Season 2 Episode 5 of Euphoria was a Wild Ride
TW: This article talks about drug use and sex trafficking. Please view at your own risk.
To be honest with you all, I was going to wait for this season of the HBO television series Euphoria to wrap up before I wrote anything about it, but this recent episode was so intriguing, that I just had to talk about it now. For those who may not already be familiar, Euphoria follows the life of 17 year old Rue Bennet (Zendaya). A drug addict who got out of rehab during the first season. This second season follows Rue’s relapse in her addiction and Season 2 Episode 5 in particular shows viewers the effects that addiction has not only on the addict themselves, but the people around them.
The Truth Comes Out
In the previous episode of Euphoria, Rue’s friend Elliot (Dominic Fike), with whom she does drugs, revealed to Rue’s girlfriend Jules (Hunter Schafer) that he has been doing drugs with Rue. This causes Jules to secretly tell Rue’s mom about Rue’s relapse which leads to a big fight between Rue and her mother, and eventually Rue and Jules, to which she breaks up with Jules and tells Jules to stay out of her life. I thought that this scene did a good job of showing the perspective of both the addict and the addict’s loved ones.
Although Jules might have done the mature thing by telling Rue’s mom about her relapse, I think Rue’s reaction was valid. If I were Jules, I would have talked to Rue first to get more context of the situation before going to Rue’s mom without any context. It is understandable that Jules did not know what to do, but I think that it is very understandable why Rue was angry. I have never done nor do I do drugs, but I also understand the frustrating pain of someone you think you can trust going behind your back.
Running Away
Next, I want to talk about all the scenes that show Rue running away. Although most of the episode was just Rue running away, whether it be from her family, or the police, it made the episode feel like a lot was going on while at the same time, absolutely nothing going on. This episode was very performance heavy and I felt like Zendaya deserves an Emmy for her performance in this episode. As someone who grew up watching Zendaya on Disney Channel shows, it was really interesting watching her go from the role of an innocent teenager to a struggling drug addict. I think that transition shows how much Zendaya has grown as an actress and a performer.
Morphine and Other Things
The final moment that stood out to me was watching Rue almost get sold into sex trafficking by Laurie (Martha Kelly), a woman to who she owes drug money too. It was honestly disturbing to watch a grown woman inject morphine into a 17-year-old going through withdrawal and then say things such as a good thing about being a woman is still having “something people want” even if you do not have money, implying that if Rue could not give Laurie the money she owes her, then Laurie would see Rue into sex trafficking.
Thankfully, Rue was able to escape this environment towards the end of this episode, but I am honestly surprised that I have not seen or heard anyone talk about this scene and how disturbing it was. I wish that more people would talk about this scene because I think this scene shows that anyone can take advantage of you. Often older women such as Laurie are seen as motherly figures and for some reason, motherly figures are seen as saints or safer adults. With that being said, I think this scene did a good job of showing that not all older women are motherly and saints, and they can be just as dangerous if not, more so than men.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I believe that this is the best episode of Euphoria by far. I think Season 2 Episode 5 did a great job of showing the life of a drug addict from multiple perspectives. Viewers get to see the addict’s perspective, the perspective of the addict’s family and friends, and the perspective of the people who try to take advantage of the addict. This episode portrayed Rue in a different light. For all of my Euphoria fans out there, I better not hear any Rue slander.
