'Euphoria' Season 3 Episode 5 Ending Explained: Did Alamo Kill Rue?

Euphoria Season 3 episode 5’s ending was largely about Alamo making Rue pay for supposedly having a hand in the robbery. After the hit job at Silver Slipper (which was evidently conducted by Faye, Wayne, and Harley), Alamo ordered a mole hunt, which was being carried out by Bishop. He was angry at Big Eddy for opening the safe, and he had Bishop torture the hell out of the bouncer for letting the robbers in. But it was only after Magick accused Rue of trying to frame her that Alamo had his light-bulb moment and he realized that maybe Rue was behind the robbery. Hence, he sent Bishop, G, and Kidd to get the truth out of Rue. While Rue was being tested for betrayal, Alamo cozied up to Maddy to discuss business. Speaking of Maddy, her secret was out, and Cassie had come to the realization that Maddy was merely using her to get out of the financial hellhole that she was in. Maddy pulled some strings to keep Cassie tethered to her, but due to Cassie’s amazing “acting skills” (and the fact that she was related to Lexi), she seemingly got to sever her ties with Maddy. However, will that be enough to save Nate from Naz’s wrath? Is Cassie going to be the key to her friends’ salvation? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

I don’t know why it took so long for Alamo and his gang to suspect that Rue might’ve been involved in the Silver Slipper robbery. I am not sure if this was a case of bad writing or if Sam Levinson intentionally made Alamo, Bishop, G, and Kidd stupid, but I found their thought process to be so odd. Why were they talking about Eddy being the backstabber? Why were they torturing that bouncer? Why did Alamo feel that Rue might have backstabbed him only after Magick revealed that she had tried to frame her? I do not have a clue. Well, whatever the case may be for Alamo’s growing suspicion about Rue’s allegiance, he was wrong, because Rue had nothing to do with the robbery. She was helping the DEA bring down both Alamo and Laurie; there’s no doubt about that. However, organizing a robbery? No, she had nothing to do with that; and that was proven by Rue’s prickly phone conversations with Laurie and Wayne (which she did on DEA officers Bowman and Jimenez’s orders). Now, after Rue informed Bowman and Jimenez that Alamo was looking to have a meeting with Laurie, the DEA officers ordered Rue to find a way to be a part of that meeting and place her bugged phone in the room so that they can listen in on their conversation and then use it against Alamo, Laurie, and their respective gangs. The ending of Season 3 episode 5 made it seem like Alamo has killed Rue with a wooden mallet meant for playing polo. 

Rue is missing from the teaser for episode 6. So, that must mean that Rue is dead, right? Well, no. Alamo still thinks that Rue is an important piece of this puzzle that he and Laurie are putting together; and he just wants to know if Rue is on his side or hers. Alamo and Laurie’s whole rivalry is pretty pointless, because their real enemy is the DEA and they might be the ones who organized the robbery (with the help of robbers who are under their thumb) so as to get Alamo and Laurie to start a gang war and finish each other off. Once both parties are at their weakest, the DEA, with Rue’s help, will probably swoop in and arrest Laurie and Alamo. You have to remember: Rue isn’t in this gangster business because she likes it. It’s a means to an end. She wants to find a way out, become a “legit” business owner, get laid, and laze off all day. She thinks the DEA will provide her that exit route. If she makes her way to that meeting between Alamo and Laurie, and if she does get them on record talking about peddling drugs, maybe the DEA will help her get the future she wants. If she gets caught snooping though (because Bishop has her phone in his possession and he might figure out that it’s been bugged by the DEA), then she’s toast. Also, Maddy becoming a part of Alamo’s enterprise is bound to complicate things for Rue because, for Maddy, Alamo is her way out of the rut she’s in. If Alamo goes to jail prematurely, Maddy will find herself between a rock and a hard place, again.

In an interesting turn of events, Alamo crossed paths with Maddy when she was talking to Rue (in that diner the characters always are at) about equanimity and finding God. I instantly assumed that Alamo was going to threaten Rue with taking Maddy’s life in order to get her to tell the truth about the part she played in the Silver Slipper robbery. But I was surprised to see Alamo and Maddy talk shop, with Alamo coming to the realization that he had all these girls on his payroll, yet he was not making as much money as he should be making. How does someone like Alamo not know about the world of paid subscription services that cater to people with various kinds of fetishes? I don’t know. Everyone and their grandmother nowadays are aware of all these apps and websites where women (and men) use their bodies to earn money, and somehow it has gone under Alamo’s radar. That doesn’t make any sense (unless Levinson wants to show that Alamo is an idiot). Anyway, after learning about the money-making potential of paid subscription services, he took Maddy to the Silver Slipper so that she could pick the best out of the lot and “manage” them, like she was doing with Cassie, to make tons of money. Maddy picked Magick and Kitty as her top models, and I think Maddy’s “pimping” acumen impressed Alamo enough to give her a solid share of the profits that she’s about to make. As mentioned before, Maddy was in a difficult position prior to meeting Alamo, because Cassie had learned her “secret” (Maddy was poor and was pretending to be a rich manager when she was actually a PA at a Hollywood talent agency), and she was trying hard to get rid of Maddy. 

