After killing off a main character halfway into Euphoria‘s presumed series finale, Sydney Sweeney‘s character Cassie mourned while washing sex toys.
The Sunday, May 31, episode of the hit HBO series showed Rue’s (Zendaya) death halfway into the finale. The rest of the presumed conclusion to the show was focused on the other characters reacting to Rue’s shocking death.
Lexi (Maude Apatow) confided in Cassie — who was washing her sex toys — about reading through Rue’s Bible after her death. The scene stood out due to what Cassie was doing while discussing her friend no longer being alive. She also smiled and kept the conversation light while complimenting Rue’s smile.
Sunday’s episode was the conclusion to a chaotic season for Cassie. Creator Sam Levinson specifically received backlash for how he portrayed Cassie’s OnlyFans arc after some creators weren’t thrilled with how their line of work was portrayed on screen.
Levinson, however, defended the decision to push boundaries.
“[Cassie] has got her dog house and her little dog ears and the nose, and that has its own humor,” Levinson explained to The Hollywood Reporter in April. “But what makes the scene is the fact that her housekeeper is the one filming it.”
He continued: “What we wanted to always find is the other layer of absurdity that we’re able to tie into it so that we’re not too inside of her fantasy or illusion,” the 41-year-old added. “The gag is to jump out, to break the wall.”
Levinson broke down how he and director of photography Marcell Rév brought the scenes to life.
“An obvious choice would’ve been something modern and very plain and fancy, but we ended up choosing this mid-century home, which is a little tacky, but also stuck in the ‘70s,” Rév explained. “It’s probably a strange choice, but also it gives us possibilities. OnlyFans has its own aesthetic and how you elevate that aesthetic to the show’s aesthetic is a challenge. I’m not going to lie.”
Despite the backlash, Levinson stood by his vision.
“Some of these scenes we only lit with these ring lights that she would use. When you’re inside, it’s a beautiful, glowing front light, but then you jump out of it and it’s just a pool of light and everything surrounding it is dark. It’s just gnarly and jarring,” he added. “We wanted to capture what she’s trying to show the audience and be inside of it. But then also pull back wider and see how depressing it is.”
Euphoria is currently streaming on HBO.
