Euphoria
S.01, E.07 – “The Trials and Tribulations of Trying to Pee While Depressed” (2019)
With a title like that, it’s easy to think that this is going to be a static episode. After all, Rue spends most of her days in bed watching reality shows. She even measures her depression by the amount of TV that she watches. As she claims, when reality TV begins to feel like work, it’s a moment when depression has hit its absolute worst. For her this is the journey that the episode centers around, an inability to do much of anything except lounge around, doing everything to try and not get a kidney infection as she refuses to go to the bathroom. So much is achieved from this central location, creating a chance to explore her past while showing another angle of what makes this show at times so phenomenal.
Early Euphoria felt salacious, constantly needing to prove itself to the audience. While there were roots of bigger emotions in there, anyone complaining that it was style over substance had enough material to run with. The show wasn’t running low on any attention-grabbing moment. What it needed was an ability to mix everything into a pot in such a way that it reflected Sam Levinson’s truer vision. This is a show that may be edgy and surreal, but it was always supposed to be complemented by a sense of raw, honest emotion. The contrast has never felt as perfect as it does in this hour, where everything is setting up for the finale in such a way that it overwhelms the viewer. The sadness is so strong, and the fact that Levinson reflects this in parallels is brilliant.
On the one hand, Rue is the center of the episode. She is stuck in her bed trying to figure out what was going on with Jules. In a clever fantasy, she pretends to be a Morgan Freeman type as Lexi assists her in trying to figure out this heartache and pain. So much is going on, reflecting a disconnect from reality. It’s heightened and allows for her life to hold greater meaning. It’s all she has at this point. Also, and this hasn’t always been the case, but the voice-over is actually useful here, giving a glimpse into the quiet frame of a woman who is doing everything she can not to relapse, to experience that shift back into addiction. The emotional pain is unreal, but she can be strong despite uncertainty.
This is paralleled with Jules, who is more outgoing in her coping strategy. Those thinking she is the villain may see this as the first time she’s run from her problems, refusing to fess up to what’s going on. By visiting her friends, there’s a chance to escape the inner circle of East Highland and present something more freeing. When she’s with these friends, she doesn’t have to worry about Nate knocking on her door. She doesn’t have a reputation with these people other than to be shamelessly queer, discussing how she’s leveling up as a woman while buying high heels and taking hormones. Everything feels so perfect where she is, even if the bubble is an apartment filled to the brim with girlish pink, a fluffiness like clouds exists as the outer shell. Even the cliché standing up in a moving car is used expertly to convey just how much she feels alive at this moment.
This isn’t to say that she resents Rue at any point. While some could argue they should’ve made up in a more timely manner, what is prevalent is that they needed time away. Jules spent a week alone. She wants to get away. It’s been that way for episodes now. On some level, the contrast is brilliant because of how she seems to be at times so free, able to experience primal joys again as she goes to a dance club and makes out with her friends. It’s an escape that is downright poetic, showing how depression affects everyone differently. It can be argued she’s experiencing mania to Rue’s depression on a bipolar scale, though even that reflects Levinson cleverly playing with the emotional imbalance that they have apart.
Still, the moment that reflects a show that is striving for something more comes in that dance scene. As the lights gather around her, turning their many strobing shades, she begins to dissociate. The problems finally emerge in this moment of sensual embrace. In her mind, she sees Nate, still looming large in her mind as a threat, and yet she experiences an array of emotions with him. There’s a kiss, there’s strangling. Everything feels heightened in a way that reflects her inner monologue, a need to suffocate him out of existence. The relationship in the real world maybe isn’t healthy, but her quest for control is sublime.
It is followed by an even more provocative use of editing that feels reminiscent of Black Swan (2010). In the moment, the strobing effect paves way for visions of Rue. They kiss and there’s elation. Everything appears to be going well. Levinson ratchets the tension in such a way that it grows faster and slower in measured doses, allowing Jules to address in her mind these impulsive feelings. As she lays in a bed with Rue, there’s the sense they are in love, able to transcend the changing colors around them. Even then, the manic progression of images suggests that nothing is clear, that everything will be fleeting. As they say “This isn’t going to end well,” it becomes surreal again, making one wonder if the sacrifice will be worth it.
