The honesty trip of a show that is HBO’s Euphoria is back with another stressful episode to keep you on edge and guessing.
Last week’s episode ended with Rue (Zendaya) kissing Jules (Hunter Schafer) and Jules failing to reciprocate. Rue decided she was too overwhelmed and didn’t know who to call, so she called Ali (Colman Domingo) to help her out.
This week, everyone is coming together and truths are being revealed at the carnival.
Jules and Rue meet up at the carnival, and nothing is awkward after their kiss. After Rue’s sister Gia (Storm Reid) splits off to go hang out with some friends, Jules sees Cal Jacobs (Eric Dane) and tells Rue that he was the guy she slept with in the motel. Rue then fills Jules in on the fact that he’s Nate’s (Jacob Eldori) dad.
Cal sees Jules talking to Rue and thinks she’s going to ruin his life by telling everyone, so he panics. Jules and Rue split up to find Gia, who isn’t answering her phone and is missing somewhere in the carnival. While Jules is separated from Rue, Cal seeks her out and begs her not to tell anyone about their affair, and Jules promises she won’t say a word.
Rue runs all around the carnival to find Gia, who she catches smoking weed with some other kids. Rue is shocked and disappointed and drags Gia home, making sure to cover for her with their mom and take care of her. The whole ordeal is extremely concerning to Rue, who is in the process of beating her drug addiction, and she worries Gia will follow in her previous drug-addictive footsteps.
Last week, Maddy (Alexa Demie) found photos of male genitals on Nate’s phone, and she didn’t know what to do with that information. In this week’s episode, the two get into a fight, resulting in Nate choking Maddy and leaving marks. She then confronts him about the photos, and he tells her he’s been going through a really tough time and couldn’t explain it.
Nate, aka Tyler, aka ShyGuy118, messages Jules and asks to meet up after the carnival. When Nate shows up, Jules realizes it’s been him all along, not this Tyler person she’d been falling in love with. Nate confronts Jules, saying she’s been distributing child pornography and that if she comes forward with anything that’s happened in their family, he’d report her.
“Here’s what would definitely happen: you’d end up on a sex offenders list,” Nate said. “Which means no more college, it’s going to be very difficult to find a job, and everywhere you go for the rest of your life, you’ll be harassed and spat at and treated like a f---ing animal.”
In a backward, messed up kind of way, Nate compliments Jules, telling her that he wants her to get everything she wants in life because she’s kind, smart and generous, but if she ruined his family, he would make sure that didn’t happen. Jules and the audience realize that the entire time he had been flirting with Jules and getting her to fall for him, he was just orchestrating an elaborate plan of blackmail.
Jules, heartbroken, runs back to Rue’s house and asks her if she can sleep over. Rue takes care of Jules while she cries, and the two fall asleep. Then, through a beautiful and artistic montage of their friendship moments, combined with the moments of the present, Jules decides to kiss Rue. This not only leaves audiences to wonder what this means for their relationship, but, ultimately, happy for Rue because she’s been in love with Jules this whole time.
This episode, unsurprisingly, is a work of art. The carnival scene, shifting between person to person, while still connecting all of the stories together is brilliant. The camerawork is beautifully done, and the music, by singer/songwriter Labyrinth, is tailored to fit the carnival theme while still staying in the theme of the usual score. The exciting events of this week’s episode are sure to leave audiences ready for the next one.
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Euphoria airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on HBO.
