This season of Euphoria is rumbling on towards its conclusion, but the HBO show’s brand of shock tactics isn’t slowing down in the lead-up.
In the latest episode of this third season, a wild party reminiscent of seasons of high school yore sees Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) partake in cocaine for the first time, in a scene that creator Sam Levinson managed to write in a sexualised way.
As we return to Cassie’s suburban outpost in Los Angeles, the honeymoon is over for our high school sweethearts, after the cataclysmic end to their nuptials last week.
One-toe-short husband dispatched with, Cassie calls up Maddy to help get her OnlyFans career back up and running, pawning her wedding ring for funds.
They set their sights on an influencer named Brandon Fontaine (Jeff Wahlberg) who, we’re told, has 20million acolytes online. One hot video at his side will be a gateway to fame and fortune.
To his pad they Uber. Maddy delivers a classically Maddie pep talk to Cassie, clad in a skintight cheetah-print jumpsuit, about Brandon: ‘All he cares about is p*ssy.
‘You’re gonna tempt him with p*ssy, you’re not gonna give him p*ssy. The moment you do, he’ll never speak to you again. Stay sharp, stay focused. Let’s f***ing win.’
Brandon sounds like a real charmer.
Cassie gets to work at his party, dancing on a table and snogging a random woman, who turns out to be Maddy’s former TikToker turned OnlyFans protegee, Katelyn.
They decide to find a quiet spot to take some cocaine with Brandon.
‘I love coke,’ Cassie affirms, shortly before she does a line in what is quite clearly a competition between her and Katelyn for Brandon’s attentions.
Cassie ultimately wins him over by doing the most. Classic. In this instance, that entails unzipping her bodysuit so Brandon can do a line of cocaine off her, before rubbing the rest into her crotch.
Savvy Maddy chooses the moment Brandon then mounts her to burst in with a camera crew in tow. The resultant clip goes viral. Hurray.
As ever, the reaction from Euphoria viewers has been a mixed affair, with one X user labelling the scene ‘unhinged’.
Another said Cassie has become a clear source of comic relief through what has been a thoroughly dark season thus far, with one writing: ‘Her reaction after doing ONE line of coke? Comedy gold I’m so sorry.’
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