Following the events of the second episode of Euphoria Season 3, the final season of the HBO series delivers its most compelling episode (so far)—a blend of light, dreams, nightmares, and darkness that captures the essence of the story created, written, and directed by Sam Levinson. In this week’s episode of “Euphoria,” titled “The Ballad of Paladine,” Nate and Cassie get married in a ceremony as beautiful, absurd, and empty as the lead couple and their world…but the chickens are bound to come home to roost.
At the start of Episode 3, we discover Jules’s life after high school and her job as an escort, suggested to her by her art school roommate, Vivian: her first date is with a lawyer who admits to having “serious intimacy issues” and has a penchant for nylon stockings. When she realizes that two dates a month with him will be enough to pay her rent, she throws herself headfirst into this career. There are other men, but eventually she becomes involved with a married plastic surgeon named Ellis, and in the end, she drops out of art school to focus on this one client—the one who provided her with the luxury apartment seen at the end of the last episode.
Meanwhile, at the Silver Slipper, Rue has added “arms dealer” to his ever-growing list of tasks for Alamo. After a night in which the pig Alamo sent to Laurie’s house runs amok in the strip club, Alamo shoots it—traumatizing a nearby dancer—then wonders what Laurie loves most… so he can destroy it. “Paladin, his parrot,” Rue says after thinking it over, and a plan is immediately hatched.
But first, it’s wedding time! Rue, who’s invited, pays Jules to accompany her. “Now I’m your sugar daddy,” she jokes—but not entirely. “Dress sexy.” And Jules does as she’s told, in a dress that gives the illusion that a gust of wind would be enough to make it slip off her body. Maddy also shows up in a low-cut green dress, designed to turn heads. Marsha, Nate’s mother, spots Jules and wonders who she is: “I think she’s an old friend of Nate’s,” says Cal, trying to sound nonchalant but not quite succeeding, as he and Jules exchange a glance across the aisle.
Backstage, Cassie is panicking because her future husband is nowhere to be found… because he’s vomiting profusely in the shower while his groomsmen try to revive him. As the ceremony begins, Cassie’s mother walks her down the aisle and launches into a monologue about how unhappy her own marriage had been, and how the moment before she joined Cassie’s father at the altar was “the last happy moment I would share with your father.” When Cassie reaches the altar, she is in tears—but certainly not from happiness…
As we’ll see throughout the evening, there’s a huge discrepancy between the image the bride and groom project and what’s actually happening. The wedding continues at the restaurant after Rue ditches Jules when Alamo calls and orders her to meet Bishop to go to Laurie’s. Jules then decides to stay and ends up at the bar just as Cal arrives: their exchange is somewhere between friendly and civil, and he apologizes to her; we also gather that the video of Jules that Cal had kept was destroyed by Nate.
After Marsha delivers her speech—which includes both a dig at Maddy and a reminder that she and Cal are divorced—Naz, the funeral director to whom Nate owes money, approaches the newlyweds’ table, introduces himself to Cassie in front of many other guests, and makes a disturbing and threatening scene: “Don’t you think it’s a little silly to throw such a lavish party when you owe money to so many people?” she asks the groom in an increasingly aggressive tone, while Nate tries to keep smiling for the guests and hide the panic that is gripping him more and more. “I don’t want to be poor,” Cassie reminds him shortly after, crying.
Nate and Jules exchange greetings outside: they share a cigarette, and he thanks her for coming. Then he goes back inside and is confronted by Cassie, who throws another fit at the poker table, telling him he’s not a man and screaming that all he does is lie. Then she opens a bottle of champagne and accidentally (or perhaps not) hits him right in the forehead with the cork, which infuriates Nate… yet they’re grinning from ear to ear as they climb into a monstrous limousine amid everyone’s applause.
The moment the car door closes, however, Nate immediately starts apologizing: he swears he wanted to talk to her about the money problem, but didn’t want to ruin the wedding. Things seem to be getting back to normal…until they get home. Naz and his henchman are waiting for them in the living room: the thug starts beating Nate to a pulp, and as he does, he shoves Cassie so hard that her face slams into the floor. Her nose starts bleeding, and at that point she bursts into childish sobs—not because her new husband is getting beaten up right in front of her, but because her dream wedding day is RUINED! Then Naz and his henchman cut off Nate’s little toe and leave… the flowers for the event, though, were really beautiful.
Meanwhile, Rue talks to Fez while driving to Laurie’s house. He tells her he escaped from prison using parkour, and she laughs, saying she’ll pick him up when he’s ready. When she and Bishop arrive at Laurie’s, ostensibly to test her product, Laurie tries to convince Rue to come back. Rue replies that she’s happy with Alamo, but Laurie doesn’t take it well: “Remember, the grass is always greener near the swamp,” she warns. While everyone is distracted, Bishop drops a pill into Paladin’s water bowl.
Later that evening, two things happen at the same time: Paladin drinks the contaminated water and drops dead while Laurie dozes off in her favorite armchair; Rue is stopped by a man she initially thinks is a police officer, but who turns out to be a DEA agent…
