SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Rain or Shine,” Season 3 Episode 7 of “Euphoria,” now streaming on HBO Max.

Once again, Rue Bennett ends an episode of “Euphoria” in peril — but one of her high-school classmates is even worse off.

Zendaya’s character has had a rough season, recently narrowly avoiding having her head clubbed off with a polo mallet. Now, though, she’s at risk of being discovered attempting to rob a drug cartel, after Faye (Chloe Cherry), who’d been attempting to help Rue after being advised that Wayne (Toby Wallace) wants Rue dead, flips on her and screams to wake everyone up.

But it’s Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) who ends the episode actually dead — seemingly incontrovertibly, as we watch his wife Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) weeping over his necrotizing body. Here’s what happened in the season’s penultimate episode.

Death of a Golden Boy

Nate Jacobs has changed a lot since high school. The character who, in the show’s first two seasons, generated much of the show’s intrigue and menace thanks to his barely controllable rage, had been brought low by life. His failures in business and his debt to loan sharks gave him a weakened, sorrowful resignedness. It was an interesting note for Elordi to play, and it led us to a sad fate he, by the end, was only barely trying to outrun. 

The loan sharks, who’ve been holding Nate hostage over a $1 million debt, have buried Nate in a shallow grave with a small vent to the outside world, giving Cassie, whom they also kidnap in this episode, three days to come up with the money to buy Nate’s freedom. Once Cassie wriggles her way out of it — she asks Maddy (Alexa Demie), who asks Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), who shows up at the drop site and shoots one of the loan sharks dead, ending the standoff — she’s able to reunite with Nate. But some time prior, a rattlesnake had come through the vent and bitten Nate, making the whole endeavor pointless. At least Cassie tried.

It’s a gruesome sendoff for a character who’d previously shown no small capacity for violence toward others. And, as the season finale nears, it opens up an entirely new emotional playbook for a character who’s gone from dissatisfied wife to, suddenly, a widow, all within the first months of her marriage.

The Fall and Rise of Cassie

One might wonder at the fact that Maddy helped Cassie at all — the latter’s rash decision, in the previous episode, to quit OnlyFans in pursuit of a legitimate acting career cut off a vital flow of income to her aspiring manager. Cassie, unfortunately, was fired from “L.A. Nights” after the production decided it didn’t want the hassle of explaining its star’s past work; after beseechingly (and futilely) trying to get her old account, with all its followers, back, Cassie needed a scheme. 

Enter Dylan Reed (Homer Gere), the actor who’d shared scenes with Cassie before her firing and felt bad she had to leave the production. Before Cassie’s kidnapping, she executed a scheme perfectly: On a date with Dylan, she got him drunk, had sex with him, and — while Dylan was in a postcoital haze and not paying attention — stole his phone to post from his Instagram that Cassie was remarkable in bed (in crasser terms). Cassie created the post while Dylan was in the kitchen, drinking a glass of ice water that he didn’t notice contained the frozen finger of Nate — a morbid reminder of just how much suffering was playing out elsewhere.

Ali’s Backstory

In a signature “Euphoria” Rue-narrated flashback, we see Ali (Colman Domingo) during his journey to finding sobriety. After an explosive fight with his wife, Ali hangs out in a flophouse with a character played by Natasha Lyonne; later, as he works the steps, we see him attempting to sponsor other addicts, especially during the dark days of COVID when in-person meetings went away. 

Ali’s now trying to do the same, once again, for Rue, although he seems to have the sense that this is going to be an increasingly challenging battle. Rue, after seeing a burning bush as a sign at the end of last week’s episode, tells Ali she has heard the voice of God, telling her, “I heard your cries, I feel your pain; have faith and I will take you from Egypt and I will lead you to the Promised Land.” Ali seems lovingly bemused, for now.

Rue’s Spiritual Awakening

Rue, in her connection to faith, seems to have a new sense that anything is possible — she survived a near-car crash only to see a burning bush, after all. What can’t she do? (Keep Lexi, played by Maude Apatow, from being annoyed with her, for one: After Rue tries to explain her connection to the divine, Lexi snaps, “No wonder your mom doesn’t talk to you anymore.”) 

This may account for why Rue is playing an increasingly complex game between the two rival cartels — now working to convince Laurie (Martha Kelly) that Alamo distrusts Rue because he knows Rue’s true loyalty lies with Laurie. (In service of this mistruth, Rue attempts to beat herself up and leave bruises.) To reward Rue’s professed desire to swap sides, the cartel threatens her with all manner of violence before slicing her palm open with a knife. Their methods are questionable, but they’re right to be suspicious; Rue attempts her robbery, with Faye’s help, in the middle of the night, before the state of the safe (surprise! No money inside, just a bunch of IDs) convinces Faye that Rue’s been lying the whole time. Cue the scream — and peril for Rue as the season reaches its endgame.