It’s official: This week’s episode of Euphoria is the show’s best to-date.
Last week on Euphoria, we saw the struggles of Rue (Zendaya)’s withdrawal and the fallout of Maddy (Alexa Demie) finding out about Nate (Jacob Elordi) and Cassie (Sydney Sweeney).
This week, the episode, appropriately titled “The Theater and It’s Double” gives Lexi (Maude Apatow) her time to shine as she puts on her much anticipated play – no, not Oklahoma!
The play, Our Life, is based on the lives of those in Lexi’s life. This episode, in terms of content, format and acting, was the best that has ever hit HBO. Let me explain why:
First off, the formatting is exquisite. I just know the people who truly understand the artistry of the show and watch it for its intended purpose will fawn over the incredibly masterful blending of theatrical performance and cinematic performance. The opening alone with a long overture and the look-alikes of Lexi’s sister and friends shifting from Rue’s real father’s funeral to the stage format is nothing short of brilliant.
Then, the characters’ realization that the play is about them is priceless. Rue’s humor, Maddy and Kat (Barbie Ferreira)’s amusement, Nate’s discomfort and, most importantly, Suze (Alanna Ubach)’s incredible excitement all made the weight of this episode so much more intense. Ubach in particular had the most proud and happy acting that made the audience laugh with excitement.
But, second only to Lexi, it’s Ethan (Austin Abrams) that steals the show. His portrayal of Suze is one of the most joyful things ever, coupled with his incredible performances as the other characters and the fact that he was so excited to be a part of the play made us remember why we love Ethan so much.
Though all of his roles are wonderful, Ethan really shines when he gets to be in the erotically charged, emasculating dance number that Lexi clearly directed at Nate. Accompanied by “Holding Out For A Hero” by Bonnie Tyler, Ethan runs around the stage in homosexual positions with the rest of the play’s football team. For the amount of people trying to guess which fictional women could end Nate Jacobs, all it really took was Lexi publicly calling him gay for him to cry and run home. This part of the play completely changes the dynamic between Cassie and Nate, as he blames her for Lexi’s writing and kicks her out of his house.
But more than just changing their dynamic, this occurrence changes Cassie’s entire demeanor. Something in her switches even harder than it had before, and she completely loses it. Judging by the trailer for next week’s episode, Maddy is going to give her the smackdown of a lifetime. However, that does play into what Lexi is trying to do with the play: expose everyone’s behavior and accurately portray the narration so her friends can get a reality check.
This plays into why the episode is called “The Theater and It’s Double.” There’s a book called The Theatre and Its Double, which is a collection of essays by French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud. The point of the work is to blur the lines between real life and performance, showcasing the dangers of everyday life in hopes it will inspire the audience to make a change. This type of performance heavily relies on the intention of the creator, who must have good intentions to be able to get the point across.
This is what makes Lexi and Fezco (Angus Cloud)’s conversations so convoluted. On the one hand, the characters are talking together – in an adorable fashion, I might add – about how Lexi is feeling regarding the play and how much Fez wants to support her. On the other hand, this is a way for the audience to see that Lexi’s intentions are good, making her Artaud-inspired performance piece good as well.
But we really need to talk about Fez. We get more of the horror moments with Fezco the entire episode, as we sit in suspense waiting to see if he’ll be raided – or worse, killed – by police, but he’s blissfully unaware and getting ready to go see Lexi’s play. However, that’s the horrific realization isn’t it? All of Fez’s scenes in this episode are before Lexi’s play. When he’s getting ready, Faye (Chloe Cherry) is helping him steam his shirt, Custer (Tyler Chase) comes over and Ashtray (Daelo Jin Walton) gets suspicious. But when we cut back to the middle of Lexi’s play, Fez never came to pick up his ticket.
This is playing into the theory that Fez is going to die in the finale of the season. It would be a valid explanation as to why he isn’t at Lexi’s play. However, I firmly believe Ashtray is going to be the one to die, and it’s going to devastate Fez and that’s what he’s dealing with during the play. I think Faye will try to help them last minute.
However, because they’ve been playing up Ashtray so much this season and giving him much more of a role, I think they’re doing that to make it harder for us to lose him. Plus, Ashtray saw the exchange between Custer and Faye. I don’t think HBO or Euphoria would truly kill Fez because too many people would stop watching. But I do think they could get away with killing Ashtray, unfortunately.
Overall, this is the best Euphoria episode to-date – maybe ever. It’s the perfect blend: it has the normal episode content we know, it serves as a background episode (finally!) for Lexi in the most appropriate and accurate way, it brought to light so many important things and it teased so many important things for next week. Most importantly, it showed Lexi’s complicated relationships, namely with Cassie and Rue. With Cassie, it’s a testament to how as Lexi’s older sister, she was supposed to defend her and protect her, but all she did was put what other people thought of her first – even when it threatened their own physical safety. With Rue, it shows how deeply Lexi loves her and how their friendship greatly impacted Lexi’s life.
All in all, I have never been more nervous for an episode of a show, nor have I ever anticipated an episode of a show more than next week’s season finale. I’m unsure if they can top the brilliance from this week, but then again, it’s Euphoria. Anything can happen.
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Euphoria airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO MAX and HBO.
