![]() ![]() There’s another special “Euphoria” episode yet to come before the second season, which will inevitably revert to the show’s wilder instincts and more frenzied pace. ![]() The moments when Ali allows himself a small smile, or even a real laugh, are remarkable. Levinson’s script can err towards the pedantic - especially when Ali tries to connect what’s happening in their diner booth to the real world raging outside it - but Domingo remains perfectly controlled throughout. Zendaya does a remarkable job letting Rue slowly unclench over the course of the hour, but it’s Domingo’s performance that leaves a mark. And Ali, an enigmatic but elusive figure in the first season, gets to share more of his story and philosophy in a way that feels entirely natural despite more than a couple monologues spanning several minutes. Given plenty of time and space in this episode to grapple with her shattered life without distractions, Rue goes from shrugging at the idea of getting clean - or even staying alive at all - to letting tears fall down her face as Ali helps her realize how much she still cares. (Even the idyllic Jules fantasy can’t escape the shadow of Rue’s addiction she barely makes it to the end of her own dream before snorting a stashed pill from underneath the bed she imagines them sharing.) In real time, this quieter episode gives Rue more room to cycle through all the stages of self-loathing after her relapse while Ali patiently works like hell to keep her tethered to reality. Aside from an opening fantasy of Rue’s potential life with Jules, the entire episode is just Rue and Ali talking over cold pancakes about drugs, sobriety and the exhausting struggle of feeling suspended between the two extremes. In the aftermath of Rue’s relapse, she joins her sponsor Ali ( Colman Domingo) at a diner after a Christmas Eve Narcotics Anonymous meeting, but quickly finds herself on the ropes once Ali realizes she’s high. 4 at midnight on HBO Max before it will air Sunday night on HBO proper - sees the show pared down to the absolute basics. The new special episode - which dropped Dec. “Trouble Don’t Last Always” does none of this.
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