Euphoria needed an episode like this. For one thing, creator Sam Levinson finally slows his roll. The camera – which typically glides, swoops, and whip-pans – takes a breath. It’s a welcome respite for an audience who are approximately one elaborate shot away from following in Cassie’s footsteps and projectile vomiting from motion sickness. Instead, the lens pauses – and finds Rue in its line of sight.
Episode five picks up where four left off: has Rue overdosed again? It’s a fair question given that we last saw her shoveling pills down her throat on a night that culminated with Rue hallucinating her own funeral. Thankfully, the answer is no. But what transpires over the next hour is hardly less emotionally devastating. Episode five extinguishes any happiness Euphoria had left to offer.
