Rise of the High School Bully | I'm watching Euphoria, so you don't have to. (Episode 5 Review)
The concept of getting Sydney Sweeney to play a buxom starlet grifting to the right. I should have known that this show would schenan again.
Cassie's about to ruin Lexi's safe place by getting cast in the show she works for, while wiring money to Nate, who's still getting appendages removed from his body by thugs on a regular basis. Somehow, Cassie keeps winning - making money, gaining fame and capturing auditions, and we're meant to believe that Maddie doesn't really care. Maybe she's being a Scorpio, or maybe she's real about all of it. I can't believe the old Maddie would let this go - but she has grown up.
Rue is in danger, girl, and we leave her on a pretty scary cliffhanger – perhaps the only time I've held my breath in fear. To be honest, it's Zendaya doing all the heavy lifting here.
Meanwhile, Maddie has thrown her lot in with Rue's Pimp boss, Alamo, and as long as she stays calm, she's actually on to a winning formula. I fear, though, that this plotline simply launders the show's reputation, as if to say, "We hired OnlyFans models to act in the show because we actually know how valuable they can be to Hollywood", instead of whatever the real reason was.
So far, I'm trying not to lambast Levinson as hard as I usually do - it's boring, I've said my piece, and the show is ticking along across a very meandering, boring line, so it's not even like I can say anything new about Levinson's outlook on the world, other than it shows a profound lack of imagination.
The western influence has won out with this episode - I don't think we're going back to the daydream from now on. This has as much to do with Hans Zimmer as anything – without the Labrynth-esque music cues of the past, we're just left with Ennio Morricone rip-offs.
This week, more than any other, I feel the burden of watching this so you don't have to. I shoulder this burden with responsibility.
Buy us a London-priced coffee, and fuel our work - for £5 a month you can help us keep OBSCURAE’S independence alive.
