Last night’s episode of Euphoria was filled with car-crash moments for pretty much every character – Rue, Jules, Cassie, Cal, the list goes on. You wanted to look away, but it was impossible not to watch as some of our favourite (and least favourite) characters descended into very dark places.

We had Cassie dive straight to rock bottom at Maddy’s birthday party, coping with her toxic situationship with Nate by, well, getting totally wasted. Maddy is also circling the drain with the Nate situation, teetering on the edge of rekindling their bad romance despite all flags being painted very red.

Kat still hasn’t dumped Ethan, Lexi seems extremely lost, Jules chaotically hooked up with Elliot, and Cal is in a complete spiral over his lost first love. It was a lot. But the absolute focus was really on Rue – who may or may not have died from overdose in the episode’s ending.

Did Rue Die In ‘Euphoria’ Season 2, Episode 4?

euphoria rue dancing
The scene showing Rue dancing intoxicated was one of the most heartbreaking in Euphoria’s history. Credit: HBO

Let’s unpack Rue’s story in this episode. It begins with Rue (Zendaya) telling us via voiceover how much she loves her girlfriend Jules (Hunter Schafer) – except we’re shown Rue, emotionless, with Jules going down on her in bed. Rue tells us she’s high and can’t feel anything – hence the complete lack of interest.

From there, Rue and Jules go out with Elliot, Rue’s new friend and fellow drug abuser. As we mentioned before, Elliot and Jules have a weird attraction going on that culminates with a hook up in this week’s episode, but Rue isn’t aware of any of this – instead, she’s high, and drinking.

Elliot warns her not to drink since it’s dangerous, as she’s on drugs that can interact with alcohol. Rue ignores him, and eventually gets irritated by Jules’ concern and demands to be dropped home, where she opens that suitcase of pills she’s meant to be selling for Laurie. She pours out a handful of pills and swallows them. This doesn’t seem like a great choice after the warning from Elliot, plus the fact she was already high.

What follows is a dream sequence where Rue walks into a church as a singer, played by series soundtrack maestro Labrinth (in his first appearance physically for the series) stands before a congregation that includes Jules and Elliot. It’s very reminiscent of the season one finale, where Rue did overdose – could this be a vision of her own funeral?

Rue and the singer hug, before the hug turns into Rue hugging her deceased father. It’s a deeply emotional scene – we can see that Rue is still very impacted by her father’s death. She’s also, as we learned in episode 3, suicidal. 

However, we then see Rue in real life hugging the air, so we know she isn’t dead yet – but she is very, very intoxicated, and has possibly overdosed on purpose.

This leads to our final sequence, a masterful montage of various characters set to another stunning soundtrack creation by Labrinth. This is the moment of contention for fans as to whether it indicates Rue’s death.

What Did The Ending Of ‘Euphoria’ Season 2, Episode 4 Mean?

This shot of Cassie was inspired by Mexican artworks from the turn of the century. Credit: HBO.

So let’s get the other characters out of the way first. We have Nate, staring out of a window in his house at the rain. We also get a shot of the building site where he and Cassie had that fight (and subsequently hooked up). 

Some theories on Reddit are that the building site is also connected to Fezco and the murder of Mouse. Now that Mouse’s girlfriend is asking about him, was that Fez thinking about whether about where his body is?

We also saw Maddy floating in the pool, and this absolutely gorgeous shot of Cassie.

Creator Sam Levinson told Vanity Fair the imagery was inspired by “Mexican murals from the turn of the century.” Are these indicative of where both characters are in terms of their relationship with Nate? Maddy is suspended in indecision, Cassie trapped in her own beautiful, but ultimately fake, love story. That’s my take, anyway – as the camera pans out it’s like Cassie is trapped inside her mirror, makeup strewn across the vanity table. 

Kat and Ethan in the car is, obviously, related to her feeling of being trapped in that relationship – it’s a stunning scene and really encapsulates that sense of claustrophobia.

We’ve all experienced this distinct claustrophobia in a bad relationship. Credit: HBO.

Most crucial in terms of Rue, though, are the scenes of Elliot in the church, and what looks like Jules’ leg – with what appear to be new self-harm scars. We know Jules had self-harm issues in the past, and it seems like those issues are returning – likely due to this new attraction to Elliot and her disconnection from Rue. 

Meanwhile, fans on Reddit are thinking that Elliot taking Rue’s place in the church aisle hints at his own possible overdose and death. I definitely think this could be its meaning, but I also wonder if its symbolic of how Elliot will be the “death” of Rue and Jules’ relationship. He’s absolutely come between them, so maybe all the church scenes – Rue’s grief over her father, now Elliot taking that place – are about moments and people who have broken Rue?

I personally don’t think Rue died in Euphoria Season 2, Episode 4. I think this season has really ramped up the symbolism and artistic cinematography, and what we saw was just a very dramatised sequence showing all our characters currently at rock bottom.

However, if she is dead, I think that could actually be a stunning moment for the series. Euphoria has long received criticism for the way it glamourises drug abuse – Rue’s behaviour that night culminating in death would definitely negate that. Although, I have to say that the drug-taking this season has been far more gritty and less glamorous. Rue is not looking great, and the way her addiction is destroying all her relationships is definitely realistic.

Episode 5 is out next Monday, so at least we’ve only got to wait a week to find out Rue’s fate.