Maddy had managed to tie down Cassie with a contract, but since Cassie had secured a role in Patricia’s LA Nights, it was only a matter of time before she left Maddy in the lurch again. So, Maddy running into Alamo, and Alamo offering her this job to manage his girls was nothing short of a miracle. However, there are 2 things that can ruin it all for Maddy: Rue snitching for the DEA, and Maddy’s own sensitive nature. If Rue’s DEA-sanctioned operation ends up being a success, Alamo will go to jail. If Levinson is feeling generous, Maddy will take over the Silver Slipper and continue working out of there. If Levinson isn’t feeling generous, Maddy will lose everything after Alamo goes to jail. Either way, Maddy might have to convince Rue (once she learns that she’s working for the DEA) to snitch on Alamo only when the time is right. Whether or not Rue will be able to hold back the DEA for as long as Maddy wants her to is a big question mark. And then there’s the case of Maddy’s personal sensibilities. In the teaser for Euphoria Season 3 episode 6, Maddy can be heard talking about giving the girls a break because they’re clearly overworked. When Rue tried to check in on how Kitty was doing, she was labeled a red flag by Magick. Then what’s gonna happen if Magick hears Maddy (Rue’s friend) doing the same? Best-case scenario: Alamo will fire Maddy. Worst-case scenario: Alamo will kill both Maddy and Rue for co-conspiring to take him and his business down.

Cassie currently has her fingers in a lot of pies. She has signed a contract with Brandon. She has signed a contract with Maddy (who’s making her pose with Kitty and Magick). She’s in LA Nights. And the reason why she can’t choose just one of them as her main platform to grow as a professional model is because she’s over-ambitious and she wants to help Nate get out of the financial hellhole that he’s in. But the issue with Nate is that, no matter what Cassie does, he’s never gonna get out of Naz’s clutches. In Euphoria Season 3 episode 5, we saw Naz sending a man to wreck Nate’s house and cut one of Nate’s fingers off (while ripping off the re-sewn pinky toe) even though he had acquired $30k from Cassie, which he would have given to Naz. In the teaser for episode 6, we see Nate getting tortured by Naz’s henchman again while Cassie is trying to reach him on the phone. This might mean that Naz actually doesn’t have any intention of letting Nate off the hook; he just wants to torture Nate until there aren’t any more body parts left to sever. You should rewatch the first 2 seasons of the show if you are wondering whether or not Nate deserves this kinda treatment; newsflash: he absolutely does. And it’s only a matter of time before Cassie realizes that her hard-earned money is going to waste and ditches Nate for good. After doing so, which avenue is she going to choose to build her career? 

It’s unclear how long she’s gonna last in Patricia’s production. We don’t know how long she’ll be able to hold Brandon’s attention, because Brandon has “options.” And, regardless of what happens to Alamo, there’s no way to say for sure if Maddy will continue to keep her as a client now that she has access to multiple girls who are willing to do things that Cassie won’t. So, if Cassie is kicked to the curb by all of her employers, what is she going to do? To be honest, I have no clue. Cassie doesn’t exactly have any skills other than using her body to make money. She can try to continue to do so, but without access to resources, whatever fame she has achieved will dwindle away and she’ll be replaced by someone who is younger, bolder, and more beautiful than her. In that case, I suppose the only option she’ll be left with is getting an education and applying for a regular 9-to-5 job. Cassie won’t have to look too far to get inspiration; her own sister, Lexi, who also harbors similar ambitions of making it big in showbiz is right there. Going by the play she had written and directed in Season 2, Lexi certainly has the chops to be one of the best storytellers in Hollywood. However, instead of taking any shortcuts, she’s doing the grunt work, learning the ins and outs of the industry, and steadily working her way up the ladder. Her persona and journey may not look as glamorous, but the foundations of her career are far more stronger than Cassie’s. So, if things don’t work out for Cassie, and she still has the desire to work in the entertainment business, she can take a page out of Lexi’s notebook and try taking the hard (read: educational) route to fame. Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the ending of Season 3 episode 5. If you have any opinions about the episode that you want to share with me, then feel free to use the comments section to let me know.