Euphoria Secretly Hints Rue Will Relapse Again In Season 3
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Euphoria season 2
The Euphoria season 2 finale hints that Rue may relapse once again in season 3 of the HBO show. Played deftly by Zendaya, Euphoria's Rue Bennett is the tragic character at the center of the boundary-pushing teen drama. From the onset of the series, Euphoria has held nothing back in depicting Rue's struggle with addictions after the unexpected death of her father when she is a young teen. Euphoria season 1 saw Rue sober up as she explored a romantic relationship with Jules (Hunter Schafer), but her grasp on a drug-free life was tenuous at best and, at the conclusion of the first season, Rue relapsed after Jules leaves her.
The first half of Euphoria season 2 tracks Rue's descent to rock bottom, reintroducing audiences to the character at the height of her relapse. Things only get worse from there as she concocts a plan to obtain a copious amount of drugs from supplier Laurie (Martha Kelly), who threatens her with dire consequences if Rue can not pay her back. Naturally, things don't go according to plan, and, in Euphoria season 2 episode 5, the show tracks Rue as she runs from an intervention. While this intervention doesn't go smoothly, Rue ultimately relents and by the end of season 2, Zendaya's character is sober and hopeful about her future.
Unfortunately, it seems like that hope may not last. In the closing moments of Euphoria season 2's finale, Rue is walking out of East Highland High School after the conclusion of Lexi's play. Rue narrates the scene, pontificating on her relationship with Jules and what the future holds. Then, she says, "I stayed clean for the rest of the school year. I wish I could say that was a decision I made. In some ways, it was just easier." Rue's narration of the show has been a trademark of Euphoria but it's always been unclear from which point in time she's been talking to audiences. This has prompted many theories about the future of Euphoria without Zendaya and whether or not her character is narrating the series from beyond the grave, hinting that audiences may not have seen the last of Rue's addiction struggles.
While what Rue says in the Euphoria season 2 finale provides no insight into that theory, one thing is clear - Zendaya's character is narrating from the future. If that's the case, the way in which she uses the past tense to describe her sobriety is a troubling indicator that she may not stay sober. This is underscored by the fact that she says it wasn't her choice, as Rue has consistently made it clear that she would sometimes rather do drugs until she dies than stay sober.
While it remains to be seen what happens in Euphoria season 3, Rue relapsing once again poses an interesting question for the show. While it would no doubt accurately depict the very real struggle of people who live with addiction and the fact that relapse is a common occurrence on the journey to sobriety, it also begs the question as to how long Euphoria can keep this up. Watching season after season of Rue suffering is not necessarily enjoyable for the audience, and while Euphoria has never been known for its light-heartedness or sanitized storytelling, putting Rue through the wringer again and again for the sake of it seems counterintuitive to the evolution of the show.
Euphoria may need to grow beyond Rue and her addiction at some point and it's certainly possible to do that. From foregrounding characters that were otherwise wasted in season 2 (like Barbie Ferreira's Kat) to following a new generation of East Highland High Schoolers, there are plenty of opportunities to move beyond Rue. How Rue's story will end will be a major point of contention for Euphoria's audience - it's hard not to root for Zendaya's character despite all the damage she's done and this is thanks to the actress' pathos-laden performance. Still, having Rue relapse once again could be a mistake, feeding audiences false hope just to rip it away from them.