Recapping The Second Half and Finale of Euphoria Season 2
The first half of Euphoria definitely left me on an emotional roller-coaster anticipating what would happen next. I was shipping new couples, wondering about the break-ups of others, and curious to know what would happen with the video of Jules and Cal. If you have not yet seen my recap for the first half, you can do so here. The second half for the most part did not disappoint in answering my questions, but the finale did leave me sort of stuck. Hard to explain really, but I neither loved nor hated the finale. You’ll see what I mean in a bit, but first, let’s break down each episode leading into the finale. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
Episode 5: Stand Still Like The Hummingbird
Honestly, this episode could have a review all on its own. I mean holy cow this episode had Zendaya earning all the Emmys and awards. Seriously if people are questioning the genius or acting of this series, they just need to see this episode to understand. Kudos to the entire cast because I mean just wow. From beginning to end, I was completely on the edge of my seat with my heart racing a thousand beats a minute. I didn’t even know if I could get through it, but I am so glad that I did. The episode starts with Rue’s mom questioning Rue’s sobriety which we know thus far Rue has not at all stayed clean. She has been doing countless drugs with Elliott as well as making a deal with Laurie, the creepy, calm drug dealer, resulting in her obtaining a case of drugs worth $10,000.
Rue tries to play it off that she is only doing marijuana, but she doesn’t know her mom knows the real truth. Turns out after Elliott revealed to Jules that he was doing drugs with Rue, Jules decided to tell Rue’s mom she wasn’t clean. With Rue’s mom knowing the whole truth, she took the case of drugs and flushed them all down. I want Rue to be clean, I really do, but 10,000 down the toilet like that. Holy Jeez! I honestly felt so bad for Rue at that moment because Laurie warned her bad stuff was coming her way if she screwed her over and honestly that woman terrifies me. Obviously, Rue knows she is in deep **** if she doesn’t find that case so she goes completely ballistic towards everyone. Her finding out it was Jules who told her mom was the tip of the iceberg though and it was so painful seeing Rue tell off Jules. I knew their relationship wouldn’t last but that doesn’t mean Rue’s words didn’t cut deep into Jules’ heart.
After Rue yells at Jules, she agrees to go with her mom to the hospital. However, Rue’s mom made a big mistake. Huge. In the car on the way to the “hospital”, Rue’s mom tells her they are actually going to rehab which sets Rue off into getting out of the car in the middle of traffic. I have no idea why Rue’s mom would admit the truth at that moment, but I guess the truth was going to come out at some point and now we see Rue begins her track career running through cars and homes in the most anxiety-inducing scene ever.
This episode was so stressful all the way to the end where Rue ends up at Laurie’s place where Laurie probes her multiple times in the arm. I really thought Rue was a goner for sure. The way Laurie was taking, I thought for sure she was going to use Rue’s body to earn back the money. Despite the race of scared emotions, I felt during this episode, there was one moment that had me cheering and so surprised at the same time. Do you know when that is?
During Rue’s escape, she makes a pit stop at Cassie’s and Lexi’s house where all the girls were hanging out. In true Cassie form, she opens her mouth at the wrong time and Rue reveals Cassie has been seeing Nate behind Maddy’s back. I did not think it would be Rue who would tell Maddy the truth, but I was thrilled the truth was finally out. I was ready for Maddy to smack the heck out of her. I don’t condone violence, but this is tv and I need Maddy to put that “you know what” in her place. Like Cassie, honey, you can’t seriously think it was okay what you did. That’s what makes Cassie’s actions so horrible because she started with the tears like oh she is my best friend to then trying to justify her actions. Just no. It’s called Girl Code, look it up. It’s also called Nate is a psycho and you should have more self-respect than that. Period.
In this episode, we don’t exactly get the huge brawl between Maddy and Cassie that I expected, but it’s okay, all in good time.
Episode 6: A Thousand Little Trees of Blood
At the end of episode 5, Rue manages to escape Laurie’s and returns home. A few days have passed and Rue is going through the hard times of withdrawal. In her struggling times, she manages to take some time to reflect and try to right the wrongs she committed against her peers starting with Ali. Rue said some really harsh things to Ali so it makes sense she would feel regret. She calls him to apologize which he luckily accepts and later comes over to cook dinner for her family. Honestly got to love Ali and kudos to him for trying to speak to Gia because poor baby girl gets pushed to the side in all of this mess. It is clear Gia loves her sister, but no one is really there to help her through the trauma she faced seeing her sister overdose. I know she didn’t want to open up to Ali, but still, it is nice to see her feelings addressed.
