Spoiler Alert: This story contains spoilers for “Euphoria” Season 3 Episode 7, “Rain or Shine,” now available on HBO Max.
Once again, Lou Bennett ends the “Euphoria” episode in critical condition, but one of her high school classmates is in an even worse situation.
Zendaya’s character has had a rough season and recently narrowly escaped getting hit in the head with a polo mallet. But now Faye (Chloe Cherry), who was trying to help Lou after receiving information that Wayne (Toby Wallace) wants her dead, turns on her and screams for everyone to wake up, putting her in danger of being discovered trying to rob a drug cartel.
But it’s Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) who actually dies and ends the episode — seemingly uncontroversial, as his wife, Kathy (Sidney Sweeney), weeps over his necrotic body. Here’s what happened in the penultimate episode of the season.
death of golden boy
Nate Jacobs has changed a lot since his high school days. In the show’s first two seasons, this character, who generated much of the show’s intrigue and menace thanks to his barely-controllable anger, had been degraded by life. Failures in business and debts to loan sharks left him weak and sad and resigned. This sounded interesting for Elordi, which led us to a sad fate, but he was barely trying to overtake us until the end.
The loan sharks who were holding Nate hostage over a million dollar debt buried him in a shallow grave with a small vent to the outside world, giving Cassie, who also kidnapped him in this episode, three days to come up with the money to buy Nate’s freedom. As Cassie wiggles her way out of it, she asks Maddy (Alexa Demme), who in turn asks Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). Alamo appears at the scene of the fall and ends the confrontation by shooting and killing one of the loan sharks. She is able to reunite with Nate. But moments before that, a rattlesnake sneaks in through the vent and bites Nate, rendering the whole attempt pointless. At least Kathy tried.
This is a gruesome send-off for a character who has shown no small amount of violence towards others. And as the season finale nears, a whole new emotional story begins for the character, who is suddenly turned from a disgruntled wife to a widow within months of marriage.
Kathy’s fall and rise
Some may question the fact that Maddie helped Cassie. In the previous episode, Cassie’s rash decision to quit OnlyFans in pursuit of a legitimate acting career cut off an important source of income for the aspiring manager. Unfortunately, Cassie was fired from L.A. Nights after the production company decided they didn’t want the hassle of explaining the star’s past work. After desperately (and fruitlessly) trying to get her old account and all of its followers back, Kathy needed a plan.
Actor Dylan Reed (Homer Gere), who had shared scenes with Cassie before she was fired, was disappointed that she had to leave the project. She executed her plan perfectly before Cassie was kidnapped. On a date with Dylan, she gets him drunk, has sex with him, steals his cell phone while he’s in a post-coitus stupor and isn’t paying attention, and posts on Instagram (expletive) about how great Cassie is in bed. Cathy created the post while Dylan was drinking ice water in the kitchen, but Dylan didn’t notice that Nate’s frozen finger was inside. It was a morbid reminder of how much suffering was occurring elsewhere.
Ali’s inside story
In a flashback narrated by the signature Euphoria Lou, we see Ali (Colman Domingo) on his journey to find sobriety. After a huge fight with his wife, Ali hangs out with Natasha Lyonne’s character at a boarding house. Then, as he goes through the steps, we see him trying to sponsor other addicts, especially in the dark days of COVID-19 when in-person meetings are no more.
Ali is now trying to do the same again for Lou, but seems to sense that this is going to be an increasingly difficult battle. After seeing the burning bush as an omen at the end of last week’s episode, Lou tells Ali that she heard the voice of God, saying, “I heard your cry, I feel your pain. Have faith, and I will bring you out of Egypt and bring you to the Promised Land.” Ali seems endearingly bewildered at the moment.
Lou’s spiritual awakening
In her connection to faith, Lou seems to have a newfound sense that anything is possible. As it turns out, she almost got into a car accident, only to survive and see a burning bush. What can’t she do? (Make sure Lexie, played by Maud Apatow, doesn’t get annoyed with her. After Lou tries to explain her connection to God, Lexie says, “No wonder your mom doesn’t talk to you anymore.”)
This may explain why Lou is playing an increasingly complex game between two rival cartels. Now Alamo is trying to convince Laurie (Martha Kelly) that he doesn’t trust Lou because he knows that Lou’s true loyalty lies with Laurie. (This distrust causes Lou to try to punch himself and leave bruises.) To repay Lou’s professed desire to trade places, the cartel threatens her with all kinds of violence before cutting her palm open with a knife. Their methods are questionable, but doubts are natural. Lou attempts a robbery in the middle of the night with Faye’s help, but the condition of the safe (surprise! There’s no money inside, just a bunch of ID cards) convinces Faye that Lou has been lying all along. A scream signals the end of the season, and Lou is in danger.
