Euphoria Season 2 Recap & Review
This season has been full of drama and chaos – with the new relationship between Nate and Cassie, Lexi’s play, and Fez dealing with the aftermath of killing Mouse. But the best moment of the show this season was Rue’s storyline.
Season one left us with Rue relapsing after being left at the train station by Jules, and in season two we see how that has taken her on a downward spiral.
At the beginning of season two, we see how Rue has given up on her life by pushing her friends and family away and putting herself in dangerous situations.
We get a glimpse of this in episode four when the character, played by Zendaya, is at her lowest and takes $10,000 worth of drugs in a suitcase from Laurie, a dangerous drug dealer. Later in that episode, Rue is in her room with the suitcase and feels hopeless about the situation she has ended up in.
The scene transitions into an emotional church scene where singer Labrinth performs “I’m Tired,” while Rue dreams of hugging and talking to her dad. This scene was a pivotal moment in the series and captivates the viewer to feel for Rue and to understand that she is still hurting from her father’s death, struggling to find a way to cope with her pain.
After episode four, Rue hits rock bottom when Jules tells the addict’s mother, Leslie, that she’s doing drugs again. In frustration, Rue lashes out at both her mother and Jules and ends up ending the relationship between her and her girlfriend. She then tries to escape from her mother and family intervention after they mention sending her to rehab once again.
Desperate to get away, she ends up at Laurie’s house where she confesses she doesn’t have $10,000 and Laurie manipulates her into staying the night at her house. The episode leaves off with Rue escaping Laurie’s house but doesn’t clarify if she’s clear of her debt.
This season also captures the hardship of Rue’s mother and sister having to deal with her daughter’s relapse, which we didn’t see much of in season one. There were many scenes where Leslie’s feelings of loss and hopelessness, stemming from being a single mother that is trying to help her daughter stay sober, came through the screen and were felt by the audience.
We see this in episode seven when she tells Rue that she no longer cares if she stays sober. This moment captivates the reality of dealing with someone who has a crippling drug addiction and can’t be helped if they don’t want to get clean.
In the finale, Rue is seen watching Lexi’s play and feeling the happiest she’s ever been. She cheers and cries during the scenes of the memories throughout Rue and Lexi’s friendship, leaving the viewer excited to see Rue flourish in her sobriety and see a potential rekindling of her relationship with Lexi.
The show ends with Rue closing the chapter on her and Jules’ relationship, and tells the viewer that she stayed sober until the end of the school year. Leaving viewers wondering if Rue relapsed again, and asking an even bigger question: is she debt-free from Laurie or is the female drug dealer going to go after Rue?
These questions will hopefully be answered in the next season, which according to HBO will be renewed and released in 2024. Until then, you can rewatch Euphoria’s seasons one and two exclusively on HBO Max.
Destiny Esparza — March 11th, 2022
