Sam Levinson singles out the ‘Euphoria’ scene that contains “the thesis to the show”
Sam Levinson has shed some light on the series finale of Euphoria, revealing the pivotal scene that contains “the thesis to the show”.
After seven years, the star-studded HBO series Euphoria has finally come to an end with a season finale filled with death, addiction, violence, and sex.
Notably, the series’ protagonist and narrator, Rue Bennett, played by Zendaya, dies in the final episode following a drug overdose with fentanyl.
Speaking on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, Levinson discussed the final episode and revealed the one scene he believed contained the intended “thesis” for the tumultuous show.
In the final episode, Rue’s sponsor Ali, played by Colman Domingo, finds her deceased body on his couch. Two months later, we see him attend a Narcotics Anonymous meeting where he describes his hopeless pessimism after watching many of his sponsees succumb to addiction.
Touching on Domingo’s character, Levinson deems Ali “such a decent character and guy, and he’s sought redemption, and we know how much he’s been there for Rue.”
He added, “It felt like, in telling this story, it was important to witness this tragedy through his eyes, through someone who spent his years in AA and NA trying to kind of help these kids, trying to get them clean, trying to get them on the right path, and hitting a breaking point.”
Levinson turned his attention to Ali’s touching monologue, where he shares, in part, “I’m tired of losing people. Tired of talking to kids, helping kids, pouring my fucking heart and soul into kids, only to not see them get a second chance.”
The director explained, “The speech that he gives at the NA after Rue’s death is, in many ways, the kind of thesis of this show, that he used to believe empathy was the key to everything. You can understand the addict; it could help them.”
Unfortunately for Ali, he realises that this isn’t always the case: “But if you have unlimited empathy for the addict, the drug dealer, everyone, it begins to lose its moral shape. And empathy no longer becomes just a pure virtue. And that, at the end of the day, there is such a thing as right and wrong, and good and evil.”
As a result, Ali ends up on a destructive path for real justice, where he shoots and kills Alamo, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who gave Zendaya’s character the drugs that ultimately killed her.
Levinson concludes that the final shoot-out “felt very much in line with the kind of American myth I was trying to tell, this sort of frontier myth.”
Elsewhere, the filmmaker confirmed that the show won’t be returning, stating that the death of Zendaya’s character “feels like the end to me.”
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.