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Euphoria<\/h2>\n Kitty Likes to Dance<\/p>\n
\n Season 3<\/span>\n Editor\u2019s Rating<\/span>\n <\/p>\n\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n\n Rue\u2019s career as an underground drug runner turns into a nightmare as Maddie helps Cassie realize her Hollywood dream.Photo: Eddy Chen\/HBO<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nNeed more? Sign up for\u00a0Euphoria Club<\/strong>, a newsletter overanalyzing season three of Sam Levinson\u2019s HBO fever dream, for\u00a0subscribers only.<\/p>\nLooking at his sewn-up toe in tonight\u2019s Euphoria, <\/em>Nate Jacobs tells Cassie that the toe, which was mercilessly clipped off by Naz \u2014\u00a0to whom Nate owes \u201ca million-ish\u201d dollars \u2014\u00a0could serve as a metaphor for their crumbling marriage. In this figure of speech, the marriage, like the toe, seemed as if it was lost forever, but by being smart enough to preserve it on ice, they were able to save it. When Cassie presses Nate on what he\u2019s saying, he suggests maybe their marriage is more like the scar the sewn-up toe will leave, as much a demonstration of strength as it is of weakness. The gist, in any case, is that he\u2019s going to fix it all\u00a0and get them out of this mess, as long as she can have faith in him a little longer.<\/p>\n\u201cThe fairy tale is over,\u201d Cassie announces, before packing her stuff in a pink travel set and leaving for Lexi\u2019s apartment complex, to \u201cwork.\u201d The fairy tale of their marriage<\/em> might be over, but Cassie\u2019s Hollywood dream is just starting under Maddy\u2019s careful guidance. Cassie\u2019s pursuit of pornographic Internet fame is juxtaposed variously with Jules\u2019s thwarted artistic expression, Lexi\u2019s misguided ambitions, and Kitty\u2019s survivalist instincts at the Silver Slipper. Kitty (Anna Van Patten) is a new girl at the club who came in to fill in for Angel.<\/p>\nRue first meets Kitty in manager Big Eddy\u2019s office, as she\u2019s getting evaluated by Alamo. Rue sweats buckets; her disheveled appearance stands in stark contrast to Alamo\u2019s cheery mood. He\u2019s happy because their plan to kill Paladin worked; Rue is nervous because,\u00a0as many readers anticipated,\u00a0she is now an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration. After discovering several kinds of drugs in her car, the feds put Rue in an interrogation room and give her two options: Go to federal prison or be an informant. One of the feds advises: \u201cIf you want to turn a curse into a blessing, this is your opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her journey from teenage addict to D.E.A. informant, Rue has made many bad decisions. So far, though, she had mostly been a danger to herself. Besides saying some seriously mean things to people who loved her, like her sobriety sponsor, Ali, Jules, and, most memorably, her mom and sister, Rue\u2019s path was mainly self-destructive. In early adulthood, having (somewhat) kicked her drug habit, she has inadvertently put several lives on the line, including her own. In the interrogation room, Zendaya convincingly embodies the despair in Rue\u2019s realization that not only she won\u2019t be able to charm her way out of this one, but she has become a weapon in a fight much bigger than herself.<\/p>\n
I have watched Martin Scorsese\u2019s 2006 masterpiece The Departed <\/em>hundreds, if not thousands, of times; I seriously appreciate the high-stakes drama of a double-crossing crime thriller. Zendaya puts up a valiant effort to infuse Rue\u2019s new situation with emotion, but it\u2019s not enough to make up for the fact that Rue, while\u00a0Euphoria<\/em>\u2019s protagonist,\u00a0has become passive in her own plot. It makes narrative sense that Rue would have ended up here; her underworld career was bound to escalate in one way or the other. But we are halfway through the season, and so far, Rue has made only one choice, which was to work for Alamo, and that was in the first episode. Other than that, every choice has been made for her. Even her first assignment as a rat is kind of cut out for her: When she asks the feds what to do when the guys at the Silver Slipper realize that the drugs they have replaced in her fanny pack are sugar pills and laxatives rather than the real stuff they bought from Laurie, they shrug. Alamo will think it\u2019s Laurie\u2019s fault, not hers. His trust in Laurie is already broken to begin with.