Because Levinson has a knack for making these moments feel cathartic even at their most opaque. As Jules is having this hallucinatory moment, Rue is finally freeing herself of depression, or at least the hold on her bladder. It’s been the pain she’s carried with her for the entire episode. Everything is a burden. How can she possibly survive?
The only caveat is that she has come a long way even if one can argue that depression is a low. She didn’t relapse once. Instead, she asked her mother to put her back on medication, to give her some balance in her life. Of course, who wouldn’t want to after the torturous hour that she has been through? With one of the show’s greatest monologues yet, Rue describes depression in ways that are candid and honest. She discusses how time fades away and a life outside of this state feels nonexistent. It’s the type of wisdom that the show sold itself on, but has rarely achieved at this profound of a level. At this point, it’s beautiful and raw in ways that elevate the material, adding stronger emotions. It’s an episode that manages to convey surreal and dreamlike tendencies with pain that’s real. It’s finally Euphoria as it should be.
Which isn’t to say that everyone else’s story is going all that well. In one of Kat’s most memorable moments, she interacts with a client who disguises their personality. He’s using her in a way that is meant to acquire compromising photos. It’s uncomfortable, and the slow rollout suggests that something more is going to happen. What will this do, especially since this is the first time Kat has been (knowingly) taken advantage of in her new job? It’s a tense and simple moment that only helps to add drama to the overall stakes.
Similar goes for Cassie, who gets the backstory she deserves the week after Chris’s less than revelatory experience. In typical Euphoria fashion, her story starts with happiness and slowly descends into sadness. Her father is an addict who disappears only after using her to get some stuff from the house. It’s a pain that she takes harder than her sister Lexi, who is more in the dark. Then again, they appear to be opposites in some respects. Whereas Rue and Jules reflect different sides of depression, Cassie and Lexi reflect different sides of intimacy. Lexi admits full-on that she’s never had an interest in dating. Meanwhile, Cassie is coming off of the previous episode where she’s now pregnant, turning to her mother to help acquire an abortion.
All things considered, it’s not a terribly salacious plot point for a show like this. Even then, it’s impressive that this is one of Nate’s more docile weeks as a villain. He is there, but he has ran into the shadows to plan for whatever the next stages are. The trauma he’s afflicted onto people is more present, showing Jules’ impact on Rue playing out in all of its painful glory. Cassie is going to the police to discuss more crimes to book on Tyler, and everything appears to be setting up for an explosive finale.
No, literally. It’s going to be a wild time if any of this comes to pass. In one of the smarter pieces of foreshadowing, Levinson returns to a reference of Fezco’s gun from earlier in the show. Bravo on doing the Chekov’s Gun™ trope correctly. Still, it’s easy to see what sort of conflict that Fezco can have with Nate. On top of having to figure out the future of his drug empire, he needs to protect his friends from harm. It’s a moral dilemma that produces an interesting twist by the finale. When he confronts Nate, it only leads to the police showing up at Fezco’s house ready to raid his stash. It’s not going to end well either for Fezco or Nate, depending on how well he is at hiding the supply.
The show has been phenomenal in the past four episodes. It has become so much more with each passing episode, turning the controversial teenage drama formula into something rich with emotion and complexity. Every character has a purpose (some more than others) and even the way that they handle similar emotions is expressed in ways that are downright cinematic. Everything about this episode feels like it was designed for maximum impact. This is the high that the show wants us to have. It’s the curiosity on how the conflict will play out, if we’ll see Fezco murder Nate and if any of this will be more than a veiled threat.
If one thing is known, it’s the fact that Levinson doesn’t play safe. While most characters are far from abusive stereotypes, having Nate do such demonic deeds shows his willingness to question everyone’s moral character. How far will they be pushed until they lash out? For some like Maddy, that may be much further down the line. For Jules, it’s already having negative impacts on her interpersonal dynamics with others. So much is happening and one has to hope for some catharsis. Sure the ending is stimulating and it’s great to live in this fantasy, but how does one get out of this hole and discover the happiness that is worthy of them? The show continues to end every episode on a down note, but they aren’t as overbearing as they were in the beginning. They now have slivers of hope and promise somewhere in the mix. They aren’t necessarily going to lead to the greatest of change, or even what they desire, but it’s fascinating as drama nonetheless.
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