Euphoria’s Finale Was Never About Rue, It Was About America Falling Apart.

There is a Beginning and There is an End. A kiss on the forehead can be the kiss of death or a sign of love, signifying a beginning or an end. In life, the only guarantee is that it will one day end. This season of Euphoria was alleged to be the last, though it remained shrouded in ambiguity about whether it truly would be or not. After watching the finale, filled with beginnings and endings, it feels clear that the end of the series has come. For a multitude of reasons, I’m glad it is the end.

The finale began with Rue nearly escaping death, like always. All the gambling and near-death experiences have led up to this moment. There was no safe side for Rue to be on. Despite hating one another, Alamo and Laurie work together. Money always comes first, making them partners in corruption who hold no respect for human life.

I found it very significant that the news would be playing in the background as Rue returns to Ali’s house, reporting on the presidential race between Kamala Harris and Trump. Similar to Rue’s situation, the political climate in America is currently one of devastation and chaos. Outside of having Zohran Mamdani, there are few beacons of hope for people to hold onto, especially young people. No matter what quest Rue endeavored to set out on, her fate was ultimately decided for her. When Alamo kisses her on the forehead, he is giving her the kiss of death. He gives her Percocets laced with fentanyl, which inevitably lead to her overdose. Ultimately, she makes the decision to take the drugs, either naively trusting Alamo or being unable to resist temptation. Alamo tells her the pills will cure the physical pain she’s experiencing, but not the mental. Even though Rue desperately wanted redemption, freedom, and absolution from her past, her addiction won. Rue became another page in Ali’s book of lost mentees, another casualty of the chaos in this country.

If you can’t get justice one way, get it another.

One of the reasons I loved Euphoria so much was because it covered topics no one wanted to talk about with complete honesty. Euphoria didn’t make addiction funny or simply scratch the surface of it. It showed viewers the gruesome corners of its consequences, causes, and seductions. I gave this season a chance, believing it could be just as great as the past two seasons. To be fully honest, I was let down in that regard. I don’t think that speaks to a lack of talent or ability on any of the actors’ parts, but more to a moral issue taking place behind the scenes. Like the characters in the show, it feels as though some of the actors became casualties. Hunter Schafer barely received screen time, Jacob Elordi’s character is killed off, Nika King, who has delivered spectacular performances, got one measly scene, Barbie Ferreira’s character disappears largely without a trace, and actors have passed away.

The reality is that many people who suffer from addiction don’t get a second chance.

In many ways, I think the speech Ali delivers during his final AA meeting could be expressing some of Sam Levinson’s own feelings. As a former addict, Levinson was tasked with depicting the harsh truths of addiction in this country and the traumas that shape human beings from a young age.

“I used to believe the world would be a better place if people could empathize with addiction, to understand that addicts were suffering from an incurable disease no different from cancer. The addict may be in remission, but the disease ain’t gone. I thought empathy was the key. But if you can empathize with an addict, you can also empathize with a dealer. They’re selling drugs to feed their children. Who can’t understand that? So maybe empathy isn’t that helpful after all, and maybe the real disease is that people no longer know the difference between right and wrong. I don’t care what your struggles might be. If you poison kids for money, you’re evil. It’s plain and simple. The number one cause of death for people under the age of 50 is fentanyl. That’s big business. You know how many motherfuckers have to be complicit? From the government, to the lab people making the chemicals, to the shipping companies bringing that shit across the seas, to the dockworkers letting that shit in, to the cartels, the cookers, the corrupt cops, the bureaucrats at the border, the nonprofits that justify it, the lawyers and politicians that justify it all. A couple months ago, I lost someone I really cared about and, for the first time in a long time, I picked up a drink. I’ve been a Christian, a Muslim, and suddenly I found myself not believing in shit. That ain’t me, either. I just know that I’m tired. I’m tired of losing people. All I know for certain is that there’s a right and a wrong in this world. You’re either making the world a better place or you’re making it worse. In the end, it’s that fucking simple.”

In an interview with The New York Times, Sam Levinson describes the story behind Euphoria as “a tragic one in the end, but it’s also the truth. If you are experimenting or taking drugs today, it’s very possible it’ll kill you. It was a way of honoring Angus and saying a prayer for the future.”

He also went on to explain some of the choices he made to include scenes featuring violence, sex, and taboo subject matter.

“One of the larger thematic ideas for this season was pulling back the illusions of the world we live in, whether it’s ‘likes will fulfil your soul,’ whether it’s love, money, fame, or drugs providing an escape. And it felt like, if we were really going to be saying something, we needed to put the audience in the position of a family member who loses someone they love. And I know how much I love Rue, and how much audiences love Rue. I wanted to mirror that feeling.”

While Levinson has admitted his original vision for this season featured Rue in very different circumstances, it’s clear from hearing his explanation that this season was always going to end in devastation. Maybe I’m being too generous, but part of me chooses to see all the unanswered questions the show leaves us with as a reflection of what it feels like when your life is touched by devastation. When certain things occur, life doesn’t present a clear path forward, and there often is no explanation for why terrible things had to happen in the first place. I don’t think the average person has the answers right now for what is going to fix everything happening in this world. I don’t think a lot of it can be easily explained or justified.

What I do know is that The American Dream is dead. I don’t believe the concept never existed, especially when taking into account immigrants who have succeeded in building secure lives here. But I know all too well that, for many people, The American Dream now looks like being able to leave and build a stable life elsewhere. The death of The American Dream signifies a country that has drifted too far into corruption to be revived just yet. The potential is still there, but a great deal would need to change before America, the country, matches the projected image of itself. The current state of The American Dream mirrors the empire Alamo created for himself at The Silver Slipper. Money, success, love, loyalty, and happiness cannot all stem from fear, corruption, and violence.

Maddy kisses Cassie on the head in the diner after the reality of Nate’s death and Maddy’s debt to Alamo sink in. Maddy made the ultimate sacrifice for Cassie despite her betrayal. Maddy was more loyal to Cassie, and more willing to do for her, than Nate ever was. Cassie’s character was always searching to be loved, and she was finally able to see that the person who loved her most was Maddy. Despite taking that for granted in the past, the two of them receive a new beginning together, building a business centered around women seeking financial success.

Endings often create new beginnings. For the remaining characters, the pain and cost of losing themselves snapped them back into reality and forced them to grow up. As a viewer, I feel like the show had a similar impact on me. Whatever religion one chooses to believe in, or not believe in, I’m grateful Euphoria Sundays became a part of America’s cultural landscape. For a show that spanned seven years, it launched successful careers for many of its main cast members. I wish that same sense of success for Nika King, Barbie Ferreira, and all of the other actors who have been part of the show. For better or worse, this show left a mark on the world. It certainly did on me.

The final shot of the American flag blowing in the wind in the desert hurt my heart a little, but part of me will always hold onto hope that things in this country will improve. Euphoria did an incredible job exposing the darkness in this country, but it also left viewers with the task of finding the good. There has to be some kind of salvation in a barren wasteland. Whatever small semblances of hope still exist, we have to cling to them.