10 Questions We Have For the Writers of “Euphoria”

Perhaps the most-speculated-about Euphoria plot hole revolves around the Jacobs family portrait, which shows Cal and Marsha with three children. Two of them are obviously their two children, Nate and Aaron… but who is the third? The show has shown the portrait m times (first in the pilot episode and again when Cal takes it before leaving his family in season two), which implies it’s not an error. Still, the show has basically ignored this up until this point, as it has failed to explain the third child.

Fans have been reaching desperately to connect the dots, with some TikTok theorists posing that it’s Elliot or Ashtray in the photo (though, both theories are unlikely considering the youngest child in the photo would be older than Ashtray at this point, and the child doesn’t look like Elliot).

Speaking of missing characters, where’s McKay? Yes, I get that he’s probably gotten used to college and spends more time there. Still, it seems like “Euphoria” has entirely ditched McKay’s unfinished storyline.

In season one, McKay was violently hazed by a brother in the fraternity he was pledging and subsequently has aggressive sex with Cassie. Later, Cassie gets pregnant and the couple breaks up before she terminates the pregnancy. We see McKay talk to Cassie at the New Year’s party and then carry Nate to the hospital in the season two premiere, but he hasn’t appeared in any episodes since. He got a cold opener last season, which seemed to set up his storyline, so why hasn’t this been continued into season two?

In season one, Nate seemingly developed the most real feelings he’d ever had for Jules, telling her at one point, “I kind of feel closer to you than I do anyone in the whole world.” Sure, this was after he catfishes her for a few weeks and before he blackmails her, but the feelings seemed real, nonetheless.

In season two, viewers feel Nate’s feelings for Jules have been essentially left behind, as he is now fixated on Cassie. Still, eagle-eyed fans noticed flashes of Jules in Nate’s haunting Cassie fantasy. Perhaps his feelings for Jules will be revisited in future episodes.

Kat’s journey of self-discovery as a cam girl has seemingly been scrapped with no explanation. Besides one important scene critiquing today’s “self-love” culture and a few scenes where she debates breaking up with Ethan, we haven’t seen much of Kat at all in season two.

The worst part is she has been pushed into the role of Maddy’s sidekick, a role I thought “Euphoria” was too deep and clever to push her into.

In January, “Elle Australia” reported Barbie Ferreira, who plays Kat, got into a disagreement with director Sam Levinson after Barbie “expressed disappointment in the direction in which her character was going.” Fans are theorising their tension is why Kat’s character isn’t prominently featured this season, but nothing has been confirmed.

Ashtray appears to be somewhere between 10 and 13 (if we’re considering that the older main characters are supposed to be 16 and 17). So, does he go to middle school?

The age it is legal to drop out of school ranges from 16 to 18 depending on the state. Isn’t there someone at either the school itself or Child Protective Services that realises Ashtray hasn’t gone to school? Furthermore, if Ashtray simply never registered for school and has been off the grid since childhood, does that mean Fezco taught him the alphabet, numbers, etc.?

Perhaps this is not a plot hole and just my high-school-hardo coming out, but speaking of school, I have some questions. Where are the students’ backpacks? Do they have homework or extracurriculars? Are they taking SATs? I totally get that not everyone at Euphoria High has to be academic superstars like Lexi, but it seems like the “school” part of school doesn’t exist at all on the show. It also makes me question what the plan is for the seniors (Maddy, Nate, and Cassie) after graduation (which I am presuming to be at the end of season two). Which leads me to…

Wouldn’t it have made more sense for Rue, Elliot, and Jules to purchase liquor at Fezco’s store than to steal from a different store? Twitter user @sunnforrest said, “My bf asked why they went to steal White Claws when FEZCO owns a whole ass liquor store… no he’s right.. #EUPHORIA”.

Back in season one, episode two, Rue’s narration reveals Nate “joined the football team and quickly excelled. By the year’s end, he was not only the starting quarterback, but the team captain.” It is difficult to believe that someone who (apparently) excelled so much at football has not been recruited (or discussed the possibility of it), especially considering that Nate is in the second half of his senior year.

A big part of season one was the aftermath of Nate’s terrifying assault of Maddy at the carnival. Nate blackmailed Tyler into taking the fall (and blackmailed Jules into lying about it), but we haven’t heard anything about the case since. We don’t know what Tyler’s sentence was or what he was charged with, which seems odd considering Maddy’s mother made it clear she wanted to press charges.

Do you remember Troy and Roy, McKay’s younger twin brothers who smoked weed with Gia? Where did they go? It adds up that McKay would spend more time at college as the year progresses, but it doesn’t seem to add up that his little brothers, who appeared a significant amount in the first season, disappear entirely.