<\/p>\nThe feds put a bug app on Rue\u2019s phone; all she has to do is dial \u201cMom\u201d to activate it. They want Rue to set up another deal with Laurie, but she knows that it will be impossible in the immediate aftermath of Paladin\u2019s death. Laurie has a funeral for the parrot, while Wayne, Harley, and company scheme serious revenge, but\u00a0\u201ckilling them all\u201d doesn\u2019t seem \u201cpainful enough.\u201d Rue offers to set the feds up with a different dealer, though one doesn\u2019t immediately come to mind; she has been out of the game for a few years and has to ask Maddy for a connect. It\u2019s the highlight of tonight\u2019s episode to see Rue, Maddy, Lexi, and Cassie in the same scene together. They used to be all in the same show!<\/p>\n
Each girl has set off on a totally different path. Well, Maddy and Cassie\u2019s paths are different, but they collide: The realization of one\u2019s ambition will be the other\u2019s success. Maddy has made Cassie over, taking her from \u201csuburbs to the city.\u201d She directs Cassie in a photoshoot by the pool in Lexi\u2019s apartment complex while one Gillie (Gideon Adlon, Odessa\u2019s sister, Pamela\u2019s daughter) tries and fails to operate a leafblower to fan wind into Cassie\u2019s hair. Rue is on her own secret and more dangerous journey, but seeing them all together, each with their own agenda, we are reminded that they are all, more or less, looking for the same thing: To save their own ass and make a ton of money.<\/p>\n
Even Lexi, who urges the girls to listen to themselves \u2014 \u201cYou\u2019re looking for drugs, you\u2019re selling your body on your porn site, and you\u2019re, like, some Internet pimp?\u201d \u2014\u00a0gets roped in. About twenty minutes into tonight\u2019s episode, there is a sequence that exists as if in a vacuum. Lexi calls Jules with an opportunity: The soap she works on, L.A. Nights, <\/em>needs a fictitious work of art. Jules enthusiastically accepts the commission to make a painting in the style of the French pointillist Georges Seurat. Her work painting in the lot is juxtaposed with Cassie\u2019s makeover montage, as if both scenes are supposed to mark the girls\u2019 arrival in their respective Hollywood dreams. But there\u2019s a problem with Jules\u2019s canvas: It\u2019s less \u201cSunday in the Park\u201d and more\u2026 Seurat if he was possessed by an edgy young girl with progressive sexual politics. In other words, the painting\u2019s picnic is populated by ghoul-like figures with boobs and penises. When Patty Lance wonders who<\/em> in their right mind would paint something like that for a soap, Lexi offers, weakly, that Lexi is trans. That ensures that Patty and the other network execs are nice to Jules as they tell her she has to get rid of the nudity in the painting. When Jules tells them it\u2019ll take her a couple of hours to do so, they punt the scene to the following week.<\/p>\nPatty makes sure Lexi knows the mistake will cost them $191,000, which makes Lexi cry in frustration. Looking at her painting, Jules cries, too, even though she took the note well enough. In an act of rebellion, she throws a bucket of red paint on the painting and draws a massive yellow penis in the center of it. Because we have no clear idea of who Jules is as an artist, or what she hopes to accomplish, both her interpretation of Lexi\u2019s assignment and <\/em>her decision to sabotage the opportunity to make it up to the network are inexplicable. If she is willing to play ball with the establishment, then indeed, as Patty asked, what would have possessed her to give them this picture? And if she\u2019s not willing to, then why is she so disappointed?<\/p>\nThere is less ambiguity when it comes to Lexi. She doesn\u2019t want to be \u201ca net negative,\u201d as Patty put it. She also clearly wants to feel some sense of power: She gets smug satisfaction out of pursuing a career in more \u201ctraditional\u201d channels, unlike her sister and high school friends. Lexi\u2019s evolution from an over-achieving teen to a desperate-to-please assistant makes more sense than some of the other characters\u2019 arcs \u2013\u2013\u00a0I\u2019ll get to you in a second, Nate Jacobs \u2013\u2013\u00a0but the fact still remains that she has, with Jules, been relegated to the margins. Their storylines are not very compelling, nor very convincing. These inconsistencies are indicative of this season\u2019s wobbly perspective and lost center of gravity.<\/p>\n
