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The latest episode of Euphoria, Season 1 Episode 6, is called “The Next Episode.” This review/recap was written live while the episode aired. This post will have major spoilers for Euphoria episode 6.
Like the last few episodes, tonight’s episode is named after a popular song. This one is by Dr. Dre. You can watch the song’s music video below, which features Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, and Nate Dogg.
Euphoria‘s description for episode 6 reads: “In the aftermath of the carnival, Maddy and Nate are forced to deal with a police investigation. Jules begins to feel pressured by her role in Rue’s sobriety. Kat ignores a confused Ethan and embraces her new lifestyle. Cassie tries to distance herself from Daniel.”
And now on to the live review…
Today’s episode starts with a look back at McKay’s background. Even as a child, he pushed himself to be great in football, pushed by pressure from his dad. They both believed he could be a star in football one day, but that pressure sometimes got to McKay and turned to anger when he would lose. His dad told him to take all his anger, bottle it up, and unleash it in the game itself.
McKay, naturally shy, found confidence in the game of football and when he was recruited for a college team, he could imagine a life in the NFL. But in college he realized everyone was great and he didn’t have a great chance of going pro after all. Sadly, this is a realization that many people can relate to and it’s truly tough to deal with. That’s when he met Cassie and fell in love. But he also always felt jealous of her and the attention she got from other guys (including Daniel.)
Next we cut to Rue and Jules going out for Halloween. Jules is dressed as an angel and she doesn’t really seem into this date, sadly. :(
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McKay was not happy about how Cassie was dressed for a Halloween party at his college and made her change, while all the other girls at the party were dressed provocatively. So Cassie dressed the same way the next night for her high school party and got a lot of compliments from Daniel. Things are NOT looking good for McKay and Cassie.
Kat, meanwhile, is building her cam empire. Someone named Masterade99 offered her a lot of money for a cam session, but she turned them down. Then they bought her entire Amazon wishlist, which started to bother her. That IS creepy and I think more is going to come of this Masterade99.
Jules got drunk fast at the party, and Rue sensed something was off. This is NOT good.
Lexi dressed up as Bob Ross for the party. That was one of the only lighthearted moments in the show and I’m very thankful for it.
Lexi lmfaooo that costume hahaha #Euphoria
We learn that Nate was temporarily expelled from school. But when he and his family show up at a restaurant for dinner, they’re turned away. The restaurant owner tells them: “The situation with your son… a lot of people are talking… I know (he’s innocent.) It’s just …”
Nate is a serial killer in the making #Euphoria
Rue tells us that Nate was depressed, staying in bed, driving around without any purpose, checking in on Maddy and Jules from afar… (I just don’t feel sorry for Nate, Euphoria. It’s not working. He is creepy.) Meanwhile, Nate and Maddy were still meeting at the motel every Friday night. Pretty much the picture of dysfunction.
Nate’s obsession with Jules is so disturbing. I’m worried something’s going to go very wrong near the end of the season. :(
Meanwhile, Rue is still feeling something’s off with her and Jules at the Halloween party. But she gets distracted when she sees her little sister at the party with Troy. She threatens Troy to not get her sister high or go past first base with her or she will call on everyone she met in rehab. Troy is a true gentleman after their talk, haha. Seeing a protective Rue was a fun scene, and another lighthearted moment that we really needed.
troy sitting there while rue was going off on him #EuphoriaHBO #euphoria
Cassie tries texting McKay but he just comments that he can tell she’s drunk, which makes her angrier.
Ethan tries to chat with Kat and she attempts to scare him off by being as dark as possible. Not disturbed, Ethan wants to understand why things got cold between them at the carnival. “What is with your weird fascination with me?” Kat asks, not understanding Ethan’s interest. She tells him there is no way she will ever be his girlfriend, effectively shutting him down forever. :( (But as we later learned, Ethan was not so easily pushed away.)
Rue apologizes to Fezco and he says he doesn’t take anything drug addicts say personally. Looks like things are OK between them now. :)
Rue & Fezco we stan 😌 #Euphoria
Meanwhile, Daniel is completely taken with Cassie. As one fan wrote on Reddit: “Daniel is a creep but him in that Ted Bundy costume makes him creepier.”
But then we cut to a VERY disturbing scene and fans are still unsure exactly what happened. We see McKay attacked by eight frat guys calling him “McGay” while he and Cassie were having a moment. They push him to the ground, and it’s not clear exactly what happened. McKay locks himself in the bathroom after they leave, crying. This is TERRIBLE. Is this the scene that made the original actor, Brian ‘Astro’ Bradley, quit? I’m not sure what happened, if he was hazed or actually sexually assaulted. Whatever happened, it was traumatizing. :( Still, what he’s done to Cassie isn’t right either. Everyone on this show needs serious counseling.
