentally and emotionally.
Ashtray
There wasn't a lot of development with Ashtray because he simply didn't get the chance. This season, fans found out about Ashtray's heartbreaking introduction into Fezco's life, and Ash was on defense mode ever since--convinced that he needed to protect Fez, even though it continued to get him into trouble.
Ash should have learned the first time that his hair-trigger propensity for violence was eventually going to do more harm than good, but he continued to make the same mistakes over and over again. Unfortunately, his consistency and lack of growth turned fatal in the season 2 finale.
Nate Jacobs
It's hard to say if Cal or Nate is a bigger villain on Euphoria, but Nate sure makes a strong case for himself. Even considering the childhood trauma that he hasn't dealt with emotionally, there is no excuse for Nate's behavior. Last season, he choked out Maddy, disrespected her, lied and blackmailed Jules, and set up Fez.
Nate has a long, long way to go with growth, but some of his actions in season 2 led viewers to believe there may yet be hope for him. Firstly, Nate doesn't press charges for Fezco beating him up. Secondly, Nate seems--for the most part--to be genuinely interested in Cassie. Lastly, Nate returns the tape to Jules and apologizes for everything he did to her. Although it was deplorable that Nate terrified Maddy the way he did, it seems like he truly felt he had no choice and wanted to get the tape to Jules.
Cassie Howard
If anyone's had a rough character arc, it's Cassie. Last season, she had a troublesome but mostly good relationship with McKay that was soured by his unwillingness to proudly display her as his girlfriend. That and the unexpected pregnancy and subsequent abortion put Cassie at her lowest point emotionally.
This season, Cassie dove even deeper and completely sold herself to the idea of being wanted by a guy. She wanted it so badly that she sabotaged her relationship with her best friend to get validation from Nate that only lasted a few episodes before he was done with her. Fans are crossing their fingers that Cassie can realize her worth and focus on herself next season.
Chris McKay & Kat Hernandez
These two are tied in the middle of the spectrum of character arc because they've had zero development since season 1 of the show. One of the things that made no sense in season 2 of Euphoria was that McKay and Kat were almost entirely missing from the plot.
McKay was in the season premiere and then promptly disappeared, never to be seen again. Kat was hardly onscreen at all besides the occasional ive line to Maddy or bizarre lie about a brain disorder to break up with Ethan. Fans were flabbergasted that the stories of these two characters were simply abandoned.
Jules Vaughn
There are moments and quotes on the show that prove Jules is bad for Rue - but there are just as many that prove that Rue is bad for Jules. Jules grew up with an addict mom who continues to be unreliable, and her actions have displayed that she's not ready to settle down. Letting Rue have her space shows a lot of growth on her part.
Additionally, apologizing to Rue shows viewers that Jules is growing - she's recognizing negative behaviors on her part and acknowledging the effects they have on others. At the same time, Jules needs some space from Rue for her own healing, and it looks like that will be happening.
Gia Bennett
Gia wanted to make a lot of excuses for Rue in season 1, in addition to wanting to do things like smoke weed at parties. Gia never established herself as a priority in the home and her personal life, and she paid the price for it in season 2, taking a backseat to Rue and her problems and struggling because of it, getting in trouble and poor grades.
However, Gia has had to become stronger emotionally because of Rue's journey and relapse. She had to deal with things that no normal young teenager has to deal with. She also became more vocal and assertive this season, letting Rue know that she didn't necessarily believe that she would get clean.
Leslie Bennett
Similar to Gia, Leslie has had to harden her heart to Rue on her journey to recovery. Leslie and Suze have been some of the best moms on Euphoria this season, and have spoken their minds. Leslie went from micro-managing Rue's recovery and giving nothing but overzealous to showing her a bit of tough love and reality.
Leslie has been completely broken this season, as she told Rue, and she's come out a stronger mother. She let Rue know that she wasn't going to force her to get clean because Gia was suffering and she didn't want to potentially lose two daughters. That was, surely, a very hard conversation for Leslie to have. But it was necessary and showed a lot of growth.
Fezco
Fez has come a long way since his more enabling days with Rue. Before, it was very hard for Fez to say no to Rue. He would let her go without paying, facilitate her habits, and generally have a "hands-off" attitude to her addiction--although he did say it made him feel guilty sometimes.
Since the police raid last season, Fez is a lot more laid back. He talks a lot about wanting a different future for himself, like living on a farm someday. He shows off a softer side to Lexi and stays firm in trying to help Rue get out of the drug world. Unfortunately, losing Ashtray will probably impact his character arc the most, and fans will have to wait and see what kind of effect it has on his life.
Maddy Perez
Maddy has done a lot of growing since her first appearance on the show. Before, she was a smitten, submissive girlfriend in a toxic relationship with Nate. She didn't want a career or a life outside of her relationship. She lied for him and dealt with emotional and physical abuse at his hands.
In season 2, Maddy looked like she might be falling into the same trap as Nate tried to win her back, but she stayed firm. She got a babysitting job and genuinely explored her life as a single girl. Even when faced with a heartbreaking betrayal from Cassie, Maddy surprisingly stayed mostly calm. Besides one small altercation, she took the high road and continues to.