Feeling lost in your early twenties is not unusual. In the first two seasons of Euphoria, the teens were masquerading as adults in all aspects of their lives; now comes a push-pull between looking back at adolescence through rose-tinted glasses and figuring out who they are in the present. Nostalgia is a connecting thread in an episode that sees Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) struggle to find her identity as she sincerely asks, “But who am I?” in a conversation where she is told she lacks taste. It doesn’t help that Cassie’s insecurities and desire to be loved don’t go any further than previous seasons. Early in this episode, Rue (Zendaya) proclaims she misses high school, but what she is actually wistful for is the petty antics that ticked along in the background. The long-awaited return of Sam Levinson’s HBO drama series kicked off with talk of reinvention; tonight’s episode falls back on old habits—for better and worse—to remind us that Euphoria is still a grab bag of grandiose statements, impressive visuals, titillation, and hustling spirit.
Take Maddy (Alexa Demie), who is the subject of Rue’s signature voiceover to kick off “America My Dream.” Filling in the gaps of her journey from high school to working for a Hollywood talent agency is straight out of the Euphoria playbook, highlighting Maddy’s bravado and self-belief as she talks her way into a position without a college degree. It is also the first explicit mention of the global pandemic, a reminder that the first two seasons took place before 2020. While many current shows ignore this period, the reveal that Maddy is supporting her mother after her salon closed during this crisis is a poignant detail. Here, we see Maddy fine-tune her instincts, but keeping her family afloat means she cannot follow her gut. The conversation that began last week with Cassie about the legitimacy of OnlyFans brings the former BFFs back into each other’s orbit.
Given their previously tight bond, it is not a stretch to imagine that Cassie would reach out to Maddy to further her own online career. What I do find harder to buy is Maddy and Rue’s casual hangout. Sure, if Lexi (Maude Apatow) were present, I wouldn’t bat an eyelid, but Maddy and Rue barely interacted (and never just the two of them) before this. Still, Rue’s “Round two, baby. Ding-ding-ding!” reaction is a delight as it immediately conjures how Rue reacted to all the messiness that came from fighting over Nate (Jacob Elordi) during Lexi’s play. Understandably, Rue misses the part of high school that had nothing to do with OD’ing or her broken heart.
There is definitely material to tell an interesting story about the pressures Gen Z faces growing up in a world of social-media perfectionism and the proliferation of sexually explicit images being shared (and requested) during adolescence. Cassie’s first-season backstory revealed how often she felt compelled to agree to being recorded during sex and then how quickly those images would be shared without her consent. With that in mind, Cassie’s desire to monetize her image could be a way for her to take control of her body. Cutting from Maddy and Rue’s conversation to Marilyn Monroe’s “I Wanna Be Loved By You” as Maddy scrolls through Cassie’s Instagram posts to Cassie’s NSFW shoot might be an attempt at pairing a bombastic choice with a profound message. (Monroe posed for nude photographs, was exploited, and had her image picked over even after her death.)
Given Cassie’s high-school experience, Rue’s narration applies to past and present: “So desperate for attention, she’s willing to humiliate herself.” Cassie checks these boxes with her choice of “cute” setups, including ice cream dripping down her breasts and posing as a baby. That she gets her housekeeper, Juana (Minerva García), to snap some of these pics in the front yard is a level of obviousness that feels unbelievable even for Cassie. Scenes like this bait audiences (and grab those headlines), yet I can’t help but bite to highlight how exhausting this show is during moments like these because it doesn’t dig deeper. There is also something to be said for the fact that Sweeney, who has been the subject of many conversations about celebrity image, is at the center of this storyline. Again, I wonder if the point isn’t this self-awareness. It might just be a plot device to bring the former friends back together and expose the money troubles Nate is currently facing. The adult-baby pics are an immediate red flag to Cassie’s suburban bestie (who definitely hates her), even if Cassie has zero clue that her husband-to-be owes $550,000 (that will soon become $600,000). Nate makes a huge deal about not keeping secrets, but apparently, that rule does not apply to him.
