After the Euphoria series ended this evening, Sam Levinson’s post-credits comments were pure MadCassie team:
Cassie and Maddie, the love story in the way this season is between the two of them. They have been through a lot together. And they are finally there. All they get is each one with a bunch of bills.
He fenced you in a “way”, but he didn’t call it friendship. He called it a love story. And those are the only two words that matter.
The season is growing so far. Love songs in all their scenes. The way they look at each other. The way Cassie says Maddy was the love of her life when they first met years ago. It culminates with a diner booth preview of the episode being teased. As Maddy’s mask completely slips to reveal how lost and helpless she is after the nightmare she just went through with Cassie.
He asks, “What am I going to do?” and while at first, Cassie seems preoccupied with her cupcakes (they served Beyoncé and Gaga innocent in the ‘Telephone’ music video), she gets up and sits next to Maddy in her booth, takes her hand and tells her, “We’ll figure it out together.”
We need to talk fingers crossed. As a gay woman, I can confidently say it’s not something I do with my platonic female friends. I don’t caress their hands with my thumb, or kiss them on the head the way Maddy kissed Cassie. But I have done all those things in my love relationships.
The scene ends with that head-kissing shot through the diner window. We as the audience should feel like we are peeking into their private time, because we are intimate. In the same way the scenes in Lexi’s MadCassie independent show “Marta” and “Hallie” in bed together were intimate.
In a show known for oversexualizing women through the male gaze, people don’t give Levinson enough credit for portraying these quiet, subtle, emotional moments. Abuse and opposition are there. But what if it always had to be compared and contrasted with the female gaze?
The way Cassie feeds on Maddy. The way Maddy scrolls through Cassie’s instagram feed. Photo of the two of them at Maddy’s friends. All the tension and longing and adultery that doesn’t get a line of dialogue, like Maddy’s departure from Cassie and Nate’s wedding. This is where true love lies, and it doesn’t look like Cassie and Nate’s relationship.
Cassie didn’t put a dime into Naz to get Nate. Maddy put her body on the line to save Cassie’s life.
After Rue’s overdose, we see the two living together like a 1950s couple. Cassie plays the role of a housewife who sends Maddy to work. Make no mistake—Alamo is not kissing the money envelope. Maddy kisses it.
“Don’t wait for me, I’ll be late,” said Maddy, like a husband headed for a hard day’s work. Cassie replies, “It’ll be easier if you pretend you like him”, and there’s nothing sweeter than saying you’re not interested in sleeping with a man.
It’s how we know how ridiculous Alamo’s American Dream speech is to Maddy. She will never go barefoot and get him pregnant. He has a housewife at home, and Cassie. He’s smart enough to call Maddy the CEO, but he doesn’t understand gender roles.
Then something innocent happened that many fans will completely miss. Maddy spies Lexi looking in the mirror. They waved to each other without saying anything. Cassie lies to Lexi about Nate’s death, then cries looking at her pictures as she leaves. Maddy and Cassie have lied about Nate’s death to the world. They may have more about the true nature of their relationship.
Would Maddy have said goodbye to Cassie when no one was watching? The same way he kissed her head at dinner when it was just us, the audience, looking out the window?
Levinson didn’t give us the final answer, but the clues are there. They always stay. Pride Month has just begun, and MadCassie players have a lot to celebrate.