This is the best episode of Euphoria yet. So good it makes up for the rest of the season.
Let's get the obvious out of the way: Zendaya is the moment, Rue is the most dynamic character on the show, and her family isn't as awful as they are made out to be.
Zendaya's performance single-handedly dismisses the trend of glamourizing addiction in the show. Though reckless behavior certainly is romanticized and sexualized throughout the season, Rue's downward spiral reminds us that all roads lead down a dangerous path. At times, Rue is so idled by drug-fueled rage that Zendaya is unrecognizable from her usual polished public persona. She utterly disappears into the role and if there's one thing that remains abundantly clear it is that we are watching the birth of a superstar.
It should also be mentioned that Storm Reid as Gia delivered an impressive and authentic performance. Her primary function is to react to Rue's increasingly erratic behavior and, even in her few minutes of screentime, manages to add dimensions to her character. Though largely unspoken, Gia reads as a deeply traumatized younger sister who was forced into the role of functioning adult far before she was ready.
Though perhaps less glittery and mindless than other episodes, episode five follows an agonizing, anxiety-inducing structure that highlights Rue's illness perfectly. As we watch her zigzag through the sleepy California town, Rue careens into other people's lives, inadvertently making a mess of everything she touches. It reads like a metaphor: addiction ripples through communities like one small pebble disturbing an entire pond. Rue literally rips through backyards and tears through houses, devastating her entire community with one manic outburst. Even in these moments of utter destruction, there's always a tenderness extended toward Rue. Her addiction is debilitating and is eating the fun and loving soul we grew attached to in season one.
Next to Rue, Jules is one of the more realistic portrayals of a struggling high school student. She is insecure and searching for validation over anything in her relationships. This pattern leads her to selfish decisions but ultimately her character is a reflection of what most of us are (and hope to leave behind) in high school. Whose world wasn't small, didn't revolve around them when they only knew it as the three blocks they habited junior year? Watching Jules hold back tears as Rue berated her was one of the most heartbreaking moments of the series to date.
For some reason, there has been a barrage of hatred toward Jules this season. Yes, in an ideal world, she would have noticed and stopped Rue's addiction earlier, but it's also pertinent that she is a kid who is still unpacking (and actively experiencing) her own traumatic childhood. It's not entirely unreasonable that someone her age could love an addict and still enable their addiction.
On the other hand, my sympathy for Elliot has completely evaporated. If he were a fully developed character who felt real and important, maybe it would be different but for now, he is a shallow hole of manipulation and opportunistic desires. He popped out of nowhere offering Rue heroin and plunging himself in the middle of an already complicated relationship and then had the gall to show up at Rue's intervention like he was equally important.
Of course, we have to talk about the Maddy/Cassie moment if we're going to talk about this episode. I'm sure we'll delve deeper (and return to our soap opera roots) to that particular drama in the next episode but I still wished for a better reveal. Something about Rue slumped against the stairs whispering the revelation to Cassie in a haze felt anti-climatic. Like we hadn't been building up this storyline for the past five weeks. It was almost insulting.
Overall, I was pleased with an episode that stepped back from sex appeal and dove into Rue's inner workings. This was the first time I felt a twinge of empathy for writer Sam Levinson as this storyline clearly has personal implications. So much can be accomplished in an episode without Cassie's tits or Nate Jacobs.
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