A Thousand Little Trees of Blood
Episode 6 of Euphoria Season 2 starts with Rue returning home from rehab. She has withdrawal symptoms and Leslie is there to help her for the time being. However, a bed at the rehab center is not available for a week, meaning Rue will have to try and weather the storm at home. ..
While Gia and Leslie both try to be there for her, Rue reflects on the mistakes she’s made. Specifically, she hangs over lash out at Ali, and eventually she rings him to apologize. It’s a deep, profuse apology and one that sees him forgive her, and even head over with a bag full of groceries later on. In confidence, he encourages Gia to channel her anger, believing it would be good for her.
Meanwhile, things are a roller-coaster ride of emotion over at Nate’s place. With Cal now gone and Nate having won the “dick swinging contest,” Nate’s concerns turn to Maddy. With no messages or calls from her on his phone, he’s worried over what she may have planned. Well, according to Maddy it’s murder. ..
Kat, the girl on the other end of the phone, is out on a date with Ethan. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned and they break up. Kat seems pretty nonchalant about the whole thing.
Maddy and Cassie’s feud continues to dominate the show. Lexie turns to Fezco for comfort, but the two quickly form a bond. Lexie is conflicted about continuing with her play, but eventually calls out Cassie for her melodramatic rant. She holds a corkscrew and lamentably says she doesn’t want to live anymore. ..
Cassie’s “pity-me” attitude is something that she compares to Rue, although her mum is quick to dispel that comparison. Rue has had a hard life, Cassie meanwhile, has not. At least not in her eyes anyway.
Maddy heads over to her babysitting gig and winds up talking and drinking with Samantha, the woman whose house this belongs to. She admits she’s done the same thing to one of her girlfriends, allowing Maddy to see things from a slightly different perspective. Still, it’s not going to change her depression, which continues to swell.
Nate’s mother tells him about how her son changed when he turned 8 or 9. Nate is in a whirlwind of emotion, as his mother discusses how his personality changed and how he darkened.
Nate realizes that he needs to take action and that comes from stealing Cal’s gun and getting back the disk no matter what. After all, if it gets out that Cal is a paedo, that too would reflect badly on Nate and potentially destroy the integrity of the business.
Nate heads over to Maddy’s place, hiding in her room and waiting for her to return. He’s not there for an apology though, he wants the disk. After a particularly tense game of Russian roulette, Maddy breaks and admits it’s in her purse. It turns out this was all one big bluff, given there were no bullets in the gun to begin with. However, Nate leaves Maddy in a broken mess on the bed, takes the disk and rocks up at Jules’ house. He hands it over to her.
Nate finally rings Cassie back and decides to pick her up. With her mum watching from the living room, Cassie packs up her things and decides to stay at Nate’s.
Meanwhile, the episode closes at Rue’s house. Rue wants to get clean but Gia is not so sure she’ll follow through with this. She’s heard it numerous times and by now, it’s falling on deaf ears. With the chances slim that she’ll succeed, Ali tells them all that Rue needs to find that hope for herself. ..
Leslie learns that Rue isn’t going to rehab. Leslie gives a teary confession on the phone, urging them to reconsider and believing Rue is going to kill herself.
The Episode Review
Episode 6 of “13 Reasons Why” follows the fallout from last week’s explosive chapter. The drama between Maddy and Cassie hasn’t quite exploded, which is disappointing. ..
Maddy’s behavior was disappointing, but it was also clear that she had been struggling with her own mental health for some time. It would have been good to see her lash out against her friend, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. We got a depressive Maddy who found Samantha to be in the same position as Cassie, minus trying to kill herself with a corkscrew.
Rue, a street in the city of Paris, is a source of contention among locals and tourists alike. Given the show’s already been renewed for a third season, it’s unlikely that this issue will be resolved anytime soon.
Kat and Elliot’s relationship has been a waste of time. There’s no substance to their relationship or drama and it feels like unnecessary padding. It’s especially evident given they could have used that extra time on the more interesting characters.
Despite the events of the previous episode, “A New Day” does a good job of starting to simmer things down, with more reflective drama. But will Rue actually get clean? We’ll have to wait and see. ..
