Nate dies, Cassie tries to sleep her way to the top
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for ‘Rain or Shine’, Season 3, Episode 7 of ‘Euphoria”, now streaming on HBO Max.
Once again, Rue Bennett ends an episode of “Euphoria” in danger, but one of her high school classmates is even worse off.
Zendaya’s character has had a rough season, recently narrowly avoiding having her head chopped off with a polo mallet. Now, however, she’s in danger of being discovered while trying to rob a drug cartel, after Faye (Chloe Cherry), who had tried to help Rue after being told that Wayne (Toby Wallace) wants Rue dead, turns on her and screams to wake everyone up.
But it’s Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) who actually ends the episode dead – seemingly undeniably, as we see his wife Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) crying over his necrotizing body. This is what happened in the penultimate episode of the season.
Death of a golden boy
Nate Jacobs has changed a lot since high school. The character who generated much of the show’s intrigue and menace in the show’s first two seasons thanks to his barely controllable anger had been humbled by life. His failures in business and his debts to loan sharks left him with a weakened, sad resignation. It was an interesting note for Elordi to play, and it led us to a sad fate that he narrowly avoided in the end.
The loan sharks, who have Nate hostage for a $1 million debt, have buried Nate in a shallow grave with a small vent to the outside world, giving Cassie, who they also kidnap in this episode, three days to come up with the money to buy Nate’s freedom. Once Cassie manages to worm her way out (she asks Maddy (Alexa Demie), who asks Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), who shows up at the drop site and shoots one of the loan sharks, ending the standoff), she is able to reunite with Nate. But some time before, a rattlesnake had come through the vent and bit Nate, making the whole endeavor pointless. At least Cassie tried.
It’s a gruesome send-off for a character who had previously shown a great capacity for violence towards others. And as the season finale approaches, it opens up a whole new emotional playbook for a character who has gone from a dissatisfied wife to suddenly a widow, all within the first months of her marriage.
The Fall and Rise of Cassie
You might wonder if Maddy helped Cassie at all; the latter’s hasty decision in the previous episode to quit OnlyFans to pursue a legitimate acting career has cut off a vital income stream to her aspiring manager. Cassie was unfortunately fired from “LA Nights” after production decided she didn’t want to deal with the hassle of explaining the star’s previous work; After trying desperately (and unsuccessfully) to get her old account back, with all its followers, Cassie needed a plan.
Enter Dylan Reed (Homer Gere), the actor who had shared scenes with Cassie before her firing and was sad to see her leave the production. Before kidnapping Cassie, she executed a plan to perfection: on a date with Dylan, she got him drunk, had sex with him, and — while Dylan was in a post-coital haze and not paying attention — stole his phone to post on his Instagram that Cassie was remarkable in bed (in cruder terms). Cassie created the post while Dylan was in the kitchen drinking a glass of ice water that he didn’t notice contained Nate’s frozen finger — a sick reminder of how much suffering was happening elsewhere.
Ali’s backstory
In a signature flashback narrated by Euphoria Rue, we see Ali (Colman Domingo) on his journey to finding sobriety. After an explosive fight with his wife, Ali hangs out in a flophouse with a character played by Natasha Lyonne; later, as he works on the stairs, we see him trying to sponsor other addicts, especially during the dark days of COVID, when in-person meetings fell away.
Ali is now looking to do the same again for Rue, although he seems to feel like this is going to be an increasingly challenging fight. Rue, after seeing a burning bush as a sign at the end of last week’s episode, tells Ali that she heard the voice of God telling her, “I have heard your cries, I feel your pain; have faith and I will bring you out of Egypt and I will lead you to the Promised Land.” Ali seems lovingly bewildered for the time being.
Rue’s spiritual awakening
Rue, in her connection with faith, seems to have a new sense that anything is possible; she survived a near car accident and finally saw a burning bush. What can’t she do? (For example, don’t let Lexi, played by Maude Apatow, get annoyed with her: After Rue tries to explain her connection to the divine, Lexi snaps, “No wonder your mom doesn’t talk to you anymore.”)
This could explain why Rue is playing an increasingly complex game between the two rival cartels. He tries to convince Laurie (Martha Kelly) that Alamo distrusts Rue because he knows Rue’s true loyalty is with Laurie. (In service of this untruth, Rue attempts to beat herself up and leave bruises.) To reward Rue’s stated desire to switch sides, the cartel threatens her with all manner of violence before slicing open her palm with a knife. Their methods are questionable, but they are right to be suspicious; Rue attempts her heist, with Faye’s help, in the middle of the night, before the state of the safe (surprise! No money in it, just a bunch of IDs) convinces Faye that Rue has been lying all along. Let the shout be heard – and danger for Rue as the season reaches its endgame.
