Recap and opinions from the fifth episode of the show’s second season.
Where We Left Off
Last week we witnessed a series of breakdowns.
Cassie broke down in an effort to keep herself together during Maddy’s birthday party where Nate would be making an appearance. Her increasingly erratic and desperate behavior has all been leading to this complete and utter unraveling. She threw down drink after drink in an effort to numb her emotions and make the night easier for her. The result? A chaotic sequence of events resulting in her vomiting on everyone in the hot tub and having to be dragged out in hysterics by her mother.
Turns out alcohol might not be the best way to keep yourself composed in a stressful situation. Who knew?!
Cal broke down as a result of his confrontation with Fezco earlier this season. While that definitely pushed him over the edge, the events of the show kicking off in the series premiere have been inching him closer to this free fall. There was drinking and driving, there was a trip down memory lane gone wrong, and there was a forceful confessional to his family. In the end the show managed something I never thought it could: it made be kind of like Cal Jacobs.
Emphasis on kinda.
Finally, the episode saw the break down of Jules and Rue’s relationship. Things were teetering from the moment Eliot and Jules met. Rue’s lies, their mutual drug use, inappropriate attraction. Then he started to slowly chip away at Rue in pursuit of Jules. Complementing her, kissing her, and ultimately dropping the bomb that broke the camel’s back – and blew up the rest of the camel. Eliot broke Jules and Rue’s relationship by telling Jules that Rue was not only using, but lying about it. From what we know about Jules, this is an unforgivable development.
In addition to an intense high that left Rue seeing her father and hugging Labrinth in a mysterious church, we came into this week knowing that even with the drama of last week something was lurking. Something was coming and it wasn’t going to be good.
Catch up here if you missed last week’s recap!
Season 2, Episode 5 Deep Dive
All hail Zendaya.
Through the twitterverse, we began to hear rumblings that last night’s performance might be the one to earn Zendaya her second Emmy for portraying Rue. Now maybe having this preconceived notion floating around in our minds primed us to be impressed by her breathtaking turn. Maybe it skewed our perception of the performance. Maybe it stripped us of the ability to be neutral in our consumption of her acting.
Regardless of all that, I was taken aback.
What we watched last night was a bottle episode-esque journey following Rue from the moments her mother confronted her about her drug-use to her escape from a teacher-turned-drug-dealer’s apartment. It took us right back to the antics we had become familiar with from Rue last season. The moments in flashbacks and present moments that taught us the troubling reality of being addicted to drugs. The desperation to get more that leads her to hurting her family again and again and again. The moments that saw her physically and emotionally attacking them when they tried to stop her.
In this return though, we saw a first from Rue. We saw her take this desperation, this ability to hurt and attack others, this effort to avoid getting caught and losing access to her drugs – we saw her take it out on those outside her family. Those who don’t feel as obliged to love her and forgive her and understand her for what she is doing.
After her mother confronted her about using, Rue went ballistic. She zigged and zagged and zigged again – bouncing between anger and desperation and sorrow. She pushed things over and destroyed their home, she yelled hateful and cruel things at her mother, she attempted to attack both her mother and sister. Frantically, she tore through the house looking for her suitcase full of drugs. Screaming for an answer to where they were, she voice straining with anxiety. And as she yelled again asking where the pills were, she got her answer from a surprise guest who had just witnessed all of the terror Rue had been reigning down on her family: Jules.
It came as a shock to Rue and the audience. Expertly timed out to make you feel as surprised and exposed as Rue. My heart began to race at the realization.
Upon seeing Jules and Eliot in her home, Rue brought the hammer down on them too. She took it out on them for snitching on her and helping her mom get rid of the drugs. I found myself crying as she took her anger out on Jules. Saying things she didn’t mean, but saying them with such stinging conviction that they cut deep. Jules stood strong hearing these words, undoubtedly familiar with the pain and hate that can be thrown by one who suffers from addiction.
The performance Zendaya gives in this particular scene – in my opinion – was the highlight of the episode. She is raw and harsh and completely lost in Rue’s character. You forget for a moment that this is the same girl who graces the cover of magazine and whose high-profile relationship is referred to as “adorable.” All of that goes out the window in these few minutes.
After all that pours out her, all that’s left – seemingly – is sorrow. She melts down and cries to her mother who suggests they go to the ER, though it’s obvious to the viewer they plan to bring Rue back to rehab. She complies and piles into the backseat of the car with her mother and sister. When it does become obvious to Rue just where they are headed, she opens the car door and runs, kicking off a series of scrambled events as she runs from her family and the consequences of her actions. As she runs from sobriety.
As the night raged on, Rue popped in and out of various scenes and various lives in an effort to get her hands on something, anything to dull the pain of her withdrawal.
