“Euphoria” Season 2 Will End With Rue’s “Redemption,” Zendaya Says

This season has been a journey.
Zendaya in Euphoria with messy bun
Photograph by Eddy Chen/HBO

Euphoria season 2 kicked off with a bang — literally — and the HBO series continues to shock, terrify, and thrill viewers with every episode. (Can we talk about that intervention scene?) The series has inspired countless memes and TikTok trends, and every Sunday night, Twitter is abuzz as viewers react to Rue, Jules, Maddy, Nate, and the rest of the crew as they lean into chaos.

Season 2 is in full swing, with only two episodes left until the finale. In an interview with The Cut, star Zendaya hinted at how things will wrap up for Rue, who has gone on a very intense emotional journey this season. According to the actor, things are going to get better for Rue and her family ‚ though it wasn't always planned that way. 

“The ending of the season was going to be very different and then halfway through, Sam and I were like, ‘We just can’t leave Rue here. We gotta put some f**king hope in this show,'" she told The Cut. Episode six, the most recent, did seem to be a bit more hopeful in tone, leading us to believe that there are good things in store for Rue down the line. “Episode eight is where we’ll get that sense of redemption ... that you aren’t the worst thing you’ve ever done in your life. I think Rue deserves it, and I think anyone who suffers with the same thing she does deserves it.”

Does playing Rue stick with Z long after scenes are wrapped? “I can mostly shake it off," she said of her performance, which scored her her first Emmy Award. “But there are days where you’re just in it, and even if your brain knows it’s not real, your body takes on this anxiousness and anger.” Zendaya also shared that connecting with the character is easy for her. “She lives in me in a weird way. I don’t have to go searching for her.”

Other cast members spoke about their character's journeys in Euphoria season 2, including Barbie Ferreira, who says that Kat's storyline is more "internal" this time around. Unlike Maddy, Cassie, Jules, Rue, and even Lexi, who played a side role last season, we haven't seen as much of Kat as we did in season 1, where she found confidence and power. “Kat’s journey this season is a little more internal and a little mysterious to the audience. She is secretly going through a lot of existential crises," Barbie explained. "She loses her marbles a little bit — just like everyone else in this season. The theme is everyone’s gone a little crazy.”

Check out the promo for episode 7 below, and get ready for a wild ride for these last two Euphoria episodes: