Euphoria season 2 episode 1 recap: What’s Fez’s backstory?

The Euphoria season 2 premiere gave us more of Fez’s backstory and showcased everyone’s changing relationships on New Year’s Eve. Rue finds herself in multiple dangerous situations, Cassie fears Maddy’s wrath, and Lexi makes an unexpected connection.

Read on to discover what happened in Euphoria season 2 episode 1, “Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door.”

Euphoria season 2 episode 1 recap: What’s Fez’s backstory?

The episode starts off with Fez’s grandmother going to a strip club and shooting Fez’s father in the legs. It’s implied she did so because he was abusing Fez, and she takes Fez in and becomes his guardian/business partner. He sells drugs with her, and she teaches him everything she knows.

One day, his grandmother finds herself with a random baby someone left for collateral. The mother never came back for the child, so she takes him in, too. The baby eats a cigarette while taking a bath in the sink, and thus, the name Ashtray was born.

Fez’s grandmother goes to beat up someone who wronged her, and for some reason, Fez steps in to defend the man from getting hurt worse. His grandmother accidentally hits him in the head — hard — and it’s the first time he ever gets a dark spot.

Eventually, his grandmother gets ill and passes out in the bathtub, and Fez has to drive her to the hospital in order to avoid calling the police. We find out this was the start of how Fez began to take care of his grandmother, Ashtray, and run both the store and the drug business.

Euphoria season 2 episode 1 recap: Does Ashtray kill Mouse?

In the present day, Ashtray protects Fez from an angry Mouse by hitting him with a hammer and practically gouging his partner Custer’s eyes out. Mouse dies, and Fez, Ashtray, and Rue drive to meet up with Custer’s boss Laurie. Rue does drugs in the car — much to Fez and Ashtray’s annoyance — and is left with one of the girlfriends named Faye as she does heroin.

Rue and Faye get dragged from the car into the apartment by people who work for Laurie, and they demand they get naked so they can make sure they’re not wearing a wire. It’s a tense moment, and Rue even gets dragged to the shower and searched after originally refusing to comply, but eventually, Laurie comes out and apologizes for the theatrics — she just wanted to be careful.

Fez tells her Mouse won’t be coming around anymore because he doesn’t like the way he does business. He tells Laurie he trusts both Ashtray and Rue, and the three of them leave with Fez seemingly moving up higher on the drug dealer food chain. Rue laughs and admires that Laure is such an impressive female dealer, and Fez is annoyed at her nonchalance about the situation.

Euphoria season 2 episode 1 recap: Who’s Elliot?

Rue makes it to the New Year’s party, having done the heroin Faye left in the car, and stumbles upon someone named Elliot doing drugs in the laundry room. Rue has to get his help crushing up some Adderall, as her pulse is slow from the drugs she’s been doing. Elliot isn’t sure it’s a good thing they met, but Rue says he’s her new favorite person.

Kat and Jules hang out at the party, and Jules apologizes for not spending as much time with Kat as she should have been — her world got too small with just Rue. After looking for her all night, Jules finds Rue by the fire smoking weed and asks when she relapsed. Rue tells her the truth: it was the night she left. This makes Jules feel terrible.

Rue finds her later that night and apologizes for making her feel bad. She admits she’s just been having a tough time but misses her and wants to be with her. The two share a midnight kiss.

Euphoria season 2 episode 1 recap: Does Maddy find out about Cassie and Nate?

Cassie and Lexi get into a huge fight on the way to the party, which results in Cassie storming out of the car and buying donuts at a gas station. Nate finds her there, and Cassie reveals she and McKay broke up because they were in different places. Nate tells her he and Maddy are in the same boat and offers her a ride to the party.

Cassie accepts, and Nate recklessly speeds while drinking a beer. Cassie spills some beer on her lap, and she suggestively takes her underwear off despite her saying earlier she’s not trying to be in a relationship. This culminates in the two making out in the bathroom at the party. Maddy starts pounding on the door, telling Nate to get out because she has to pee.

Terrified, Nate and Cassie concoct a plan for Cassie to hide in the bathtub so Maddy doesn’t see them leave together. Unfortunately, Cassie’s stuck hiding in the tub for a long time, as Maddy and a boy named Travis she met while waiting to pee go into the bathroom to smoke.

It’s a particularly close call when Cassie’s phone starts ringing and Travis opens the shower curtain to find her. However, he just tells Maddy a girl is passed out, and Maddy doesn’t care enough to investigate, letting Cassie leave undetected.

McKay talks to Cassie about potentially getting back together, but Cassie says she shouldn’t be dating anyone because she doesn’t know if she’s a good person. Nate sees the two of them go off to the bedroom alone and aggressively interrogates McKay, asking invasive questions about whether they had sex.

Euphoria season 2 episode 1 recap: Will Lexi and Fex get together?

Lexi and Fez randomly find themselves on a couch at the party, and Fez is immediately impressed when Lexi starts talking about history and the fact she’s an atheist. Though Lexi briefly gets up to look for Cassie mid-conversation, she finds herself sitting next to Fez again. He tells her he missed her and that talking to her has honestly been one of the best parts of his year. He asks for her number, and she gives it to him.

The sweet moment is interrupted when Fez spies Nate across the room. He acts like he wants to make peace with him but in actuality smashes a bottle over his head and punches him until he bleeds. Nate is in bad shape by the end of it and has to be carried away by several people.

What did you think of the Euphoria season 2 premiere? Comment below!