SPOILER ALERT: This post contains details about the Euphoria season finale “All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I Cannot Name.”
The turbulent highs of Euphoria came crashing down on Sunday with a season ender that bid farewell to Fezco’s (Angus Cloud) ever-loyal partner in crime, Ashtray (Javon Walton).
After Lexi’s (Maude Apatow) juicy, tell-all school play left romances and friendships hanging by a thread, Sam Levinson’s HBO drama picks up with the tension at Fezco’s, where impending violence awaits. Custer (Tyler Chase) says the cops found Mouse’s body, the dealer Ash murdered at the beginning of the season. Before it becomes a bigger issue, Ash stabs Custer in the throat.
Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), after being blown off by Nate (Jacob Elordi), storms the school auditorium in a quiet rage, as the play continues. She makes her way to the stage and begins berating her sister for her work in front of the audience.
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“Can we get a round of applause for how hard Lexi’s life is?” she mocks.
The sisters battle it out on stage. Suze (Alanna Ubach), the girls’ mother tries to deescalate the situation. Maddy (Alexa Demie) then gets into the drama, calling Cassie out for dating Nate behind her back.
However, the show must go on and so it does. Lexi’s play includes notable moments from the Season 1 finale, including thatinfamous carousel scene. Maddy finds an opening on stage to slap Cassie and the play becomes a messy treat for everyone to see. The fight then moves to the hallways of Euphoria high.
With the curtains closed, Rue (Zendaya) recalls visiting Elliot (Dominic Fike) after he snitched to her mother about her drug use.
“I think you might’ve accidentally saved my life,” she reluctantly confesses. Shortly after she said she has no intentions of apologizing to Elliot, he performs a song for her.
Back in the present, Lexi commits to finishing what she started and decides to keep the play going, even after all the chaos it has caused. Helping her find the courage to do so is Rue, who starts chanting her name from the audience.
With the latest kill, it’s clear that Fez isn’t going to make it to Lexi’s play. Fez, knowing that S.W.A.T. is en route to clear them out, says he’s willing to take the fall for the two murders, much to Ash’s dismay.
After storming out of the play, Nate loads his father’s gun and meets his dad (Eric Dane). Nate asks whether Cal is happier now that he’s left the family and fully accepted himself and his sexuality. They each own up to their shortcomings and insecurities. But transparency isn’t enough for Nate.
“I don’t want your apology, I just want revenge,” he tells his dad. Turns out Nate has copies of all his father’s incriminating videos and tipped off the cops. However, Cal isn’t the only one being detained in the season ender.
East Highland S.W.A.T. officers finally arrive to Fez’s with guns loaded. After locking himself in the bathroom, Ash defends himself by shooting officers through the door. When a S.W.A.T. officer comes into check whether he survived the raining bullets, Ash kills him with a shotgun. Shortly after, a sniper laser appears on his chest and eventually his forehead. Fez, heartbroken, is arrested.
The clock turns back once again to Rue’s emotional eulogy for her father, which plays out in real time via Lexi’s play. The episode also revisits the final moments of Lexi and Cassie’s father, and Lexi’s time visiting Rue in the hospital after her first OD.
Sober, Rue finally reconnects with Lexi on a deeper level, and the two process the immense losses they both experienced. Theirs is one of two friendships that seem to rekindle in the finale. After getting it all out, Maddy and Cassie share a quiet moment. But Maddy warns that Cassie’s break up with Nate, “is just the beginning.”
After the play, Jules (Hunter Schafer) tells Rue that she loves her, but that goes unreciprocated. Rue, probably still sore about the fact that her “first love” snitched about her increased drug usage, ends the season with some hope. She says she stayed clean for the rest of the year, and reflects on her time with Jules.
“I don’t know if this feeling with last forever but I am trying,” she says. “The thought of maybe being a good person is what keeps me trying to be a good person.”
The season closes with another Zendaya song, but without the dance and brass of the previous season ender. However, questions are still up in the air about a number of threads: Will Laurie come after Rue? Is this the last Euphoria will see of Cal Jacobs? Can Lexi and Cassie ever recover as sisters after the play?
Hopefully Euphoria season 3, will provide answers, and much more.
