WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Euphoria Season 2, Episode 5, “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird,” now streaming on HBO Max.
Season 2, Episode 5 of Euphoria is a rollercoaster of emotions as Rue experiences withdrawal, but in the midst of all the chaos, Cassie’s darkest secret gets spilled in the most unlikely way. Maddy finds out that Cassie has been having sex with Nate behind her back, which turns Maddy into Cassie’s worst enemy.
In the Season 2 premiere, a depressed Cassie is pursued by a charming Nate to have sex with him in the bathroom of the New Year’s Eve party. The aftermath made for some good Hitchcock-inspired suspense, as Cassie hides herself in the bathtub to avoid Maddy finding out about their hook-up. Since then, fans estimation of Cassie has gone down, as she still continues to see Nate, despite knowing she’s a bad friend for it.
Cassie and Nate went to extreme lengths to keep their relationship a secret, meeting on very specific nights that would go unnoticed. But they made one error in their calculations, which was Cassie going into Nate’s very recognizable truck at the same time Rue was riding her bike down the street. Given that Rue never spoke a word about the event, she seemed to not have cared. After all, she has her own problems of her own. But Rue let it slip out of pettiness when Cassie was trying to help her.
After a sloppy escape from her mother and sister through ongoing traffic, Rue expects to find a safe place at Lexi and Cassie’s house, which Maddy and Kat are also at. Either Lexi or her mom call Rue’s mother to take her to rehab, which results in an intervention. Rue expresses hopelessness in becoming sober, and Cassie innocently responds with encouragement. A spiteful Rue then asks how long Cassie has been having sex with Nate, which Maddy immediately slams Cassie for.
Just a few episodes earlier, Rue narrated that Cassie was terrified to tell Maddy the truth since Maddy is not exactly the most forgiving of people. She uses harsh language and violence to convey her anger, which makes her both a confident-oozing and terrifying person. Maddy’s reaction to Cassie is about what she expected. While Cassie is trying to convince Maddy through tears that Rue is lying, Maddy berates her about being a horrible friend and a liar, and threatens to beat her up for it.
It’s a heartbreaking moment that is meant to make the viewers feel both bad for Cassie (because they’re hating Rue for being petty) and feel she got what she deserved. Maddy has been nothing but a supportive friend to Cassie, and she very quickly turned the tables on her. But where does their relationship go from here? It might never be the same. If they were once soulmates, they may be enemies now, and all because of an abusive man who doesn’t deserve either of them.
There is a hint though, of who Maddy will be seeking revenge on. The promo for Episode 6 shows Maddy contemplating the infamous DVD that Nate has been hiding, whose contents have never been shown but is likely the sex tape between Jules and Cal. Maddy may never see Cassie as a friend again, but she might be reasonable enough to understand who the true culprit is — Nate Jacobs. Exposing the DVD works as blackmail against Nate, breaking up his family even more and ruining his superb reputation among his peers. And it there’s some rare hope to be found in Euphoria, maybe Maddy can forgive Cassie and understand how she turns to even the worst of men for validation to hide her insecurity.
To see how Maddy reacts to Cassie’s betrayal, stream Season 2, Episode 5 of Euphoria on HBO Max. New episodes of Euphoria release on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
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