Before we get back into the pornographic weeds, let\u2019s check in with Nate. He studies images of the American West while waiting for his much-anticipated Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, still blue from his wedding-night beating. Pitching the commission on a garden of white fritillaries that would allow the Sun Settlers community to be developed around <\/em>the endangered species, Nate is desperate. He even quotes the Bible. His motion is denied immediately, but Nate won\u2019t take no for an answer. \u201cMy marriage is in shambles because of you,\u201d he tells the commission\u2019s chairman, Bill. \u201cAre you trying to ruin my life?\u201d He gets on his knees and begs. \u201cI\u2019m trying to do a good thing,\u201d he pleads, \u201cI can\u2019t be bad.\u201d The chairman is unmoved, and Nate sobs on the floor. Jacob Elordi gamely delivers Nate\u2019s desperation, but I have lost the thread on Nate\u2019s storyline. I understand that he is in deep shit, but how he got here is such a mystery that his desperation has fallen victim to Euphoria<\/em>\u2019s Achilles\u2019 heel: It\u2019s more symbol than meaning.<\/p>\nCassie rents herself a pink-walled apartment \u201cacross the pool from Lexi\u201d with cash she got from pawning her wedding ring, having decided to \u201cinvest in herself.\u201d She wears a skintight cheetah-print jumpsuit, approved by Maddy, to a party at the house of an influencer with over 20 million followers, Brandon Fontaine (Jeff Wahlberg, nephew of Mark). Maddy prepares Cassie for battle as soon as they arrive: The girls there are \u201cstray dogs\u201d and \u201cbitches,\u201d not to be trusted. \u201cStay sharp, stay focused. Let\u2019s fucking win,\u201d she encourages.<\/p>\n
Despite looking initially frightened, Cassie quickly rises to the occasion. She dances with Katelyn \u2014 the same girl Maddy represented on OnlyFans before getting in trouble with her boss \u2014 and makes out with her. She seems to be genuinely enjoying herself; she even looks too <\/em>eager. The images of her dancing are juxtaposed with Kitty giving a group of fratty-looking, backwards-cap-wearing boys a private dance. While Cassie escalates her own involvement with Brandon and Katelyn, joining them in his room for cocaine, Kitty is subjected to sex with the men. Seeing it through the security monitors in Big Eddy\u2019s office, Rue can tell that it doesn\u2019t look right. But when Big Eddy comes in, he is nonchalant, only asking if Kitty is \u201cmaking her money\u2019s worth.\u201d There is only so much doubt Rue can express without blowing her cover. During a poker game with G, Alamo, and Bishop, which the feds listen in on, she nearly goes too far with a suggestion to reconnect with her contacts in Mexico, now that Laurie is out of the picture. The more Alamo probes, the more he can sense that Rue is hiding something. He concludes she must be using again.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s a fortuitous exit from a conversation that could derail quickly. Rue is trying to think on her feet so she can give the D.E.A. something<\/em>; she knows the club\u2019s drug stock is running low. When she sees a visibly shaken Kitty in the bathroom, she asks if anyone is forcing her to work at the Slipper. This could be a way to get Alamo and his people, and also an avenue to find an answer for what happened to Angel, whom the other girls think has \u201crun away\u201d from rehab. In narration, Rue speculates that Angel always knew she wasn\u2019t coming back, which suggests the possibility of a moral drive meeting her responsibilities towards the D.E.A. to motivate Rue\u2019s informing activity. This nuance would be a welcome addition to Rue\u2019s journey, but first things first: She\u2019ll have to get past Magick.