Euphoria - Stuntin' With My Daddy _ Piece 1

 I do admit that I just don't think "Euphoria" is for me. I struggled through this episode. It is definitely the talk of the internet, one of those shows that has "captured the zeitgeist" as the smart folks say. Your lead just can't stay clean...nor does she really want to. When she's up on stage at school, asked to describe her summer, Rue can only go through a laundry list of horrible family drama when she was violent, angry, ill-tempered, unruly, impossible, intoxicated, nearly dead, or returning from rehab. And by the end of this second episode of the first season, "Stuntin' Like My Daddy", she's zoinked from a mere taste of Fentanyl from a drug dealer sticking up to her face with a knife, pretty much taking no for an answer despite the fact Fezco would have to pay out his ass in order to get this guy (named Mouse) out of his house (and keep Rue's 17 year old ass from being raped). Rue burst in on Fezco as it was raining, startling him since Mouse was stopping by to drop off a big drug supply...Rue's eyes were opened with exhilaration at that. Rue wouldn't leave without some drugs while Fezco had no interest in providing her anymore. So she put him in a terrible position. Dangerous drug dealers like Mouse (with some other dude bro propped up on a dresser with a big shit-eating grin) are often never in the same room with a "recovering" junkie like Rue.

Fezco called up Jules to help him drive her home, since Rue was out of it. Jules, in tears, I can't imagine will want to deal with that for very long. Her tolerance for Rue's behavior will be tested. But in better times, Jules and Rue walk and talk about school, ride bikes together, and enjoy each other's company. It should be a merry friendship, but these issues with staying clean will most likely put a strain on all that.

You see the wreckage of a past friendship with Cassie's sister, Lexi, tries to take up for her when students talk shit about Rue having brain damage. Lexi goes to see if Rue's okay, with Rue responding with some asshole reply of "we aren't friends so stop trying to give me advice, 'preschool friendship' doesn't mean we are anything now" to an obviously hurt Lexi who didn't deserve that. I'm not a fan of Rue at all, though, I get that losing your father to cancer and her mother being gone a lot due to working two jobs to help pay the medical bills can really emotionally rake you over the coals. At some point, though, it gets to be quite a drag watching the lead just drag herself through school dramas, drug trips, and alienating everyone because of her inability to stay clean. The retreat from reality, escaping into the drug euphoria is really straining her relationships with everyone.