#’Euphoria’ holiday special is more melancholy than merry

It’s time to get euphoric again. Sort of.

HBO teen drama “Euphoria” has returned with the first of two specials, this one in time for the holidays — though the mood is more melancholy than merry.

“Euphoria” ended its first season in August, and Season 2 has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. (It’s scheduled to begin filming in 2021 but no premiere date has been announced.)

The first special, titled “Part 1: Rue,” premiered Friday on HBO Max and will hit regular HBO Sunday at 9 p.m. 

As a brief refresher, Season 1 followed several teens with intersecting lives, including recovering drug addict Rue (Zendaya, 24, who scored an Emmy for the role), her trans-girl love interest Jules (Hunter Schafer), violently angry jock Nate (Jacob Elordi, “The Kissing Booth”) and budding camgirl Kat (Barbie Ferreira). At the end of the season, Jules left Rue after a tearful goodbye, and Rue had a relapse after three months of sobriety. 

The dark drama is an odd choice for a show with a holiday special, as none of this makes for cheery material. Nevertheless, it finds its own version of season’s greetings. 

Here’s everything you need to know about it.

Spoilers below for “Part 1: Rue.”

The special follows Rue as she celebrates Christmas in a very Rue fashion. It opens with a fantasy-dream of Rue and Jules in bed together exchanging kisses and “I love yous” in a boho-chic apartment. But that idyllic picture soon dissolves into reality as Rue is revealed to be in a grimy diner bathroom, sans Jules. 

She’s with her Narcotics Anonymous sponsor Ali (Colman Domingo), eating pancakes on Christmas Eve. Almost immediately, it becomes apparent that Rue is not sober. 

“I guess I just, like, made her the point,” she rambles to him about her fractured relationship with Jules. “But she’s not the point. I’m the point … I feel like I’m making sane decisions.”

Ali responds flatly, “Rue, you’re high.” 

The rest of the episode proceeds with Rue and Ali talking about life, the future and sobriety, all while sitting across from each other in a mostly empty diner. The camera occasionally pans to the exterior and the parking lot, but it’s essentially a two-person play, all in one location. Side characters don’t appear.

Their conversation is saved from feeling like a lecture with Ali’s heartfelt lines — like “I’m not a guidance counselor. I’m just a crackhead who’s trying to do some good on this Earth before I die” — and his tough-love moments, including, “You think you’re tough; I’m tougher. You’re not a drug addict because you’re a piece of s–t. You’re a piece of s–t because you’re a drug addict. Under all this busted-ass chaotic energy, you might even be a good kid.”

It’s a subdued hour, especially after Season 1’s copious candy-colored party scenes, glitter and full-frontal nudity. Fans expecting that might be in for disappointment, as it’s less “Riverdale” and more “My Dinner With Andre.” Even pearl-clutching parent groups will have little material for outrage, as there’s nary a penis in sight.

But party scenes or locker room scenes were out of the question, as it was also shot in the middle of the pandemic. Instead, it’s an acting showcase for Zendaya and Domingo.

Will the second special be called “Part 2: Jules,” following what the other half of this split couple is doing over the holidays? Its plot has not yet been announced, but that’s a safe bet. 

There’s no word yet on a premiere date for the second special or for Season 2.