On the other side of things, we finally get a moment with Kat. Yea Kat, remember her? Not sure if the rumors are true about actress Barbie getting into a fight with the creator causing her to have less of a storyline, but it does seem true. The only story we have seen from Kat this season is her struggling with her relationship with Ethan and herself. She doesn’t seem to be into him and she didn’t quite understand at first. I totally get this and can relate, but girl did not handle it right. Kat finally gets the nerve to break things off with Ethan, but she does so by creating a fake storyline about having a fatal brain condition. A brain condition, yup that’s her story and she is sticking to it. Obviously, Ethan sees through her and just ends things because she can’t be open and honest enough to end things with him. Honestly good for you Ethan because girl is acting a mess right now. This show isn’t so great with healthy relationships anyhow so what can we expect.
In other relationship news, Maddy finally knows about Cassie and Nate’s relationship and she still has the disc of Jules’ and Cal’s night. Finally, the video comes back into play because at this point Jules still had no idea she was being filmed which leads to the darkest, craziest moment of the season. Nate decides he is going to get the disc back because he doesn’t want his father’s reputation to ruin the business Nate will inherit. Leave it to Nate to never do things normally or calmly. Dude has the nerve to show up in Maddy’s room, threatening her with a gun for the disc, and even pretends to shoot himself while laying on top of her. Like seriously, What The ****!? Nate has done some terrible, terrible messed-up things in the past, but this was on another level for me. I don’t know how Maddy can get through that one and that scene just showed how much she really did love him despite everything. I know these characters are not real, but I would love all of them to find peace and true happiness because did I mention how this show has no healthy relationships.
Nate does get the disc back and decides to give it to Jules. Yay, I guess. This guy is really all over the place and I still hate him. And despite him clearly still having feelings for both Maddy and Jules, he decides to have Cassie move in with him. Like okay, sure. Mhmm. On that note, I’m over this episode.
Episode 7: The Theater and Its Double
So why all this madness has been going on, Lexi has been in the background observing it all and ends up writing it into a school play she plans to put on in front of everyone. She is nervous people may take it the wrong way so she has been talking it over with her new friend, Fez getting his advice. He is trouble in a sense, but their relationship is totally cute. Very surprised the actors are not dating in real life with how much chemistry they have, but it turns out Maude (Lexi) might be dating the guy who played Tyler. Didn’t really see that coming. Anyways, Fez has been supporting Lexi and promises to be at her show. Or maybe not.
It is showtime and Fez is nowhere to be found at school, but the play goes on with everyone else in attendance. It doesn’t take long for everyone to realize the play is about them and their lives (i.e Maddy, Cassie, Nate, Kat, Rue, and Lexi). I really thought it was going to bother everybody, but it only ended up being Cassie and Nate upset. Of course. Honestly, though the play only really depicted Cassie and Nate in a more negative light, I thought everyone else would be offended with Lexi talking about their personal lives.
I have mixed thoughts on the episode. The play was super fun at times, especially with Lexi’s mom and her reactions. It reminded me so much of Mean Girls which is fitting since the actress who plays Lexi’s mom is from Legally Blonde. Crazy fact, but she also played Mama Imelda in Coco. Anyways, other than those fun moments, the direction of the play was a bit confusing at times because the show would go to scenes from the past, but then end up in the present time in the play. The back and forth would get a little confusing at times and trying to understand how Lexi knew all this stuff. The scene with Kat dancing in her camgirl mask had me very confused. I just didn’t always understand where we were in time because as we know Sam, the creator, doesn’t always play by the same rules of cinematography and direction.
Overall it was a great episode, but it was mostly a build-up for the finale, especially with Fez and Ashtray’s fate. We see Fez get ready to go to the play which was so sweet to see him get all dressed up for Lexi. But the sweet quickly ended when Custer shows up who has been acting like a little rat in the background. At this point, we are dreading something happening to Fez or Ashtray, but their fate doesn’t look good.
Episode 8: All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I Cannot Name
Here we are ladies and gentlemen, the finale. So again since the play is still occurring, there are times of confusion, however, I only really care about my questions being answered and making sure Fez is okay. Let’s start at the beginning. At the end of the last episode, Nate gets super pissed about the play and breaks up with Cassie because sure somehow it’s all her fault. In true Cassie form, she does not take this well and tries to go all Carrie psycho at the play. She goes up on stage and calls out Lexi for judging all their lives when she doesn’t have a life herself. This gives Maddy the perfect chance to go ham on this chick and teach her a lesson or two. I have been waiting for this so when that first slap hit, I was like “YASSSSSSSSS”. Legit I was cheering her on to get her. But man when Cassie’s face smacked against that brick, I was dead. I wish we got more than what we did, but it was still satisfying for Cassie to be knocked down a peg. Maddy wasn’t wrong though, this is only the beginning.
