The ending of Euphoria season three episode six, ‘Stand Still and See’, sees Rue (Zendaya) having a spiritual moment. Although the burning bush scene might look like a divine act of nature, the crew went to extreme lengths to make it happen. What’s more, creator Sam Levinson says Rue – and therefore we, the audience – “misinterpreted” the Biblical moment. Before we get into it, be warned: Spoilers ahead for the latest episode. What happens at the end of Euphoria season 3 episode 6? Throughout much of the episode, Rue is searching for meaning in her life, whether that be through starting a family, her love for Jules (Hunter Schafer), or finding God. Much of this soul-searching stems from Rue’s past struggles and her increasingly dangerous involvement with drug kingpins Laurie (Martha Kelly) and Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), having secretly agreed to work with the DEA in exchange for leniency for her own crimes. Credit: HBO Rue nearly lost her life in the last episode, so it makes sense that she’s going through this emotional and spiritual turmoil. We see this through an emotional phone call she has with her mum Leslie (Nika King), where Rue admits she’s desperate for redemption. “I don’t really wanna be stuck with all the mistakes I’ve made,” she says. Speaking of Rue nearly losing her life, she manages to convince Alamo to spare her by, in turn, convincing Faye (Chloe Cherry) of sending her a copy of the key to get Alamo’s money back from Laurie. At the end of Euphoria season three episode six, Alamo orders Rue to retrieve the cash, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Before making the journey out, Bishop (Darrell Britt-Gibson) tells Rue a story, which he ends by saying, “You never really know a motherf**ker’s true intentions,” implying he doesn’t fully trust her. Credit: HBO To really drive this home, Bishop reveals he visited Rue’s mother – her actual mum, not the DEA. In other words, if she screws them, they’ll hurt Leslie. The scene cuts to Rue driving out into the desert to retrieve the cash, and she listens to Bible passages on the way. The audio becomes distorted, causing Rue to try and fix it while speeding down the road. She’s so distracted that she doesn’t see the lorry coming in her direction until the very last moment, at which point she swerves off the road and the car breaks down. When Rue gets out of the car, a Joshua tree spontaneously combusts. She kneels down in front of it in awe, seemingly seeing this as a sign from God. As Rue previously narrated, “Maybe every mistake I made led me to the right place after all.” The team created a steel structure packed with propane In a behind-the-scenes video for the new episode, Euphoria creator Sam Levinson said, “Rue is trying to search for something that’s more important than herself.” As for the meaning behind the final sequence, he explained, “It was just an early image that I had of Rue just, you know, staring at this burning Joshua tree.” Production designer François Audouy elaborated on how they created this moment, saying, “It was something that looks like we did nothing, but we did everything. “We created a steel structure, sculpted a Joshua tree on top of it, and added real branches on top of that. All of that was plumbed with propane so that it could be lit remotely just in time for the shot.” The real meaning behind the burning bush Credit: HBO The burning bush is one of the most famous stories in the Bible, appearing in the Book of Exodus. In the passage, Moses encounters a bush that is engulfed in flames but mysteriously isn’t burning up. God then speaks to Moses through the bush, telling him that he has been chosen to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. As such, the image is typically associated with divine revelation and purpose. It’s clearly the imagery Euphoria is portraying in Rue’s final scene. Throughout the episode, she’s desperately searching for redemption and some kind of sign that her suffering means something. After narrowly avoiding death, betraying dangerous people, and fearing for her mother’s safety, Rue sees the burning Joshua tree as a possible message from God that she’s finally on the “right” path. Sam Levinson suggests Rue is ‘misinterpreting’ the sign Credit: HBO However, Sam Levinson suggests it’s much more complicated. Speaking in HBO’s behind-the-scenes featurette, he said: “What happens if God gives me some big sign and for some reason I just misinterpret it?” In other words, Rue is misinterpreting it, implying that she may be projecting meaning onto the moment as she wants to believe her actions are justified and that her life has a purpose. Right now, she’s caught between the DEA and violent drug traffickers. By believing the burning bush is a divine sign, Rue may be convincing herself that she’s protected or somehow destined to survive what happens next. Either that or it’s the kick up the butt she needs to get her life sorted out. For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured image credit: HBO Post navigation Next story
