Euphoria season 2: Can Fez break out of this?

Fez has always been a lovable fan favorite in HBO’s Euphoria. In the show’s season 2 opener, he was finally the focus.

The start of season 2 gives a backstory to Euphoria’s favorite drug dealer, detailing his upbringing and showing how he learned to navigate his current landscape. His grandma, who raised him, helped show him how to deal drugs in the first place, doing so by treating him less like a kid and more like a business associate.

Fez’s grandma even gave moral rationalization for the trade as a whole when she said people don’t blame fast food chains like McDonald’s for killing people. In a way, that can act as an allegory for drugs. In both cases, the onus is on the individual (more on that later).

For someone in his situation, Fez has always been cool headed. He acts rationally and shows that he has a kind heart, like when he’s hanging out with Rue or talking with Lexi at the New Year’s Eve party. In season one, he was arguably one of the most moralistic characters in the show, if you don’t count the fact that he’s a drug dealer.

Are Fez’s actions justified in Euphoria season 2?

But can you entirely not count that? The justification for his actions bubbles up as he’s discussing God with Lexi at the party. Lexi asks Fez how someone like him can believe there is a man upstairs judging his every action and still be a drug dealer. This is where Fez reverts the McDonald’s analogy back to drug dealing.

Lexi replied, “Yeah, but if I were God, I don’t know if I would let McDonald’s CEO into heaven.”

Fez didn’t have even a decent rebuttal to that. But it should be pointed out that he’s not really the CEO of McDonald’s — he’s more like an employee working there. Fez is a middling player not on the level of El Chapo. Without much of a choice, Fez became a drug dealer and did the best given his circumstances.

As he navigates the world of drug dealing, Fez’s moral decisions become all the more complex. That was never more present than at the end of episode 1 of this season when he hit Nate over the head with a bottle and started punching him in the face.

It’s safe to say Nate had it coming. Nate is a stark contrast to Fez in that he comes from a seemingly wealthy background, but basically makes no moral decisions — to the point where he’s a one-dimensional villain. If it looks like Nate is ever acting nice for even a short period of time, he quickly heel turns later on. Fez’s hurting Nate can surely be justified. Nate terrorizes his friends and called the cops on Fez in order to get his house raided. Nate’s moral decisions are relatively easy but he never makes them, while Fez’s are difficult and he tries the best to do the right thing, while occasionally falling short in ways that can be morally gray.

After the one-sided skirmish between Fez and Nate gets broken up, Lexi looks at the drug dealer with utter shock. She can’t believe the man she was just talking to would do such a thing. But duty called, and Fez delivered. At the start of the episode, Fez was taken aback when his brother committed an act of violence on two drug dealers. Although this time, Fez sought out the violence, even making the premeditated decision to have his brother start the car before he went up to Nate.

What will happen to Fez in Euphoria season 2?

While justified, Fez could face consequences for his actions. What will happen now that he’s assaulted Nate in front of a crowded room, especially now that Nate’s dad, Cal, knows? Lexi still seems to like Fez. She even pushed back on Cassie telling Cal what happened. But how much will that change going forward? No matter what happens, it’s pretty certain that the conflict between Nate and Fez isn’t just going away.

Overall, I think Fez is a good person, but given his circumstances, he ultimately won’t be viewed that way by characters in the show with different lives. From the audience’s perspective, Fez is a hard character not to like. But with each moral dilemma comes a new challenge for Fez, where he tries his best to be kind in less-than-kind circumstances. Can he truly overcome what’s he mostly forced to do for a living? He has a difficult journey ahead to try and do that.

Watch new episodes of Euphoria Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.