Inside Euphoria, A Weekly Breakdown by Taylor Champlin: Episode 3

The name of this week’s episode of Euphoria, “The Ballad of Palladin,” stems from a song written by Johnny Western, Richard Boone, and Sam Rolfe in 1952. It rose to popularity ten years later and is regarded as one of the most famous Western songs of all time. Some may recognise it from the movie Stand by Me, when the boys venture off to find the body of a dead boy, singing the song together.

The Western theme aligns with this season of Euphoria’s Wild West atmosphere. At first, I assumed Rue was Palladin, struggling to establish a plan for her future and her morality among “the cowboys and savages.” But Palladin is also the name of Laurie’s beloved pet parrot.

The purpose of this episode is to show the carelessness attached to the decisions each character makes. They all fail to consider who they hurt in the process. Power and money seduce them, overshadowing any guilt they may have to contend with. In situations where they believe they have power, they are actually imprisoning themselves.

Rue: “Throughout the history of America, there have been windows of time where anyone could strike it rich. Take the Gold Rush. Prohibition. Cryptocurrency. It’s all about timing. And Jules had found her window of opportunity.”

Jules is introduced to the world of escorting by her college roommate, Vivian. Her first client is a 48-year-old lawyer named Rick, who claims to have never had a girlfriend, suffers from severe intimacy issues, and finds sleeping next to a woman claustrophobic.

Women, especially trans women, are both coveted and fetishized. In the world of sex work, mystery and the thrill of the forbidden heighten the appeal. For many of these men, intimacy is cheap in a moral sense. It’s not about love or partnership, it’s secrets spilled, fetishes fulfilled, and envelopes of money ensuring that nothing comes back to haunt them. Wives, children, and reputations are kept separate from the “weaknesses” these men indulge in privately.

Vivian: “It’s like dating, except you get paid.”

Jules: “How much?”

Vivian: “Depends on how rich they are.”

Jules: “But then they expect you to fuck them.

”Vivian: “Yeah, but no more than any other guy… the good thing about rich people is they actually have something to lose.”

This differs drastically from dating Rue, who historically has nothing to lose.

Jules begins seeing men with some of society’s most coveted professions: a lawyer, a Hollywood film producer, a financier, and finally; a plastic surgeon named Ellis. The music swells as if she’s going on a date with God himself. In today’s vapid society, he comes close.

He delivers two lines that linger:

Ellis: “Exactly. No fun to be helpless.”Ellis: “I just might keep you forever.”

That promise holds an underlying fear, doesn’t it? Jules’s worries about making it as an artist dissolve when she gains access to Ellis’s wealth and his high-rise apartment. It’s every artist’s dream: to create freely without worrying about survival. But that’s the cost of capitalism, you have to sell something of yourself to benefit from it. In this case, Jules sells her body for financial freedom, while also making herself vulnerable if it all disappears. 

Despite Rue being “California sober,” she hasn’t lost her impulsive nature. She reframes recklessness as ambition, worsening her situation with each decision. She evolves from drug addict to drug smuggler to weapons dealer, yet still questions the morality of it all.

Rue: “I know a lot of Americans have very strong feelings about guns. But if it’s any consolation, the majority of the weapons I was selling were headed to Mexico.”

Rue’s actions reflect the complex relationship between Mexico and the United States. While drugs are illegal in the U.S., making trafficking profitable, an estimated 80% of weapons seized from cartel members are traced back to the U.S. Mexican law restricts firearm purchases to two military-run stores: DCAM in Mexico City and OTCA in Apodaca, Nuevo León. Despite this, authorities estimate that between 200,000 and 500,000 firearms are trafficked from the U.S. into Mexico each year (Al Jazeera, 2026).

Alamo: “What was once illegal… is now legit. The question is, where does all that money go?”

Bishop: “They say it funds the education system.”

Alamo: “And these kids are just getting dumber and dumber. Something ain’t adding up.”

(Rue laughs, as if she isn’t one of those “dumb kids” herself.)

Bishop: “Do you have a moral problem with what you’re doing?”

Rue: “What? No, I’m cool. I’m, like, cool.”

Alamo: “The only thing that matters is power. And how do you get power?”

Rue: “Money?”

Alamo: “Bingo. So what the fuck are you complaining about?”

"Maddy realized this dumb bitch waited years for this ring just to clear her conscience."

Now, let’s get into the main event: Cassie and Nate’s lavish wedding. The floral arrangements? Stunning. The gown? Slightly tacky, but a Wiederhoeft slay nonetheless. The guests? Impeccably dressed. The union? Glaringly doomed. Cassie’s unraveling has carried her this far. Both she and Nate know they’re making the wrong decision.

Cassie’s mother foreshadows the inevitable as she walks her daughter down the aisle:

“Who would have expected we’d have such terrible arguments? Disappearing for days on end… And as I walked down the aisle, like we are now, it never occurred to me the brutality of the man I barely knew. How could I be so naive? It’s not a mistake you can fix.” 

Nate arrives mid–panic attack, having not returned home the night before. His forced smiles fool no one. Cassie’s fear escalates when she discovers Nate’s financial troubles: he owes $550,000 to Naz, some of it taken from a college fund meant for his business partner’s children.

What should have been the happiest day of her life ends with her witnessing her husband’s toe being chopped off, blood staining the carpet of their mansion.

Ellis: “You marry the best parts of a person. Hopefully, you can tolerate the worst.”

The line I keep coming back to is Nate’s: “You love who you love.” Between Cassie, Maddy, and Jules, Nate is never clear about who, if anyone, he truly loves. If anything, it might be Jules. He seems to protect her the most, perhaps because she’s been the least toxic dynamic in his life.

Rue: “Maddy didn’t know what she wanted more: to get in between Nate and Cassie, or make a little money.”

Maddy’s restraint is striking. When Nate’s mother gives a speech implying he previously dated “the wrong girl,” Maddy doesn’t react. She doesn’t confront Nate. She leaves quietly. She seems heartbroken, but she won. Even if she doesn’t know it yet. And there’s no doubt she’ll eventually execute the perfect revenge. 

All in all, this episode argues that crime pays, at least temporarily. Illicit behavior opens entire economies built on desperation. But it always comes at a cost.

In Laurie’s words: “The grass is always greener by the septic tank.”

The episode ends with Rue being pulled over by the DEA, another wake-up call she’s unlikely to heed. What happens next, we’ll have to wait another week to see.