(Spoilers from this week’s Euphoria will be found below.)
A twisted game of Russian roulette, a sex tape, and a stalled intervention.
Euphoria’s latest episode, “A Thousand Little Trees of Blood,” tied up some loose ends left over after last week’s wild bender, but left us with even more questions about where the show, and our favorite characters, are heading. Rue’s struggling to get clean and making some amends along the way while Cassie continues to watch her life implode, and Nate confronts Maddy about the tape in an unforgivable way. So much went down in season two, episode six, we can’t afford to waste any more time. Let’s get into it.
Here are our biggest questions after watching Euphoria’s latest episode.
Will Rue Make It To Rehab?
After Rue’s escape from Laurie’s apartment, we were worried she might head somewhere else other than home. Thankfully, the show answers that question early on, showing Rue suffering through withdrawals while seated at her family’s dining room table. We get a montage of her mother helping her get to bed, her writhing on the bathroom floor, and her beating her muscles back to life as she tries to come down from her opiate addiction. It’s explained that Rue was sent home by the E.R. doctor with some medicine to help with the withdrawal process until she can be placed in an in-treatment facility the following week, but by the end of episode seven, Rue’s mother can be heard pleading on the phone with someone, trying to get them to admit Rue. So, it sounds like getting Rue back into rehab is going to be harder than we thought, and Rue’s mom seems sure her daughter will kill herself if she doesn’t get the care she needs. Can Rue get clean on her own?
What Happened to Nate?
Cal’s departure has caused every member of the Jacobs household to spiral. That means booze, drugs, and a surprising conversation over brunch for Nate and his mom, Marsha. The two initially bond over Cal’s terrible track record as a father and husband, but their talk takes a weird turn when a clearly-inebriated Marsha starts musing on where she went wrong while raising her son. Marsha calls Nate out for choking Maddy in season one, points out his worrisome anger issues, and then recalls how sweet he was when he was younger. At one point, she asks out loud what happened to him when he was seven or eight years old because the change in his personality was so jarring. Obviously, that’s not a normal observation for a mother to make, and it just reinforces the idea that something happened to Nate when he was younger to change him so drastically. Sometimes monsters are born, sometimes they’re made, and it feels like Nate Jacobs might fall into the latter category.
Will Fezco and Ashtray Go Down for Mouse’s Murder?
Unfortunately for Fez and Ashtray, Mouse’s murder seems to be a high priority for the feds, and they’re leaning hard on Custer for information. When Faye goes to take out the trash as Lexi and Fez are having their movie night, Custer surprises her in the alley, confessing that he’s been working with the police to help them build a case against the brothers. Faye seems shocked and a little disgusted with the fact that her boyfriend is a rat, but she doesn’t tell Ashtray when she comes back in the house, so they obviously don’t know the cops suspect them. Ashtray is the one who killed Mouse, but we doubt Fezco would let his little brother go down for his murder. Both of them aren’t making it out of season two alive, right?
Why Did Cassie Go Live With Nate?
Cassie spent most of episode six having a mental breakdown, screaming at her mom, trying to cut her wrist with a wine opener, and then pleading with her family to not think of her as the “bad guy.” Girl, you hooked up with your best friend’s ex-boyfriend, you’re definitely the bad guy. Still, even hearing her sister call Nate Jacobs a terrible human being isn’t enough to sway Cassie who ends the episode by packing a suitcase and moving in with her new boyfriend. Which, that’s weird, right? They’re both teenagers, and yet neither Cassie’s mom nor Nate’s really objects to them shacking up together. Obviously, Nate is taking this whole “man of the house” thing very seriously, but can an actual adult do their job and get these kids in line?
What’s Going On With Kat’s Storyline?
Kat has had one of the more disappointing storylines this season. She’s struggled with her body image and an unfulfilling relationship. She’s also received less screentime than characters like Ashtray and even Nate’s brother, which just feels weird. Obviously, there’s something interesting to explore with Kat’s unhappiness — how she longed for a relationship, how Ethan is seemingly perfect, and how she’s still not satisfied. That’s an intriguing storyline to investigate for the character, but instead of digging into Kat’s conflicting emotions and giving her the space to find herself, the show had her end her relationship with Ethan over an awkward dinner date where she lied about terminal brain disease and then got angry at him for not believing she was actually dying. If the writers don’t know what to do with Kat, just let her live her best life as an online dominatrix and stop this.
What Will Maddy Do Now?
Maddy Perez does not deserve all of the sh*t season that two has piled on top of her. In this episode, she struggled with depression and heartbreak over her best friend’s betrayal, and she had to face down the wrong end of a gun thanks to her psychotic ex-boyfriend. It’s unclear whether Maddy would’ve actually used the tape of Jules and Cal against Nate. We’d like to think she wouldn’t do that to another friend. But Nate’s choice to break into her home, threaten her with a firearm, and then play a game of Russian roulette to see if she’d fold and tell him where to find the disc was just disturbing. Despite that traumatic interaction, Maddy isn’t someone who will readily roll over and accept defeat — especially when she’s been humiliated and hurt so badly. Here’s hoping she goes full scorched earth on Nate and Cassie.
What Will Jules Do With The Tape?
At the end of the episode, after he goes full American Psycho on Maddy in order to get the disc back, Nate heads to Jules’ house to give her the tape and explain why he did what he did in season one. He clearly still has feelings for Jules — though she seems to have closed the door on any possibility there — and he wants to thwart his dad’s attempt to use the tape against Jules or his family. When he leaves, Jules plays the tape on her laptop but she doesn’t immediately destroy it. It can’t be an easy thing to watch for her, but maybe Jules is ready to take back some of her power in that encounter? Would she do that by helping Nate take down his dad? There’s no way we’ve seen the last of Cal and maybe this tape is what will bring him back into Jules’ orbit. Either way, we need a resolution there.
Why Didn’t Anyone Clean Up Cal’s Pee?
Is this a vital question for understanding where Euphoria is taking us storywise this season? Absolutely not. But is it weird that no one in the Jacobs household got a damn mop and cleaned up Cal’s pee in the hallway? Yes, yes it is.
‘Euphoria’ airs on HBO at 9:00pm EST on Sundays, and the show can be streamed on HBO Max.
