The teens on Euphoria are often putting themselves in precarious situations, but no one makes us quite as nervous as Zendaya's Rue. Despite claiming to Jules, her mother, and the rest of the world that she is sober, Rue has never quite stopped doing drugs. Now, she's armed with a suitcase full of them from a drug dealer, and she seems to have very little interest in actually selling these drugs to make a profit — despite the threat of violence if she doesn't return with cash.
In last week's episode "You Who Cannot See, Think of Those Who Can," Rue takes drugs and appears to go into a spiritual world, where she reunites with her deceased father and sees her friends staring at her in a church scene. The moment has made plenty of people wonder: Is Rue actually dead now? While that remains to be seen, TikToker @GiletSlays suggests that if Rue isn't dead currently, she does die before the series is over. Tragically, it makes so much sense.
@GiletSlays says that there's a big clue as to why Rue may be dead: She's the narrator of the story, and seems to have extra special insight into the lives of those around her. She uses phrases such as "I didn't know this at the time..." when talking about events that she couldn't possibly be privy to. Is it possible that Rue gets the lowdown on certain social interacts after they happen? Sure, but it's not like Rue is a social butterfly, constantly seeking out hot gossip. Instead, what if Rue is telling the story of Euphoria, from the perspective of someone who is now all-knowing about the events of their friends and classmates lives, as they're now dead?
TikToker @CatQuinn also points out something pretty troubling. In the beginning of the episode, Rue imagines her and Jules as film couples from movie such as Titanic, Brokeback Mountain, and Ghost. In every single scene, Rue plays a character who dies by the end of the film. Could it be foreshadowing to the fact that Rue eventually will die by the end of the series?
Zendaya told Radio Times that we will see Rue in a precarious situation this season.
“This season, more specifically, she goes to the rock bottom," she explained. "When we get midway through, that’s when the rock bottom hits, and that’s where it became extremely painful for all of us to watch. And to portray her going through it hurt me."
It's hard to imagine Euphoria continuing without Rue's narration — however, there is one possibility that might completely change the show forever.
This season has spent a lot of time establishing Lexi as an "observer" of those around her. She even writes a play that's basically like the stage version of Euphoria, with herself as the lead role — a shift from how things currently are on the show. She's also gotten closer to Fez, who, up until this point, has only really had a relationship with Rue. Perhaps Rue does die before the end of Euphoria — and passes the baton off to Lexi, who continues the show from her own narrative standpoint.
One thing is certain for Rue: There's only so much farther she can go before hitting rock bottom. Whether that rock bottom is her death, or something else, remains to be seen.