As in the careful look at Rue’s spiral of sobriety after Jules left in “Problems don’t always last, ” EuphoriaThe last special episode is completely approaching, avoiding the plot for the sake of a close study of the characters. This time, Jules is the center of attention. We don’t see exactly what happened when Jules left Rue on the train platform at the end of season one. Rather, we see the consequences. The episode takes place especially during a therapy session, in which Jules soliloquies about gender, family, love, self-image, self-harm and more. The script is sometimes overly precious, but it all comes together thanks to the strong force that is Hunter Schafer. It offers an indelible show over time, making it a very memorable and special episode of television.
The episode literally keeps a very close attention on Jules, a large part of it takes place in very long photos of Jules in the foreground talking through her feelings. Some of these feelings refer to her sex and sexuality: she thinks about giving up some hormones because she feels she has made so many decisions in life, based on making herself desirable for men. Some of these feelings refer to her mother, an addict with whom she has little relationship. Many of these feelings refer to Rue. All these things touch each other. Jules expresses his anger at Rue because he made her sobriety depend on Jules’ availability to her. At first she doesn’t realize she’s talking about Rue the same way she talks about her mother. Her therapist must emphasize it. These small moments really make this feel like a real and intensely incisive therapy session. Jules talks as if she knows exactly how she feels, but sometimes she doesn’t see what’s in front of her.
The direction of the episode is a little brighter than “The problems don’t always last”, but there is still a level of restraint that is not really seen in most of the first season of the show. The pulls from the therapy session are fluid and dynamic. “No girl has ever looked at me the way Rue did,” Jules says as we look at Rue’s face from her perspective. Even the stage lighting feels intimate and warm. Euphoria it’s so good at evoking specific feelings, and this episode centered on Jules really feels like a deep dive into the character’s interior.
TSeveral parts of the episode that doubt reality work quite well, leaning into some of them. Euphoriaoverworked aesthetics, but remaining strongly based on emotional narration. Jules enters a kind of horror landscape as he remembers having sex with “Tyler,” who was really Nate fishing for her. She created a fantasy when she sent it through sex, and this fantasy is pierced by reality. A reality in which Nate was trying to hurt her. The episode is distorted in a very stylized sequence, which depends on a pulsating score and a dance-like block. But he still feels strongly rooted in character, full of palpable emotions and creating a sense of horror and confusion.
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We also see literally one of Jules’ nightmares playing out and it’s a stark contrast to the fantasy life Rue imagined for her and Jules in New York. Rue’s addiction deeply affects Jules, especially because of his relationship with her mother. In the same way Euphoria borrowing so much empathy from Rue’s experiences as an addict, this episode examines all the challenges of being an addict’s support system and being intimate with someone who is struggling with addiction. We see her in the way Jules thinks of her mother and we see her in the way she interacts with Rue. The two share so much. They have so much love for each other, but that love gives and is needed. There is so much care in the scene of Rue’s administration of Jules’ photographs. And then there’s so much destruction in Jules’ nightmare that Rue can’t answer the door. Their dynamic remains the strongest part of the show, but it is particularly fascinating in what is difficult to define. The story between them is as moving as the conflict between them. Jules and Rue devastate and delight.
Even if not much happens in this episode, a lot happens at the character level. “I want to be as beautiful as the ocean,” Jules thought at one point. This thought goes to his grandmother’s memories, a contemplation of femininity, a note of spirituality with a trans goal. It is interspersed with photographs of Jules in the ocean. It’s beautiful, but there is also a deliberate mess. Reminiscent of Angela Chase’s free monologues from The so-called life, and Hunter Schafer is as compelling as a teenager full of contradictions and complexity as Claire Danes was in that role. Watching the episode, you seem to be reading Jules’ diary. It feels like you have an unfiltered, organic and complicated look in her psyche. Her thoughts intertwine between so many different significant moments and memories in her life, but everything is connected. Euphoria it keeps us so deeply rooted in Jules’ perspective that it’s easy to follow it from one point to another.
Again, none of this could really work if Schafer weren’t so talented and mastered the material. The dialogue on Euphoria it can occasionally feel so poetically intentional that it almost appears stilted or overworked. This is sometimes true in “Fuck Anyone Who’s Not A Sea Blob”, but it is also one of the strongest episodes written in the entire series. Sam Levinson is usually the only writing credit for the episodes, but this time he shares a co-writing credit with Schafer, making her the star of this episode on several levels. The scenario is a quiet but powerful flow of consciousness that captivates. We see that Jules moves between so many different emotions, desires and perceptions by herself. It’s the kind of mess …mess that feels deeply human. Euphoria it leaves Jules full of contradictions. Her monologues have specificity, but they manage to achieve so many things simultaneously. Writing does a lot with little and no Euphoriaordinary speed.
Lost remarks
- All awards for Hunter Schafer please! Also, let her co-write more episodes, because this script is really great!
- I really didn’t know how I would feel about this episode, because I tend to hate it every time the TV does therapy sessions, but it actually feels like a pretty believable therapy session.
- Zendaya and Hunter Schafer on screen together are so good.