We see her robbing a couple’s house and – despite being caught – making it out the front door with the stolen merchandise still on her person. We see her vomiting in front of police and a long resulting chase that seemed to pay tribute to Ferris Bueller, albeit with a very different tone. We see her trying to bum some drugs off of Fezco, who turns her away forcefully.
But amidst all this wall-to-wall action, there were two big moments from this episode that I would like to focus on.
Rue’s first stop after escaping from her mother’s car and into the street is the Howard’s house. As it seems is typical for this residence, more than just members of the family are home that evening. Cassie, Lexi, and their mother, Suze, are accompanied by Maddy and Kat. All the women welcome Rue with open arms, save Lexi who is immediately worried by Rue’s state. She is sweating and in obvious pain. But Lexi stays quiet, simply observing the situation.
After being trapped in a too-long-for-comfort conversation with Suze, Rue asks to use the restroom. Once she is allowed, she heads up stairs, only to avoid the bathroom and instead rummage through their belongings in the hope of getting a fix. When she emerges, her mother is standing in the threshold ready to take her back into the car and straight to rehab.
Now everyone is aware of the situation. Everyone now stares at Rue knowing she fully relapsed, is in the throws to withdrawal, and is refusing to go to rehab. The mood is drastically different from moments ago as they all hugged Rue and welcomed her in. Now they all stare at her with a mix of pity and fear.
Up until this point I wasn’t sure where this scene was going. It was early on in the episode and Rue already seemed to be backed into a corner. With all eyes on her it seemed impossible for her to weasel her way out of it. However, the possibility of escape opened up through an act of complete deflection of attention. With one quick question, Rue drags Cassie into the spotlight and leaves her for dead.
“How long have you been f**king Nate Jacobs?” she asks Cassie point blank. Sydney Sweeney’s immediate breakdown is spell-binding. She goes from encouraging Rue to seek help to completely melting down in a matter of seconds.
The accusation boils over into a full-blown verbal brawl between Cassie and Maddy. While Rue’s mother and Suze attempt to settle things down, Rue runs off in the smoky cover of her distraction. What she leaves behind is not a life, but lives made messy by her revelation. She laid it all out there with no remorse for her own actions. Because their lives and their privacy and the ramifications of her words meant little to her in the face of withdrawal.
This show does a marvelous job of shoving the realities of drug-use in your face. The ugly, malevolent realities. Even through the beautiful imagery and stylized filming, it is heinous to see. While I find the entirety of the show entertaining, I believe that it’s ability to paint Rue’s life in the harsh and brash way it does is the single biggest strength the show has. It’s best moments are often hard to watch and they nearly always involve Rue.
Ultimately, Rue finally finds her solace with Laurie – the owner of her long-lost suitcase. Stumbling in, Rue lays it all out there. She doesn’t have the money she promised Laurie, but instead offers the jewelry and cash she stole earlier in the evening. She is in desperate need for drugs and, having lost all hope, she asks for anything to help with the pain she is in.
In her strange cadence, Laurie reveals some details of her own life with Rue. As a former athlete, she suffered a bad injury that led to an oxycontin prescription. She didn’t realize it was addictive until she ran out and desperately needed more. Her life as an addict and struggles with withdrawal landed her where she is now. This ability to relate to young Rue, leads her to offer a bath and the only thing she has left – liquid morphine.
At first Rue rejects the offer, not typically one to use needles as a medium for drug consumption. But the withdrawal symptoms ultimately win over and she allows Laurie to inject the morphine directly into her veins. Anyone who has a fear of needles likely cringed in discomfort as she searched for a viable entry point in Rue’s arm.
With that Rue collapses into sleep and we are left with some answers, but still many questions about what the deal is with Laurie. And if we should be afraid of her going forward.
We end up not knowing if Rue makes it home. Even though we know that she escapes Laurie’s home through a window, we don’t know if her running ended there or will continue next week.
This episode brought us back to the core of what this show is: the harsh realities of the struggles of teens today. Everything from familial drama to abortions to cheating to struggling to love yourself to hiding your true self. All of this is happening around us and while we may refuse to recognize it, it’s out there.
No doubt the harshest of these realities is Rue’s drug use. The events and conditions in her life that have driven her to rely so heavily on them. Her admittance that using is her plan of action going forward. Her awareness that she is slowly killing herself. Her revelation that she doesn’t plan on living for much longer. Her treatment of her family as a result of drug use. It’s hard to hear and it’s hard to watch, but for anyone who has known an addict, a part of it – if not all of it – rings true.
We don’t know where Rue’s journey will go from here, but we do hold our collective breath. It doesn’t look like she is going to be getting better any time soon and there is much further down she can sink. The death of her character this season is starting to feel inevitable, but that’s just one girl’s opinion.
The show got renewed for a third season this week. It brings many to wonder if the show has plans to continue on following Rue’s passing or if she will make it through after all, dragging us all along with her.
Just One Girl's Opinion 
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