<\/p>\nMagick overhears Rue\u2019s talk with Kitty in the bathroom and relays what she heard to Big Eddy, as proof that Rue can\u2019t be trusted. Rue comes into his office to get her phone, which she forgot there, bug still hot. She gets a call from Jimenez, one of the feds, who warns that her position has been compromised by Magick. The two women yell over each other, one accusing the other of lying, of stealing drugs, of snitching, of being \u201ca Spanish hoodrat.\u201d Their fight is interrupted when Harley and Wayne, wearing Obama masks, storm in. They hold a gun to Eddy\u2019s head, demanding he open the safe. When he refuses, they threaten to shoot Magick and Rue, but end up shooting Eddy in the stomach instead. He finally agrees to open the safe when the men threaten to shoot him in the balls. They make out with the contents of the safe. While Rue puts pressure on Eddy\u2019s wound, Magick scrutinizes the security footage under Bishop\u2019s directions over the phone. The truck doesn\u2019t have license plates, and you can\u2019t see the men\u2019s faces, but you can<\/em> see the bottom half of the getaway driver\u2019s face, and it shows, clear as day, Faye\u2019s signature plump lips. Rue, sensing the possibility of getting away with all of this, immediately identifies Faye.<\/p>\nCassie\u2019s night doesn\u2019t end up quite so bad. In the room with Brandon Fontaine, she and Katelyn engage in competition over the man\u2019s attention after Cassie reveals to Katelyn that she\u2019s there with Maddy, her \u201cbest friend\u201d and rep. Cassie does the most and wins Brandon\u2019s attention. Meanwhile, Maddy looks for her all over the house, banging on the door to Brandon\u2019s room, and ultimately resorts to having his crew unlock the door. They do so, with cameras, hoping to \u201cgo viral.\u201d Cassie doesn\u2019t miss a beat when the camera finally shoves up to her face: \u201cIt\u2019s just me, Cassie,\u201d she beams, \u201cand that\u2019s my handle.\u201d On the way home, Cassie\u2019s phone blows up with notifications. Maddy warns that now that Cassie has the public\u2019s attention, she will have to work to keep it. Cassie looks happy with herself; proud, even. But we know that her happiness is provisional at best. The writing is on the wall; the question is only if Cassie has it in her to read it.<\/p>\n
\u2022 As Maddy and Cassie drive away from Cassie\u2019s right-wing suburban bubble home, a pair of girls \u2014\u00a0one brunette, one blonde \u2014\u00a0watches them from the curb. It\u2019s a small nod to their departed innocence, about their life as well as their friendship. They drive past the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Blvd, a Hollywood institution that shut down during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Speaking of Maddy and Cassie: They tell a pearl-clutching Lexi that Bhad Bhabie, the rapper most commonly known on the Internet for being the \u201ccash me outside\u201d girl, made 53 million dollars in her first year of OnlyFans. Bhad Bhabie shared the clip referencing her on X.<\/p>\n
\u2022 In another racially motivated expression of aggression, Laurie\u2019s guys drive away from the Silver Slipper yelling out of the truck, \u201cKiss my white ass, motherfuckers!\u201d<\/p>\n
Join <\/em>New York Magazine staffers in the comments section to discuss the same burning questions we\u2019re trying to answer in <\/em>Euphoria Club, our subscriber-exclusive newsletter. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
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Sign up for Euphoria Club<\/em><\/h3>\nA newsletter overanalyzing season three of Sam Levinson\u2019s HBO fever dream, for subscribers only.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Euphoria Kitty Likes to Dance Season 3 Episode 1 Editor\u2019s Rating -14 stars Rue\u2019s career as an underground drug runner turns into a nightmare as Maddie...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/pyxis.nymag.com\/v1\/imgs\/f1d\/f7f\/4619216e47a4194acdc194026f9b5fb3d7-zendaya-ep4.rsquare.w400.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1367,1368,1369,1365,1366,1363,1364,1370],"class_list":["post-1385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rj","tag-euphoria","tag-hbo","tag-newsletter-pick","tag-overnights","tag-recaps","tag-tv","tag-tv-recaps","tag-vulture-tv-club"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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