Warning: this article contains spoilers for season 2 of Euphoria
Episode 4: You Who Cannot See, Think of Those Who Can
This week’s episode features many of our beloved and not so loved characters spiraling. We hear Rue narrate how much she loves Jules over a montage of Rue and Jules reimagining famous couples from movies and real life. Jules is going down on Rue, and she fakes an orgasm causing Jules to get upset. Going to Elliots house, Jules and Elliot discuss Rue faking an orgasm while flirting with each other the entire time ending up with them kissing. Their scene ends and cuts to Nate, Maddy and Cassie. Nate is at the house that Maddy babysits at, and they start to drink. In between are scenes of Cassie crying while putting a birthday scrapbook together for Maddy and preparing her house for the party. She gives Maddy the book, and appears to be crying again while hugging her.
In the house that Maddy babysits at, Maddy looks at Nate tearfully and asks if he felt loved by her. Nate admits he doesn’t know, causing her to cry quietly while he pulls her into a hug. It’s kind of reminiscent of the season 1 finale at the winter formal. The scene jumps to Cassie in Nate’s room as she argues with him about Maddy. Claiming she wouldn’t have done what she did (sleeping with her best friends ex boyfriend) Nate counters her by saying it’s a lie. He proceeds to tell her that she has an image of herself as a sweet person, and that if she was, she wouldn’t have had sex with him. Their fight escalates with Cassie claiming that she is crazier than Maddy, and Nate accidentally calling her Maddy. Frustrated, Cassie leaves, but not before Nate tells her that he loves her.
We get to see people audition for Lexi’s play as Cassie, representing Cassie snapping at Lexi through her stress and anxiety she has. At the Howard household, Maddy’s birthday is in full swing with Maddy, Kat, Cassie, BB and Lexi all celebrating with Mrs. Howard. Nate is preparing his gift for Maddy when Cal walks in (with some bandages on his head from the last episode) all giddy and laughing. Making some crude jokes to Nate and then telling him he’s going for a drive, Cal speeds down the highway.
Rue, Jules and Elliot are all kissing and touching each other in a flirtatious way. Rue, extremely high on opioids, appears checked out through the entire time. Elliot suggest they should go steal some alcohol which they agree to. At Maddy’s party, her and Kat have a heart-to-heart about Kat’s relationship with Ethan. Encouraging Kat to dance with her, Maddy cheers Kat up as they both smile. Jules and Elliot attempt and succeed at robbing a liquor store by distracting the worker in the store. As they drive off, Jules and Elliot don’t want Rue to drink and they start to argue with her to stop. Snapping, Rue tells Jules she can’t stand her and Elliot drops Rue off on the side of the highway. Cal is speeding down another highway drunkenly, arriving at the bar Derek and him went to together.
Nate arrives at the party, and Cassie drinks heavily with wide eyes. Her mom notices her odd behavior and Lexi does as well. Nate puts a necklace on Maddy that he bought for her, causing Cassie to drink more and look sick. Telling Maddy he’s probably going to leave for the girls to have a girls night, Cassie walks downstairs in a bathing suit much to everyone’s confusion. She dances and sings drunkenly in her living room, appearing to be on the verge of tears throughout the entire sequence.
At the bar, Cal dances with another man, who he keeps imagining as Derek. Starting to pretend to wrestle, he ends up getting kicked out of the bar while drunkenly laughing.
Meanwhile, at Maddy’s party everyone sits in the hot tub. Cassie drunkenly gets in giggling, almost falling onto Nate’s laugh. BB makes a comment how she’s glad that Maddy and Nate are together again. Both shut down them being together again, but Nate saying no ticks Maddy off. Accusing him of saying no too hastily, she starts to call him out on the things he’s told her. Insulting him and telling him how he promises he’ll change, how he loves her, he wants her to move with him, he wants to marry her and have babies with her whilst looking between Nate and Cassie. Cassie with an upset look on her face pukes in the hot tub and starts crying her eyes out. Apologizing to Maddy profusely in a drunken haze, she cries out as her mom tries to get her upstairs. Looking at Nate who just glances at her before going to Maddy with a towel, Cassie sobs even harder as she’s dragged away by her mom.
Rue back at home, takes more drugs and stares in a haze. Imagining herself in a church, we see Labyrinth, the artist behind Euphoria’s incredible soundtrack singing to her. Slowly hugging him and tearing up, she then imagines herself talking to her deceased father. Hugging and telling him how much she misses him, and how she messed up, her dad embraces her tightly and consoles her. The scene is emotional and beautifully shot.
Jules gets out of the shower at Elliot’s house and both of them lie together. Elliot looks at her and admits that he and Rue have been doing drugs to Jules dismay. Looking hurt and betrayed, it doesn’t stop Jules from later hooking up with Elliot regardless.
Cal returns home, a drunk mess, laughing and pees all over his floor. His wife Marsha comes out and is disgusted by what he did. His eldest son, Aaron, and Nate both also stare at their dad confused to what he’s doing. Finally admitting that he’s slept with other men, he calls out his family on their homophobia. Marsha, clearly knowing that Cal had feelings for men, sighs and shakes her head. Cal then calls his family out on all the secrets they’ve been hiding. He knows Marsha kept all the love letters from a camp counselor, and flirts with people on Facebook. He takes his family portrait but not before criticizing Aaron’s porn habits and calling Nate his biggest regret. He tells him that he knows nothing about Nate at all. Saying they backed him into a corner and that this family can’t show emotion, Cal leaves with the family portrait.
The episode essentially ends there. As per usual, people were losing their minds in the episode. Honestly, I wonder what’s in store for these characters, because for almost all of them, it doesn’t look good. I’m also disappointed by the lack of Fez and Lexi content, I think we all deserve to see more.
Watch Euphoria on HBO Max on 9 p.m. on Sundays.