Did you watch Sunday night’s premiere of Euphoria season two? So did the rest of the internet, apparently. A whopping 2.4 million viewers watched the episode across HBO and HBO Max, as Variety reported.
That’s more than double the ratings of the series kickoff in 2019, and a record-setting figure for the premium cable network’s digital streaming service.
In short: You stan Zendaya, we stan Zendaya, and millions of Euphoria viewers agree — we all make good points.
WarnerMedia told Variety that the long-awaited first episode of the sophomore season had “the strongest digital premiere night performance for any episode” from the network since the launch of HBO Max last year. (Succession who?)
A few more eye-popping stats, because we can’t stop / won’t stop rooting for the home team: Digital viewing for Sunday’s Euphoria episode was more than nine times higher than the premiere of season one, and four times higher than the first season finale.
Viewership was also 10 times higher than it was for the twin standalone special episodes — spotlighting Rue and Jules, respectively — that were meant to tide us over last winter.
The Euphoria premiere also dominated Twitter Sunday night, even amid deeply odd Twitter missives revealing winners of the non-televised and embattled Golden Globes. HBO crowned the episode the “most social premium cable series episode” since the Game of Thrones finale.
Winter is here, and we’re here for it. And by winter, we mean Zendaya.
The actor has warned that viewers are in for a devastating ride in the coming weeks.
“This wasn’t an easy season, emotionally or physically,” Zendaya told them. in a recent interview. “The same anxiety and adrenaline that kind of runs through Rue runs through me.”
Remarking on Rue’s journey this season, the Emmy winner went on to ask, “How much can we tolerate her? How far can she go? And can we still love her through it, and can we still root for her and know that at the core of who she is, she’s a good person?”
Zendaya hopes that inspiring viewers to feel for Rue, even as she self-destructs, can have real-world applications. “If you can still love her after that, if you can still have empathy for her after that, then maybe you can extend that to real people,” she told them. “That’s always been the goal.”
This article originally appeared on them.