McKay needs counseling like all of the kids. #EuphoriaHBO #Euphoria
But then McKay walks into the high school party the next day, where he’s going to see Cassie dressed in the way he asked her not to, and he’s going to see Daniel… This is messed up.
Meanwhile, Kat and Ethan are having a moment, so I guess Kat didn’t turn Ethan away completely. Ethan is good for Kat. :)
Now we see Jules swimming in a pool in her full costume. “I have no joy in this contract tonight,” she tells Rue as she quotes Shakespeare. Jules really shouldn’t be swimming while drunk, by the way. :( This show is so dark that I wondered if Jules would have a near-death experience, but thankfully they avoided THAT. This time Rue is having to be the sober, responsible one, and that’s a weird shift.
Ohhhhh, now we flashback to the night before. Nate stopped Jules, with photos of her, and threatened to put her in jail if she didn’t do something for him. OMG. This show is DARK.
Cassie is alone with Daniel and she tries to turn him down when he pressures her to have sex, but agrees to kiss him. Meanwhile, McKay is at the party looking for her. Daniel pressures her in a super creepy way and Cassie is falling for it, ugh. Lexi sees McKay first and tells him that Cassie went home, stopping him from walking in on Cassie and Daniel. Cassie tells Daniel NO because she is drunk and Daniel is MAD. He tells her that he had no interest in her and only wanted to have sex with her. He is super angry and SO mean to her. He tells her any guy who says he’s truly interested in her is lying to her. UGH.
The scene with daniel and cassie was so accurate bc that’s the way some men react when a girl reject them and that’s disgusting #EUPHORIA @euphoriaHBO
In the next scene, Jules is drunk, dressed as an angel, and walking around the party pretty much dead to the world. Rue is heartbroken, but she doesn’t know what happened to Jules to understand why Jules is so messed up. Cassie is heartbroken. This is a terrible party. :(
Rue tells Lexi that she’s a burden, heartbroken. Lexi hugs her: “You’re not a burden.” Jules shows up and has no idea anything is wrong in this situation, too drunk to pick up on the cues. Rue wants to leave but Jules is too drunk to listen. It’s really odd to see Rue being the responsible one – it’s a big shift in roles. But Jules wasn’t ready to take on that role, so it’s not surprising that it happened.
Daniel and Kat exchange looks… NO NO NO.
Cassie goes home and sits in the pantry, drinking.
McKay’s at home with his dad, telling him that going pro isn’t going to be possible for him. Sadly, this is a realization many face when they go to college. McKay is terrified that he’s not the best and won’t get drafted. His dad insists that it’s in his head and he can’t let doubt creep in.
In the next scene, Nate is at Tyler’s house. WHY? “I want to have a mature conversation,” Nate says, telling him he won’t hurt Tyler because Tyler has a neck brace. Tyler is terrified. He tells Tyler that he has two terrible options. Tyler says he was in the hospital for seven days, his retina was detached, and now he gets migraines every day. Nate says Tyler needs to go to the police and confess to a crime of stalking Maddy and then choking her after the carnival. He says if he doesn’t, then Maddy will tell the police that Tyler raped her.
Nate is a sociopath. :-/ Future serial killer maybe.
And Tyler confesses. Maddy tells the police he did it, lying for Nate’s sake. Jules goes to the police and confirms that Tyler did it. So THAT is what Nate told Jules she had to do.
An innocent man is going to jail, thanks to Nate blackmailing two people and somehow having this big hold over Maddy that she just can’t shake. Jules doesn’t want to do it, but she feels she has no choice. But Maddy is a willing partner in the lie.
Next, we see Maddy and Nate showing up together at the Halloween party. Nate is dressed like he’s in prison and everyone’s cheering for him because his name was cleared.
THAT is why Jules got so dark at the party and started drinking. It wasn’t because of Rue and feeling uncomfortable. It was because of Nate. It all makes sense now. My reactions and observations about her earlier in this review were wrong, but they’ll stay because this show tricked me and earned it.
Rue once she figures out what Nate has done to Jules. I can’t wait for her to fuck a bitch up
So Nate could be a serial killer one day, but he might also be a politician the way he manipulates his way into power. I’m not sure if anyone can put a stop to his reign.
This episode of Euphoria was dark. As always, the cinematography was beautiful and the soundtrack was perfect as the show explored some very deep issues in a raw, no-holding-back way. I can only imagine what will happen next week.
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