Euphoria Special Review: Trouble Don’t Last Always

Believe in the poetry.

They are words spoken several times on the Euphoria Special, “Trouble Don’t Last Always,” and they are the key to unlocking the ache buried deep inside both of the episode’s leads.

Euphoria has been known to bend genre and format in order to tell the exact story it wants to tell, and here writer/director/creator Sam Levinson slows everything down and gives us a snapshot in Rue’s life, a moment on Christmas Eve where she’s struggling with the events of the first season and finds herself with Ali.

Their conversation makes up the bulk of the episode, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. These are the sorts of episodes that not only check in with the characters after so long, but also are the most revealing, rewarding us with the depth and dimension that other episodes can’t always provide.

Here, the extended conversation between Rue and Ali is one of the most honest Rue has experienced yet on the show, not because she hasn’t been honest through voiceover and flashbacks, but because Ali is challenging her to work through her feelings and her struggles.

Ali is the kind of voice she needs to decipher why things have led her here, and where things may go next.

But there’s so much more that makes this episode spectacular, chief among them being the heady, larger topics of life that we now find ourselves in.

Colman Domingo’s Ali turns out to be the biggest revelation of the episode, where his smaller appearances on the show have been great and poignant, but with a larger role, Domingo is absolutely essential for the show from now on. He’s the kind of voice Rue needs in her life, more than an occasional recurring character.

Ali may contain Rue’s hardships down to her still being so young, but he doesn’t do this to look down on her or her problems. It’s about context, and how there’s still a life ahead for her. His wisdom comes from experience, and he isn’t afraid to be blunt with her, to tell her how it really is.

Ali’s anecdotes about the marketing of social movements and how bleak the world can be are commentary on both the times we live in and also on how difficult it’s getting to find kindness when cruelty seems to be creeping into everything.

But it’s also rewarding how we see some glimpses into Ali’s life, too, with the phone call to his estranged family and with his story about how his family fell apart. History repeating itself is something we all face, and this moment spoke to me at a moment I needed it the most.

Rue’s confession that she doesn’t plan to live for long has been weighing over the series, but this time there’s a hopelessness to the way she says it to Ali. Despite the progress that their conversations feel like they’re making, that hopelessness still looms, and it’s likely no conversation or shift will take that from her.

It’s a hard thought, but there’s still hope for Rue despite this. It comes with talking to people who can influence her, like Ali, and finding what she wants to leave behind, which is a great way to cap off the episode. That sort of thought will potentially lead to Rue digging into what she really wants, and to find her version of that.

That may not permanently shift that pain, but it could be enough to relieve it to find the calm she needs to push forward.

Still, it’s interesting that the special opens on possibility, what could have been if Rue got on that train with Jules. In this version, there is certainly happiness and a life of opportunity, but the moment Jules leaves, Rue turns to pills to fill the void.

Is this what Rue sees as her ideal life, or is this simply a fantasy?

Jules is still texting Rue, as we find out, but she can’t bring herself to respond. The heartbreak is too difficult to get over still.

Zendaya is powerful on the special, where the high she’s on and the depression look to be fighting for dominance as she has bouts of frustration that don’t spark off too hard. There’s a subtle calm to her performance here, where you can’t tell if Rue’s holding back or if she can’t get all the way yet.

But it feels like there is progress, even if the episode closes on Rue fading off staring out the front of Ali’s truck. There’s definitely more hope than there has been since the finale, where the relapse is that moment of euphoria Rue has been searching for to release her from her pain.

Now, we’re left to wonder if she can keep on a path of doing the best she can, or if a potential second season return of Jules may completely veer her off course. There’s also the second special, and what that could entail (and who it could star).

There’s no check-in on the larger ensemble, but here, the focus on Rue and Ali, is something absolutely special. Levinson’s writing and direction are both touching and raw, and the special continues that magic Euphoria holds of being whatever it wants to be to tell its story.

This time, it’s an intimate conversation between two people who have suffered and are looking for something better. This is an important episode not only of the show, but for this year.

Some stray thoughts on the episode:

• Some new Labrinth on the episode, with what sounds like remixes on “All For Us,” along with a rendition of “Ave Maria.” It’s great to have it all back.

 

What did you think of this episode of Euphoria? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Euphoria is available on HBO Max and the special airs Sunday, December 6 at 9/8c on HBO.

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