I still have some concerns about Maddy. When she quit her job as a babysitter, I didn’t understand if she was leaving or if she was just talking about after high school. I don’t want her to go as a character so I hope she only meant her future after high school. Also, did anyone else get weird vibes between her and Samantha? I mean maybe she was only being a friend, but I get a sense Sam had different plans in mind for those two characters, but then changed that decision. Who knows?
Now rumors had been speculating of death during the season finale, so of course, that is what everybody is waiting for to see who might die. Fez and Ashtray are the biggest targets since Ashtray had killed Mouse last season and now the cops are on to them thanks to Custer. I don’t think anyone wanted anything to happen to Fez nor Ashtray, but it was pretty certain something bad was coming. The moment comes when Fez is about to leave for the play, but Custer bursts those plans. Before Custer can even reveal what is going on, Ashtray stabs and kills Custer. I’m happy Faye tried to help, but once Ashtray knows something is up, there isn’t really stopping him. Fez has to come up with a plan quickly and wants to take the heat for Ashtray. Ashtray is a really stubborn, violent torn-up kid though. This scene had me all torn up. I didn’t want anyone to die especially not Fez. However, everything Ashtray did make it inevitable for his death. I was completely shocked to see him die the way he did and my heart broke for Fez who desperately wanted to protect Ashtray. There are theories Ashtray didn’t really die because we didn’t see it, but guys I’m 100% positive he is gone. I just don’t think HBO wanted to show a kid die with a bullet to the head. Plus looks like the actor for Ashtray will appear in the next season of Umbrella Academy so there you have it. The actor revealed he wasn’t originally meant to die, but they made changes the night before filming so maybe his contract for a new show had something to do with it. Regardless, if anyone had to die, I think it made more sense for Ashtray over Fez.
Overall it was a heartbreaking scene to watch, but the rest of the finale left me kind of unresolved with mixed feelings. First off, we know Fez is injured and taken into custody while Ashtray is dead, but it is not revealed to anyone at any point in the finale. I thought there would at least be one scene where it comes out to build up anticipation for the next season. Poor Lexi doesn’t even know why he wasn’t at her play or what he wrote to her in his note.
Two, we get another scene with Nate where he has decided to just take this gun with him everywhere he goes now to go and confront his father. This is much needed for Nate and Cal because there are way too many unresolved issues there, but it does not go down at all how I expected. The gun was once again for nothing, but a weird scared tactic and Nate turns his dad into the police instead. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what Cal is being arrested for because as far as we know Jules was the only minor. Maybe I missed something so let me know in the comments what you think. At the end good for Nate for addressing his feelings towards his dad, but overall I was left feeling meh.
Lastly, Rue. Rue lets us know she stayed clean for the rest of the school year but can’t speak for the future. She walks off and we get another music moment from Zendaya. I absolutely love hearing Zendaya sing and definitely want more music from her. However, this ending moment felt way less climatic for me than the first season. The first season finale had you feeling like whoa, what is going to happen next or what just happened? It left you wanting more. This time I’m like, where is this going now and where are we in time? Plus I wanted more action and answers. Like how in the world did Laurie not show up again and steal Rue or something. I don’t think she can get away from Laurie that easily. Therefore I wish there was more time spent giving me answers to major plot points versus spending time on Elliott singing.
All in all, I didn’t love the finale because I was missing more, but I didn’t hate it. I think most of the content was good, but it was missing more of the action I felt like we were anticipating. Maybe because the first season was so amazing, I expected more out of this season. Still amazing work from all of the actors and so happy to get more of a spotlight for characters like Lexi. I definitely expect Zendaya to win another Emmy and hope some awards will come to the other actors as well. If anyone hears some news on the release year for season 3, let me know because I have been seeing 2024 for Season 3, but I don’t see why it would take that long. It took two years for season 2 because of the pandemic so I don’t see it taking two years again. I guess we shall see.
RIP Ashtray. Do you think Ashtray is really dead? What did you think about the finale? What was your favorite moment this season? Do you think Rue will stay clean next season? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to like, share and subscribe to get notified of new posts. So sorry for this late post, but I had been really sick which put me off schedule. But stay tuned because my Batman review will be going live this week, so stay tuned. You can also follow Bombshell on social media on Facebook (@bombshellgamingandstyle), Twitter (@bombgame_style), and Instagram (@bombshellgamingstyle) where you can also get notified of new posts or videos. Until next time my bombshells, Bye!
