“Euphoria” Special “Part Two: Jules” Recap

Fans might still have to wait a bit for Euphoria’s highly anticipated second season, but thankfully the popular HBO series has been tiding us over with two special “bridge” episodes. The first, featuring Zendaya’s Rue Bennett, premiered back in December, and the second made its debut on HBO and HBO Max this weekend.

As its name suggests, Part Two: Jules puts Hunter Schafer’s character Jules Vaughn front and center. The hour-long episode mostly shows Jules in the midst of a therapy appointment, just as the previous special consisted primarily of a conversation at a diner between Rue and her sponsor Ali (Colman Domingo).

In Jules’s episode, she speaks with her therapist, Dr. Mandy Nichols (portrayed by Lauren Weedman) about a variety of topics, ranging from gender identity to her relationship with her mother. The episode allows fans a deeper look at Jules’s experiences throughout the first season, along with her current headspace as we get closer to Season 2.

Jules tells Dr. Nichols that she’s considering going off hormones, musing that she’s tired of striving for femininity through the lens of what might be appealing to men, as she’s “no longer interested in [them] philosophically.”

She adds that she’s always been fearful of puberty, describing a possible “broadening and thickening” that she’s wanted to steer clear of, but is now reconsidering, likening such descriptors to the ocean. “I want to be as beautiful as the ocean,” she explains to her therapist, adding that being trans is a spiritual experience for her. “I don’t ever want to stand still. I want to be alive.” (As plenty of fans have pointed out on Twitter, Rue once commented that she “worships the ocean,” creating a parallel moment happening in two separate scenes.)

Jules also talks to Dr. Nichols about her relationship with Rue, noting that there’s been no one like her in her life so far, while also expressing concern that Rue has been too dependent on her. We learn that her relationship with Rue bears similar themes to the one Jules has with her mother, who also struggles with addiction and was hospitalized around the time of the Halloween party during Season 1. One of her biggest fears, it seems, is losing Rue to an overdose.

As with Rue’s special, Jules’s episode had plenty of fans in their feelings — and right off the bat, too, as the opening song was none other than Lorde’s “Liability.”

“The Euphoria Jules special really hits you with Lorde minutes in, huh?” tweeted writer Melissa Radz, while another fan wrote, “EUPHORIA PLAYING LIABILITY BY LORDE LITERALLY A MINUTE INTO THE JULES EPISODE SHOULD BE A CRIME.”

Others took to Twitter to express their emotional state after watching Jules’s journey, with many defending the character against her Season 1 critics. But mostly, fans seem to be rooting for Hunter Schafer to get her Emmy — and we have to agree. As Twitter user @battinsuns put it, “‘Emmy Award winner Hunter Schafer’ has a nice ring to it.” Yes, yes it does!