Warning: this article contains spoilers for season 2 of Euphoria
Episode 5: Stand Still Like the Hummingbird
This week’s episode has to be the best one of the season. Incredible performances by Zendaya, Storm Reid and Nika King carried the episode and left viewers on the edge of our seats. Starting off intensely, Rue is forced into an intervention by her mom and her sister Gia. Withdrawing heavily, she freaks out when she realizes the suitcase is gone. Rue gets into a violent altercation with her mom, who immediately freaks out trying to protect Gia because both of them are scared of Rue. Rue tries to manipulate the situation talking about her deceased father and insulting her mom. As Rue continues her breakdown, kicking down doors, crying, begging for forgiveness and then fighting again, Jules and Elliot are sitting in the living room. Jules tells Rue that they flushed the drugs, which is technically not confirmed. Angering Rue, she tells Jules to stay out of her life forever and that she never will speak to her again. In a persuasion, Rue’s mom tells her that they’ll take her to the hospital. Complying, Rue gets in the car before realizing she is being taken to rehab. Starting to panic again, she runs out of the car into moving traffic. Trying to go to Fez’s house, the door is locked and she runs to Cassie and Lexi’s house.
In the Howard household, Cassie, Lexi, Maddy and Kat are all in the house when Rue bursts in. Maddy hugs Rue instantly, while Rue tries to hold her withdrawal symptoms in. The Howard’s mom tells Rue she looks great and asks how long she has been sober to which Rue says since the summer. As Rue heads to the bathroom, Ms. Howard looks at Lexi and says that Rue looks terrible. In the bathroom. Rue looks for drugs to help her withdrawal while stealing jewelry in the process. As she leaves, Rue’s mom is in the house. Trying to encourage her to go to rehab, Cassie tells Rue she can take it one day at a time. Deciding to trigger a situation to avoid going back to rehab, she asks Cassie “how long have you been fucking Nate Jacobs?” Shocking everyone, Maddy asks what is she talking about in a sharp tone. Moving closer, Maddy gets in Cassie’s face telling her she’s selfish and idiotic, asking her how long she’s been doing this. Kat tries to hold Maddy back while Cassie freaks out and says that Rue is a drug addict and shouldn’t be believed. Trying to get the situation back to Rue, Rue and Lexi’s mothers tell the girls to go to another room or leave. Maddy ignores those pleas and asks Rue when this was. Answering Maddy, Maddy gets in Cassie’s face and calls her a “dumb fucking bitch,” and runs after her. This creates the perfect escape for Rue as she leaves while everyone tries to stop Maddy from hurting Cassie.
Running to Fez’s house, she asks to use his bathroom. She walks in and tries to find drugs for herself, but is caught by Fez. In a sad voice, Fez pries the drugs from Rue’s hand who keeps begging him not to. Telling her she has to go, Fez gently tries to lead her out before Rue snaps and tries to fight him. When Fez get’s upset by that and physically throws her out, she starts to cry and apologize to him. She then sneaks into the house of a wealthy couple. Stealing some jewelry and a wad of cash, she is caught by the family and runs out. Wandering around the streets, a cop car stops at a light and notices her. Instantly throwing up, the cops start to run after her. Causing an accident, running parties and jumping over fences, she manages to evade the cops by luck.
Experiencing terrible withdrawals she finds her way to Laurie’s house. Giving her the jewelry and the money, Laurie asks her why she came without all the money. Laurie tells her that she has to pay the whole thing in cash and Rue promises her that she’ll pay her back really soon. Laurie tells Rue that she doesn’t look like the kind of person who will have money soon. The camera pans to a locked closet where scratching comes behind the door. Her caged birds also squawk in the background. Making an ominous comment saying that because Rue is a woman, there is something that people still want.
Laurie undresses Rue and puts her in a bath. Rue asks for pills, which Laurie lies and say’s she doesn’t know. Injecting Rue with Morphine, Laurie makes several marks in her arm and tells Rue that she knew Rue would be in her life for a long time. Rue slides down in the bath and imagines herself as a child with her dad, while scenes of her dad’s funeral are cut in.
Rue wakes up, changed in new clothes in a bed. She tries to open the window and realize that it’s locked. Going into the living room, a man lays on the couch with his gun on the table. She sees the door is padlocked and tries to quietly unlock the door with the ring of keys on the key-rack. She walks past Laurie’s room, where Laurie is asleep with a man laying beside her. Rue quietly finds a window in another room and manages to sneak out of the window before the man catches her.
The last scene of the episode is Rue’s mom at the table when the door opens.
Anxiety-inducing until the last moment, this episode was thrilling to watch until the end. I can’t wait to see how the characters are handle the situations they are in and how the relationship dynamics have changed.
WatchĀ EuphoriaĀ on HBO Max on 9 p.m. on Sundays.