Should We Be Concerned About Rue and Jules in "Euphoria": Shook One Pt. II?

So, who else thinks that Lexi is in love with Rue?!

For those of you who haven't been keeping up with Euphoria, the racy and penis-filled HBO phenomenon starring Queen Zendaya, Lexi is Rue's former best friend. They were friends during their childhood, before Rue became addicted to drugs and started going to Lexi for clean urine samples whenever she knew her mother would drug test her when she got home.

Lexi cares about Rue. You obviously have to care about someone a whole lot to give them samples of your pee. But when Rue is using, she lashes out on the people who try to help her (Re: that Emmy-worthy scene from episode 3, where Rue lashes out at Fez for giving her the drugs in the first place).

But how much does Rue care about Lexi? In the most recent episode of Euphoria — SPOILER WARNING AHEAD — the first few minutes of the episode deal with Rue misreading the situation between her and Jules, and she ends up kissing her new best friend. She left Jules' home before she could explain herself, and before Jules could understand what was happening, and sought out Ali. (Ali seems to be a guidance figure for Rue, trying to get her to stop bullshitting through her Narcotics Anonymous meetings and reminding her that her sister found her overdosed on drugs. "What kind of impact does that leave on someone?")

Ali made an interesting comparison between Jules and Rue's fast and intense friendship, to the feeling of being high on drugs. It feels good. And now Rue seems to be suffering a withdrawal from it. She ends up at the carnival with her sister and Lexi, both of whom she quickly forgets when Jules makes a visually stunning run towards her after their eyes connect from a far distance.

Gia, Rue's little sister — you know. The one who found her after she overdosed — makes an observant comment that Rue's in love with Jules before she disappears to find her own friends. Lexi, takes this comment in stride, for the most part. Without more than a "hmm," she watches Rue and Jules hug and turn their backs to her, before she goes off herself. We do not see much more of Lexi in the rest of this episode, but her sister, Cassie, has quite a ride towards the end.

Euphoria is about an hour-long show with an ensemble cast, so there's plenty more to digest and scream about, but let's get to what is perceived to be the heart of the show: Rue and Jules.

Surprisingly on a teen television drama, the actors actually look like teens! Even though they aren't played by actual teenagers, that's besides the point. At sixteen years old, Rue is a drug addict and Jules has a lot of sex with older men who don't always treat her nicely. But they become best friends rather quickly, and as Rue points out in her narration at the beginning of the episode, Jules hopes that she and her best friend will live together and move to an apartment in New York together forever. Tell me that doesn't just break your heart?! Especially with the recent theory that Rue is actually dead and narrating the show from a past perspective ...

But even though this relationship between the two young girls is quite beautiful and refreshing in this day and age, I'm actually worried about them. I'm worried that Rue is using Jules like a drug — her friendship feels good and she needs it all at once. Is that not what Rue originally sought out the drugs for? She wanted to escape the pain and she wanted to feel better. I'm worried that Jules is in pain and is using Rue's feelings for her as validation she is desirable. Is that not why she seeks out the older men, who make her feel desired and beautiful?

I'm not, in any way, saying these coping mechanisms are bad things. But that's what they are — coping mechanisms. At sixteen years old, teenagers need ways to cope with the brutal society Euphoria is presenting to us in a harsh but truthful lens. Teenagers have sex, drink and smoke, escape from the pressures of society through questionable ways. So is that what Rue and Jules are doing, when they lie in bed together and kiss in the final moments of episode four?

I love Rue and Jules, as much as the next person. Probably a little bit more. I love the interracial portrayal of two young girls in love, because there isn't a lot of that on mainstream television or even in literature. I love Sara Farizan and her representation of lesbian, Iranian young women, but other than that, there's not much wlw representation in the media and of course I think it's important.

But I don't think they're ready to be in love with each other, yet. Of course, it's easy to say no one is ever really ready to fall in love with their soulmate, but when you're sixteen, I feel like it's that much harder. Jules pointed out last episode that she doesn't have the luxury Rue has of loving someone in public, so she has to meet them in private places. They're living in very much, from what we can see, a homophobic society where it's highly unlikely they can love each other openly in public. Who knows what Rue's mom will say? We know that Jules' father is very accepting of his child, but what about Rue's mom?

I think we should be very concerned about Rue and Jules, especially since there are four more episodes left and we all know a good moment can't and will not last forever. What's in store for these two beautiful humans, will hopefully not scar their souls to the point they cut themselves off from love and each other, but will maybe set them on a path to healing and hope for themselves. Because they need to learn how to love their individual selves first before they can begin to genuinely and truly love the other.

And that's definitely an easy task at sixteen years old, right?!