By Ethan Nhek
Best: Faye offering a helping lip to Fez
While Faye’s boyfriend, Custer, was trying to rat out Ashtray and Fez, she ends up helping out Fez by gaslighting Custer about who killed Mouse from last season. And it leads to Custer’s demise since Ashtray reacted recklessly. Overall, she put those lips to use, thankfully.
Worst: Cassie having another meltdown
Outside looking in, Cassie’s actions are understandable in this segment; if someone did a play that depicted them as a horrible person, who wouldn’t have the same reaction? Once again, she gets humbled and booed when she tries to draw sympathy from the crowd for sleeping with her best friend, Maddy’s boyfriend. But this moment leads to the best moment, thankfully.
Best: Maddy beating the s—t out of Cassie
When Cassie is making a fool out of herself on stage, Maddy calls her the infamous c-word at lightning speed to fire back at every imprudent thing Cassie says. We then see Maddy slap and push her face against a brick wall. And this moment, in particular, had me squirming euphorically. This was the Superbowl moment for Euphoria fans; it was truly sublime.
Worst: Nate’s awkward moment with his dad
Turns out, that weird nightmare Nate had of his dad topping him was not a result of sexual abuse. Nate reveals to his dad that he watched the videos of his father’s secret rendezvous, which resulted in that traumatic nightmare. And Nate says, “and in it, he was fu—in’ me the way that he f—ked them.” And that was an awful and uncomfortable moment for everyone. But Nate does have a flash drive full of the affairs, which leads to his father’s arrest. And everyone’s left wondering how Nate’s future will be with his father behind bars.
Best: Rue’s eulogy speech
One of the emotional scenes of this episode depicts Rue giving a speech in honor of her father, who passed away a while back. It’s a tearjerker of a eulogy, primarily as her father’s death resulted in her use of drugs. It’s a moment that Rue reflects upon to see how much she’s been through.
Worst: Ashtray’s recklessness
Due to his rash decision of murdering Custer, Fez comes up with a plan that’ll just lead to them receiving a sentence. But Ashtray, unfortunately, doesn’t want that and locks Fez out of the restroom. He tries to fire back from the bathroom at the police, which leads to his demise, unfortunately.
Best: Lexi’s and Rue’s moment
“Your whole life, you’ve been forced to take care of everyone,” Lexi’s mom says to Lexi. And that would resonate with a lot of people. Rue thanks Lexi for the play because it was a healing moment, unlike how it made others feel. “I’ve been through a lot, and I don’t know what to do with it,” another resonating line from Rue, it’s something that’ll hit the heartstrings for people, and it’s something that Rue understood about the play. It’s then depicted how they both feel about their fathers, and it’s drastically different. It’s finally shown how close Rue and Lexi are since their friendship is briefly shown, and it’s an emotional moment.
Worst: Elliot’s Glee Moment
The “All For Us” moment surprised everyone, and many enjoyed it; it also tied in better with the story. However, this scene of Elliot singing for five minutes could’ve been left off, so more action could’ve happened. While it’s a warm moment for Rue, this moment went on for way too long and wasn’t as epic as Rue’s singing moments.
Best: Bathroom Scene
The aftermath of the big fight leads to the four of the girls in the restroom contemplating things. Cassie looks messy and bloodied, while Maddy has a small scratch on her foot from running barefoot due to her chasing Cassie around. Cassie thinks it’s funny how this drama unpacked due to Nate breaking up with her. But Maddie smugly tells Cassie that it’s only the beginning. But it brings the question of their friendship will ever be mended by Cassie’s nasty behavior. I felt this last episode was heavy and bittersweet. However, the final scene is anticlimactic since it captures Rue walking outside and narrating about her sobriety. They didn’t leave any cliffhangers, thankfully like last season, but it ended abruptly and left some questions about what’s to come for next season. For example, what will Laurie do to Rue next season since she can’t pay her back? What will Cassie, Maddy, and Nate’s dynamic be like now? How long is Fez going to go to prison, and how will Lexi react? Also, what about Fez’s grandma? And is Kat going to be back next season due to her lack of appearances this season? While there’s no cliffhanger, it left a lot of questions open; I still felt the last episode shouldn’t have been a continuation of episode seven. It should have been its own episode. Hopefully, we’ll get some of the answers to those questions when season three of “Euphoria” premiers in 2024.