![]() ![]() I think we’re well past the point of depicting cops as incompetent oafs, but here we have officers scrambling over fences and falling on cacti. It downplays the seriousness of what’s happening: a child driven away from home into the dark night is pursued by authorities. Naturally, the owners come home early, and though there’s mention of a gun, Rue makes another clumsy escape.įor an episode that puts Rue through the wringer, I can’t say I vibed with the jarring tonal shift that comes with the police chase. As “Fever” by Sharon Cash plays, she steals more jewelry and finds a thick envelope of cash in a safe - all while the family dog watches on and couldn’t care less. Dare I say, it’s the peak Safdie brothers moment of the episode in just finding levity in the most anxiety-ridden situation. Growing desperate for cash, Rue breaks into a couple’s house. She swiftly gets kicked out for trying to take his grandmother’s medication. Fez’s place is another failed stop on the tour. Rue’s mother and Gia drop by to collect her, but Maddy’s fury proves as the perfect distraction for her to quietly leave with some stolen jewelry. Cassie is defensive, Maddy is outraged, and Kat is … there. Rue makes a break for the Howard household, where she exposes Nate and Cassie’s relationship. The dominoes finally begin to fall for Cassie’s storyline. Labrinth’s propulsive minimalist score blasts as she sprints away, waking up in an alley later that night. (In that I’m watching it through my hands while everything that could possibly go wrong does.) When it dawns on Rue that she’s being taken to rehab, she breaks down and jumps out of the car into direct traffic. The remainder of “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird” doesn’t achieve the same heights as its first 15 minutes, but it’s a serviceable restaging of Good Time in suburbia. Rue has lost $10,000 worth of drugs, but more crucially, she’s lost Jules. ![]() All Jules can muster is an “I love you,” but it’s here she learns her love for Rue is nowhere near as important as that suitcase. (“You fucking left me at my fucking lowest, and a real fucking friend, someone who fucking loves you, wouldn’t do some shit like that.”) Jules has rarely been so meek, and Hunter Schafer is particularly heartbreaking in communicating how powerless she feels against Rue. Rue turns her anger on Jules, laying a torrent of vicious insults that not only erupt from the heat of the moment but the resentment she’s kept dormant since the train station. The silence is even louder once the realization hits that Jules and Elliot have not only heard everything but betrayed her. Her mother and Gia can only cower in fear. “What do you want me to do?” she screams so loudly that her voice goes hoarse. She stops just short of laughter before allowing a patronizing smirk to slip through. ![]() Note the corner of her lip twitching after her mother tells Rue that she’s not a good person. But what makes Zendaya’s performance so compelling is that it’s not all bravado, but the little details in her expressions indicate how much of Rue’s humanity has dissipated. The way she doesn’t just kick Gia’s bedroom door down but throws her entire body into it like she’s a featherweight rag doll. It’s not just her words that cut with a refined sharpness it’s her physicality, too. In an astounding ten minutes, Rue prods at the sorest spots to find the whereabouts of the suitcase. Rue’s relapse is no longer a secret, and Rue’s mother has flushed away her supply of drugs, kickstarting a tirade that illuminates the true depths of Rue’s manipulation. To that end, no, Rue didn’t actually die despite all the theories. It’s the kind of intimacy and genuine commitment to character-building that I’ve been looking forward to since the special episodes. ![]() I think the notion of an entirely Rue-centric episode will be frustrating to those who have been eagerly waiting for something (God, anything, please) to happen to Fez, Kat, and every other underdeveloped storyline this season - but this was the departure Euphoria needed. This season has been a divisive slow burn of mounting pressure, but Euphoria finally produces its diamond in “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird,” a raw and sobering 24-hour escapade anchored by an extraordinary performance by Zendaya. ![]()
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