If Maddy can transform Cassie’s profile into the same high-earning bracket as her former client Katelyn, then Nate’s money problems could be solved. It might already be moot, as Nate makes Cassie delete her account when it becomes gossip fodder at the party he’s hosting to raise funds for his failing business. Going from Cassie and Maddy’s reunion (in which Sweeney nails Cassie’s deep insecurities opposite the more successful Maddy) to Nate preparing for an investor event while talking to his inebriated father, Cal (Eric Dane), underscores which dynamics are frozen in time and which have evolved. Cassie continues to seek Maddy’s approval and expertise to further her burgeoning career as she once did to maintain popularity in high school. Nate has come a long way since he called the cops on his father, and intense rage no longer fuels every conversation between the pair.
Cal reshapes his denial (he refers to himself as a hedonist, not gay) and is intuitive enough to know that his son is experiencing financial troubles, though not to the extent. Nate has the gift of charming investors into giving large sums of cash to a stalled project, but Cal is not buying his song and dance. As Nate’s scheme leans further into fraud, the two overarching crime storylines fix their gaze on the underbelly of the American Dream with mixed results so far.
The introduction of the Silver Slipper nightclub is of a lived-in world offering up more Western vibes (shout-out to production designer François Audouy) filled with colorful personalities and an opportunity for Rue to escape from drug lord Laurie (Martha Kelly). The club also offers an opportunity to reveal Rue’s journey from recovery to relapse, including her lowest ebb. “America My Dream” tips its hat to the previous Euphoria aesthetic, with flashback scenes like the gas station lights turning off, leaving Rue lit in the darkness as she leaves a pleading voicemail for her mother.
In the present, this raring-to-work version of Rue, who tells Jules she’s California sober, is a new flavor for Zendaya to play. And watching Rue embrace the problem-solving role is one of the more compelling aspects of this storyline. Less so is some of the dialogue given to Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s Alamo, in which Levinson’s inner-Tarantino bursts out. It is also another week featuring a lesson about America (this time about when people headed West), and even at this early stage, I am sensing a pattern that could become repetitive.
Since Rue’s experience with rehab and relapse occurred around Jules (Hunter Schafer), it is not a leap that her experience with the dancer Angel (Priscilla Delgado) would prompt Rue to reach out. Of course, the stories about Jules being a sugar baby also fuel this desire to catch up. While Jules plays coy, the luxury apartment and description of the man who pays for it suggest Maddy’s intel was right. Talk of nostalgia and the past leads Jules and Rue to reflect that they were never really good together. But actions speak louder than words. And while a whirlwind romance is likely off the table, Rue can show up after all this time, and their magnetic pull remains strong. Or at least this matchup will only slightly differ from what came before, as Jules’ invitation for Rue to keep her company while she has a bath suggests. I mean, what could go wrong?
Stray observations
- • No wonder Cassie reaches out to Maddy for advice about how to boost her followers. Her “(How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window?”video is only 213 likes after 18 hours.
- • The benefits of shooting on the Warner Bros. lot are that you can throw in pop-culture references that have nothing to do with Euphoria, like the Friends opening credits sofa and fountain as a backdrop for Maddy’s conversation with Dylan Reid (Homer Gere).
- • It doesn’t feel like a coincidence that Rue wears a jacket in a similar shade of burgundy to the hoodie (that belonged to Rue’s father) that she wore like armor as she slips back into the vestiges of her teen life with Jules.
- • Other notable style choices that stood out included Jules’ 50-inch-long wig, which adds to her performative aesthetic—as do the stiletto-shaped Balenciaga clutch and a dress decorated with underwear. However, Jules’ slightly glittery eye makeup is her anchor to the past. Meanwhile, Maddy’s film-noir influence is seen in her pin curls and her choice to wear fur to the Peninsula poolside hang with Cassie as a form of intimidation that has the desired impact.
- • Laurie’s team didn’t intentionally spike the batch of ecstasy that killed Tish (Emma Kotos), but this quality-control issue (Wayne forgot to tell Faye to clean the scale) has started a feud that will no doubt escalate. Alamo sent a pig into Laurie’s compound; now it’s her move.
Emma Fraser is a contributor to The A.V. Club.
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