For a popular show about high school, Euphoria seldom reflects the average high schooler’s experience in any real way. Season 2 Episode 7, however, changed all of that. In this episode, Lexi (Maude Apatow) finally got to express herself, and it was far from what her peers or viewers were expecting. Not only is Lexi’s transformation from side character to narrator a game-changer for her, but it’s changing Euphoria from a dark fantasy version of high school to a more realistic portrayal of the high school experience.
There’s no shortage of media that attempts (and sometimes achieves) portraying the classic high school experience: The trope of the nerds and the jocks; the cliques, the sports teams, and the studying. It’s become very familiar. While Euphoria does take place in high school, it’s far from representative of those high school tropes or what the average person experiences in their teenage years. This has sparked many jokes on the internet; from comments that the students are never wearing backpacks or carrying books to TikTok trends mocking the discrepancy between a normal high schooler’s outfits and scantily clad, runway-ready looks rampant in what they jokingly call “Euphoria High.” Even so, it doesn’t seem like viewers are longing for the realities of typical high school when watching Euphoria. More often than not, they’re just hoping everyone gets out of the episode alive and without too much emotional damage.
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In the series’ second season, Lexi Howard has gone from a quiet side character to one of the most important members of the motley group of friends. Now, in the second season’s seventh episode, Lexi finally gets to show off what she’s been working so hard on all season long. And, boy, was it interesting for all involved. Her play Our Life was based on just that: Her and her friends’ lives. This episode followed the world of Lexi’s play almost like a bottle episode; it rarely left the stage where the play was in progress or flashbacks to what the play was referencing. Keeping Lexi’s friends, family, and viewers alike stuck in this theater gave everyone a little insight into what’s really going on inside her head and why it matters.
Throughout the series, Lexi has been known as the quietest member of her friend group. She’s the kind of stable wallflower who doesn’t seem outwardly confident. She’s interested in talking about deep and intellectual topics and making jokes, rather than fixating on looking objectively attractive (i.e. dressing up as Bob Ross for Halloween.) Lexi is shy; she’s straightedge; she’s the popular girl’s little sister. For most shows, Lexi never would’ve stepped forward and given insight into her thoughts and feelings. But, thanks to Our Life, we got a glimpse of who Lexi is, and in doing so, we got a taste of what it would be like to be a typical shy, nerdy kid at this very atypical, far from shy high school.
Until recently, Lexi didn’t even feel like one of the series’ main characters. Her blooming romance with Fezco (Angus Cloud) bolstered her character development and transformed her from lacking screen time to fan favorite. Fezco is one of the series’ more tough, hardened characters – though it’s always been clear that he’s harbored a warm and kind side. He’s had the kind of youth and growing-up experience that forces someone to appear emotionally impenetrable and worry about things they shouldn’t have to.
His young adopted brother, Ashtray (Javon Walton), reflects what feels like a younger version of Fezco headed down the same path. But, Fezco’s clear affinity for Lexi shows that when Fezco gets the opportunity to experience the world of an average, wholesome, awkward high schooler, he revels in her energy. This touch of reality, sweetness, and hope has made "Fexi" (their couple name amongst internet fans) one of the most talked-about aspects of this season. This laid the perfect groundwork for the premiere of Lexi’s play.
This episode changed everything for Lexi, and in doing so, it changed the course of the series. Lexi gets to present the art she made about the people in her life while they’re all present in the audience. As the play unfolds, Lexi makes it clear that in her quiet observantness, she has come to understand the characters in her life exactly as they are. It’s clear that how she shows their transparency is shocking, disturbing, or validating for all of them in one way or another. Maddy (Alexa Demie) is thrilled by the reality of Lexi’s unabashed portrayal of Nate (Jacob Elordi). Nate and Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) are mortified by it. The crowd cheers for it. Both Kat (Barbie Ferreira) and Maddy seem frightened by the concept of being exposed. Rue (Zendaya) is clearly affected by the love Lexi has for her as a friend.
Lexi’s play puts the people in her life and herself under a microscope, and for better or worse, everyone is taken aback by its honesty. And, not only is Lexi inviting the world into her brain to have a look around, but she’s coming alive because of it. Backstage she’s self-assured, energized, and even bordering on domineering. This isn’t a side of Lexi we’ve ever gotten to see, and it seems like it’s a side of her she’s never gotten to show. After bossing folks around backstage, Lexi confidently proclaims, “I love the theatre!”
For high schoolers who’ve never felt seen or special, oftentimes they seek out a community where they feel at home and listened to. High school theatre offers this for many, and it’s garnered a reputation as such. Theatre isn’t thought of as the thing that “cool” kids are involved with in high school, and the popular kids aren’t expected to be spotted in the audience of the school play. In this episode, Euphoria has dared to articulate an experience that is quite typical for high schoolers through Lexi’s art. Lexi finally finding her voice through creating something is a common occurrence that those who don’t identify as the “popular kids” in school often experience. Those who are quietly observing frequently have it all figured out. Through Lexi’s onstage emergence from her cocoon, the experiences of the other kids in high school are reflected instead of just the unattainably “cool” crowd.
“Our Life” shows that not only is Lexi well aware of the truths of the people around her, but she’s also well aware of her own. This is the episode where Lexi is in charge. Even the “Euphoria” title card that opens the show is propped on her stage. But, even in the moment where Lexi is the main character, she isn’t the main character. She says, “the most defining moment of my adolescence is when my sister went through puberty.” Lexi, in many ways, is a regular high schooler, and the catharsis of her taking down the popular main characters ripples through the audience as they applaud.
Whether the show usually follows them or not, this high school is filled with regular high schoolers, and Lexi is speaking to them in a language they understand: not sparkly makeup or affairs or love triangles, but a play she wrote. The main characters and their antics, their mistreatment of others, and their underestimation of Lexi are put in their place. Just like Lexi, this episode is powerfully aware of itself.
