HBO
The Internet has been full of rumors about who might die in Euphoria’s Season 1 finale on HBO. And now that we’re here, we’re going to share the results live as the episode airs. This post will have major spoilers for Episode 8, updated live. If you want to cut straight to a summary of the major possible deaths tonight, skip to the end of this story.
Leading up to tonight, fans have had a lot of theories about who might die. Some thought Jules’ days were numbered from the moment Nate saw her. Some thought Nate would be the one to go since he’s been triggering everyone right and left, threatening them, and sending innocent people to jail. Others think Rue has been speaking beyond the grave all this time. But it’s all conjecture. It’s possible no one will die tonight.
We start out by learning that Rue had a kidney infection and now she’s in the hospital. She’s turned over a new leaf and refused the Vicodin they offered her. WOW. Oh wait… Now she’s asking for Roxicet. OK, never mind. The good news is she has NOT died from the kidney infection, so it looks like we’re in the clear at the beginning of the episode. This doesn’t last long, however.
Jules tells Rue the truth, but now she’s different, Rue observes. Jules is still on a high from her encounter with Anna, and Rue seems not jealous in the least.
And later we get a fantasy scene from Rue imagining herself killing Nate and setting him on fire, about 10 minutes into the episode. So Nate died in a fantasy, but no one has died in the episode yet as of 10 minutes in.
But Fezco is planning something big and he’s got his gun with him. So that makes me nervous. But it looks like he’s going after Mouse, not Nate. Interesting turn.
Everyone is dancing passive-aggressively and not enjoying the winter formal much. But as of about 30 minutes into the episode, no one has died yet.
Then Nate and Rue have a talk outside the formal, and both survive that talk too. At 36 minutes in, everyone is still alive.
After the big football game, Cal and Nate have a big fight but Cal gets the upper hand. He leaves Nate screaming and yelling, hitting his head against the ground in some bizarre teenage tantrum. We hear a strange sound as Nate continues throwing his head against the floor. We are left with the possibility that Nate killed himself, but it is not made clear what happened to Nate. Chronologically, this was the last scene involving Nate.
Then in a very dark scene, Fezco tries to rob the man that Mouse got drugs from, after following Mouse to his house. But the man tries to fight back and grabs a gun. He won’t give up and Fezco beats him while the man’s son watches. We don’t know for certain, but I’m going to guess the man was killed by Fezco. However, they leave us with a question on whether the man died or was just beaten up really badly. We don’t know his name, but he’s the doctor that Mouse was getting drugs from, according to how the scene looked. This is the second possible death of the show. We don’t know if the doctor who was supplying Mouse with drugs is alive or dead by Fezco’s hand.
Then we see a montage of Rue’s life after she left Jules on the subway – the good and the bad from her past. We see a body being taken out of Rue’s house during the montage, and I’m pretty sure that’s when her dad died.
During the montage, we see Rue walking into the room where her dad had his hospice care when he had cancer. The bed is empty. Her mom is crying. Ugh. This is way too much for a girl Rue’s age to deal with. Her father’s death was terrible and no one should have to deal with that kind of pain so young. :( The body being taken out of Rue’s house is her father, who died previously but we are just now seeing his death.
Cut to present day. Rue walks home, sobbing, and collapses on her bed, heartbroken. Life is too much.
And then it looks like it’s snowing inside her house, and Rue seems to “float” out of her bed. She’s walking around like a zombie. This is a very confusing scene. She walks around like a zombie, bumping into things, hugging her mom who doesn’t see her. She touches her sister who also doesn’t see her. She dances with her dad, who DOES see her.
Wait what?
She’s being carried by a bunch of people dressed in red just like her. Is she hallucinating right now? What’s going on? She stands on a pile of bodies.
A man’s voice says: “Until then.”
It’s not clear if Rue died or lived. We saw her walking into the light on the road, which might have been a car about to hit her. And then there was another scene that might have shown Rue about to take pills and overdose. But it’s left up to the viewers to decide. Did Rue live and she’s hallucinating or dreaming? Or did Rue die?
I’m going to guess that Rue was dreaming and didn’t die. It’s tough to imagine that Zendaya wouldn’t be on the show next season. What I do know is that they left this moment purposefully unclear and it’s up to the viewer to decide. It will be at least a year before we find out for ourselves.
so rue really … and jules is … and nate STILL isn’t …. and fez just… #EUPHORIA
In summary: We were left with a few unclear and possible deaths tonight. The doctor who was supplying Mouse with the drugs might have been killed by Fezco, but it’s unclear.
We did not see if Mouse shot Fezco or if he accepted his money.
And it’s not clear if Rue died at the end of the episode or if she was hallucinating or dreaming a fever-filled, sorrow-ridden dream. However, the unfiltered section at the end of the episode is indicating that Rue probably didn’t die, because Zendaya and Hunter talk about how Rue and Jules’ love “still exists” even though they didn’t leave together.
Plus, Rue’s mom appears to be speaking at an NA meeting of some kind (since she introduces herself and everyone says: “Hi Lesley.”) This makes me think it’s not a funeral, like some imagine, but a meeting later where Rue is still very much alive.
It’s also unclear if Nate died or lived. He threw a tantrum and we heard a strange scream after he was banging his head on the ground. But we were also left unclear as to whether he lived or died.
We won’t know for sure until Season 2, which will likely return about a year from now in 2020.