Euphoria
S.01, E.05 – “’03 Bonnie and Clyde” (2019)
It isn’t exactly clear, but some switch must’ve been flipped from the previous episode. Following an exhausting early run of explicit imagery and controversies that at times felt surface-level, the show finally exists in the post-high of its excess. Last week it benefited from a limited setting for most of its running time, exploring the ways that each character interacts on a social level. The move was fitting for no other reason than that it was the middle episode, the turning point for a lot of things to come. Like the best of story arcs, it’s the time when you transition from the introduction into the rise directly before the fall.
And what a rise it ends up being. On the one hand, Rue is in love with Jules and there’s almost zero downbeats from their events this week. She is happily getting up in front of her rehab group to share stories about her sobriety. Ali is there to support her, and everything suggests that she could turn it around. Of course, she would want to do drugs like fentanyl, but she loves Jules just a tad bit more. It’s a sacrifice that reflects growth and it’s downright sweet to see a potential version of Euphoria where conflict is resolved and all that’s left is a happy couple and very supportive parents.
Maybe it has to do with her backstory from the week before, but this is most evident in Jules, who goes out with her father to dinner and has this gleam in her eye. There’s hope that everything will work out. Even Rue seems to desire to bring Jules into her immediate friend group of Lexi: one of the sole gatekeepers to her friend. Despite being conflict-free (so far), Lexi is judgmental, refusing to allow negative vibes into her friend’s life. There is that concern, even in the dazzling roller rink scene set to Santigold that evokes nostalgia and hope, an innocence that the rest of the story has lacked.
Because that is what ultimately works about the show. There is that need for getting to something better than what has come before. There needs to be joy in one’s life, and having Jules run into Nate in rather officious ways proves that they’re not free yet. If anything, the chance to shift attention from them over to Nate this week is smart, if just to show how not everyone suffers equally, or even simultaneously. In this case, Nate is stuck in his asshole-level clean-up mode, trying to avoid arrests for physically assaulting Maddy while Cal helps him hide the proverbial body.
It's one of those haunting details because Maddy herself has grown up in an environment where “stand by your man” is a way of living. She opens the episode with a flashback at a pageant singing Madonna’s “Lucky Star,” which pings with tragic irony as she is taken out of the talent show circuit following an unrelated arrest. She grows addicted to the simple act of beauty, of being a door prize for the jock. She knows, even before turning 18, that this is her life. She won’t amount to much else and she has to hide the bruises just to keep up her delusions. Even her mother turns on Nate, and all that’s left is the realization that her crummy life is in love with an inescapable cycle of negativity.
Another way that the show feels greater is that it’s stepping aside from the overbearing, in your face approach to sexuality and is moving more into placing these characters in a bigger world. The police are present. Maddy is suffering some serious P.T.S.D. as she wails through a confession and is unable to hide her secrets and shame. She has to come public, much like Cal does with a cross-dressing hooker. What makes that scene in particular endearing is that it’s one of the rare moments where Cal is seen as human, as someone who tries to keep his queerness separated from family but realizes that doing so has only poisoned his family. His sons have so much pent-up aggression and the need to play tough guy has unleashed a monster.
Nate is, quite arguably, much worse than his father if just because of the starting point. Cal might’ve had a happier childhood and chances to build on a healthy foundation. Nate seems like he took the wrong lessons from his father and ran with the aggressive persona that may look like it hides his flaws, but barely. People know he’s gay. Maddy has broken the secret in ways that might create a Mouse Trap-style chaos down the road. The only way to outrun this is to scapegoat, to suggest that he’s the victim and that everything will fall on somebody else’s shoulders. If nothing else, Cal’s pride in not seeing his son in jail only reinforces that behavior, himself too cowardly to stand up and not act like but be a man.
Elsewhere Kat is forming relationships that are more than frivolous expenditures. Rue also gives a conversation about her brief experience with sex. It’s unflattering and ends without much rejuvenation. This perfectly contrasts with her general belief that Jules has in some ways saved her, providing hope in place of endless addiction. They use these phrasings to suggest that maybe this is just some quick fix, that everything will fall apart the minute they are separated, moving onto different journeys in their lives. Some have argued that Rue’s lack of interest in sex is a sign that she’s asexual. It’s a valid idea, though it does feel like Sam Levinson has purposely designed the show to reflect more a side effect of depression than personal lack of sexual attraction (also, she is an addict, which clouds things).
Still, there is something to be said for Levinson making an episode that feels almost removed from the fantastical camerawork that defined the previous four episodes. While the shots still radiate with a certain poignancy, he’s moved on to allowing characters to speak for themselves. Outside of the roller rink scene, none of the lighting feels sensationalized, like there’s going to be a dreamlike sequence. Maybe Rue’s flashback is the next best example, though even that is more evident of the basic template for this show so far. It’s curious to see the show move away, though maybe it’s just that way to help emphasize something outside of the daze, like reality starting to kick in.
If considered that way, opening with Maddy’s story seems perfect. Each flashback has hinted at bigger themes throughout the episode and focusing on a character known for doing nothing being forced into something traumatic hints at everyone’s own demons. Rue didn’t have much to live for before Jules. There is hope, a perfect contrast to Nate and Maddy. It’s one of the most oddly shaped episodes where joy is allowed to exist next to tragedy, finding students entering the principal’s office and revealing details that are, to be modest, PG-13 level snitching. Everything feels vindictive, designed to tear down somebody, whether it’s Nate or even Jules. Somebody is going down. Even the idea of Nate being gay is humored in serious contention.
By this point, Euphoria has done so much that is outright bold that it’s refreshing to see the show move more towards characters and emotions. Maddy is phenomenal here as she deals with the ceremonious public shaming, realizing that everything will come to a head very quickly. Even at home, she is attacked by a mother who enforced these negative behaviors, finding perfect parallels with Cal in terms of bad parenting. The only difference is that the audience is asked to give Cal some sympathy – warranted or not – about his mistakes. Even going into the scene it feels like he’s on the verge of having rough sex with a prostitute before bearing his soul instead.
Imagine if Cal had put that effort into raising a son who wasn’t ashamed, who was allowed to be expressive in manners that were healthy and even productive. While it would make Euphoria a much less interesting show, it would save this heartbreaking tragedy that’s likely to unfold in the episodes to come. He’s realized that he has to be self-sufficient, playing a role that isolates even him. When he’s cornered, that’s when he gets most hostile.
Even with this in mind, the episode turns to Jules, cautioned by Lexi about continuing a relationship with Rue. Is it going to be worth it in the long run? There is a fear of abandonment all over again. She recognizes how her mother left her, an addict, and that Rue could be using her. What is she to do? The fight or flight response may determine how some see her character, already feeling helpless from other binds. The question is, will things reset? The one masterstroke of Euphoria is that it exists so perpetually in a dark state of mind that it dares you to think that everything will regress to the means, that everyone is just going to die miserably. Even if we’ve seen Rue and Jules happy together for five episodes now, there’s room to believe that this is too good to be true. Just look into Jules’ eyes and not see how paralyzed she is, placing so much trust in someone that might hurt her in ways more irreparable than any information leak.
Whereas Rue has built from nothing to something, Maddy has gone from something to nothing. Everyone knows Nate’s true colors now and it’s telling that she chooses to stay. Levinson’s ability to continually get maximum impact out of these plots is astounding, allowing for a sense of anxiety to build up in the viewer even during its happiest episode. There’s no respite. His need to play out conflict is undeniable and sometimes it gets rough. Every episode so far has ended on a fairly defeated blow for one or more characters. Everyone feels battered on this series, and it’s downright depressing to witness the most upbeat moments being undercut by that potential even if, again, Levinson knows how to give them stakes.
I think that the show, at least for now, has moved into the good camp of episodes. The argument that it’s an empty show is valid in some sense. There’s definitely a sense that, like Assassination Nation (2018), Levinson is pushing boundaries just to entertain. There’s value in this read, though it’s difficult to not want better for the characters. It plays into the base-level emotions, of not knowing any better and where even in a social media age, there is a sense of isolation from further connection.
If this is where the show goes in season two, then there’s a good chance that it will be a much more interesting series. The need to shift away from headline-grabbing scenes that feel designed for maximum controversy into a plot that relies on deeper emotional complexity is smart. While it’s still ridiculous to think that this is all happening to teenagers at one school, it does fit a dour yet soapy drama that just goes for the jugular. It captures a fantasy that is dangerous. It used to be just because of how desensitized they were to social taboos. Now it’s more about how they inform their actions, keeping their souls from ever finding a balance. When nobody works towards something greater, what is there to even live for?
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