If you thought Euphoria couldn't get any more stressful, well, you probably haven't seen season two, episode five. Warning: Spoilers ahead. The latest episode, “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird,” is currently available to stream on NOW. Watch it and come back.
A lot happens in the episode, but we're going to focus on the first 15 minutes. At the top of the episode, everything goes to shit for Rue (Zendaya) after her mom (Nika King) has learned of her daughter's relapse.
While Rue initially thinks her sister Gia (Storm Reid) ratted her out, it's revealed Jules (Hunter Schafer) and Elliot (Dominik Fike) are also present for this intervention when Jules tells Rue that Mrs Bennett has flushed her entire suitcase of drugs down the drain – you know, the drugs that she was supposed to sell for a terrifying drug dealer, whom she owes $10,000…. Not good.
Excitement is fever-pitch!
However, while your mind was playing out the ramifications of those actions and processing the ensuing fight between Rue and Jules, cop chase, and that Nate-Cassie bombshell, you may have forgotten one plot detail that kind of makes the whole situation even more terrible.
After viewing the episode, TikTok user @Trisa_3 posted a video questioning why Rue's mom would immediately flush the drugs instead of ensuring that Rue wasn't in deeper trouble outside of abusing narcotics. “If I found a large suitcase of drugs in my daughter's room, I would not just throw them out,” she said. “I would assume the worst and I would assume she owes someone.”
Fair! But to make matters worse, Jeremy O. Harris, a playwright and consulting producer on Euphoria, thought it prudent to remind fans of something that happened in episode four that makes the entire first scene even more messed up. “[Rue] had told Elliot her whole plan,” he commented.
There are no mistakes, only iconic moments.
This is true. Rue told Elliot all about the drugs in last week's episode, which means he knew about the money and still let Mrs. Bennett flush the drugs anyway! For what?!
Many fans of Euphoria have been suspicious of Elliot since the beginning of the season, but this is pretty trash behaviour, even coming from the guy who has seemingly been manipulating Jules and Rue for his own personal amusement.
His final words, “I liked Rue the way she was,” just prove Elliot never really cared about Rue in the first place.
“Might as well start engraving Zendaya’s name onto that Emmy.”
