‘Euphoria’ Finale: Colman Domingo Goes Deep on Ali’s Journey With Rue, Revenge and His ‘Christ on the Cross Moment’

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SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “In God We Trust,” the Season 3 finale of “Euphoria,” now streaming on HBO Max.

Played by Colman Domingo, Ali has been a constant source of light in “Euphoria,” despite only appearing in 11 of the HBO series’ 26 episodes. As an addict several years into his recovery, he is the sobriety sponsor to Rue (Zendaya), whose struggles with drugs “Euphoria” has followed throughout its run. In the Season 3 finale — which appears to also be the series finale — the show finally follows Rue into the abyss. Ali nearly goes with her.

After the penultimate episode revealed a bit of Ali’s backstory, the finale picks up with Rue escaping Laurie’s (Martha Kelly) ranch before the DEA raid and somehow making it safely back to Ali’s apartment. On the news, they learn that Fez (played in Seasons 1 and 2 by Angus Cloud, who died in 2023) has broken out of prison, and against Ali’s wishes, Rue scrambles to her car to look for him. In her mind’s eye, she flashes through her memories with Fez, then drives to her childhood home, dashing past police tape as officers scream and chase after her. There, she tearfully greets her mother (Nika King) and reaches out for her hand. But then we see Rue shrouded in darkness, laying on her back and reaching up. All of this has been a dream as her brain reels from an overdose on the Percocet provided to her by Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). In real life, by the time Ali wakes up, Rue is already dead. Calmly, but in pain, he asks God to give her peace. Then he finds the pills on the coffee table and tests them for fentanyl; the test comes back positive. He slams his fist on the counter and calls Rue’s mother to give her the news.

When we next see Ali, he’s at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting — his last one ever, he says. In an expertly acted monologue, Ali tells his fellow recovering addicts that he used to believe empathy was the key to redemption, that if people had more empathy for addicts, they could all begin to heal. But he realizes now, he says, that if you can empathize with the addict, you can empathize with the dealer. He no longer wants to be part of that passive cycle. He says he’s going to find another way to be of service. It becomes clear that he’s planning to avenge Rue. Back at home, he saws off the end of his shotgun and suits up in his old Army uniform. He has nothing left to lose.

“Once we get his backstory and unpack who he is, we have that to propel us into this final episode. It’s a beautiful stroke of genius from Sam Levinson,” Domingo tells Variety. “And he gave me so much faith and trust that I could deliver, and trust that the audience will be with me and understand. Knowing what Sam has been exploring for all these young people who suffer from the disease of addiction, he always gets back to the would it be the moral center, which Ali has been holding and making available for Rue.”

Ali drives to Alamo’s strip club, the Silver Slipper, and demands that Kitty (Anna Van Patten) go get her manager. G (Marshawn Lynch) emerges, and they sit across from each other at a table, where Ali discreetly presses his shotgun against G’s crotch and threatens that he better not lie. But when Ali asks G where Rue got the fentanyl, G lies and says he doesn’t know. As promised, Ali shoots him, and as everyone panics and hits the floor, Ali shouts that Alamo Brown needs to come out.

With several strippers, patrons and employees cowering in fear, the two men talk. Ali reveals that he’s there to avenge Rue. They agree to handle their business “the old-fashioned way,” drawing their guns at the same time like an old Western movie. But when Alamo tries to shoot — a few seconds early — nothing happens. He looks to Bishop (Darrell Britt-Gibson), who was supposed to load his gun, and realizes he’s been betrayed. “I’ll see you in hell,” he says as Ali shoots him to death with all three of his remaining bullets. Though there are several other armed men at the club, Ali walks out unscathed.

Ali then drives to El Paso, Texas, to the homestead Rue told him was “the most peaceful place she’d ever been.” He tells the family that “Ruby,” as they knew her, was “in a better place,” and they offer their condolences. He introduces himself as Martin McQueen — his given name, from before he converted to Islam — and they invite him in. At dinner, he sits at the head of the table, and imagines Rue sitting in the empty seat across from him as he prays, “Let her memory be a blessing.” As the episode ends, the camera zooms out on the house, with an American flag waving in the wind. In voiceover, Rue says, “May God bless us all.”

Domingo spoke to Variety in depth about the people in his life who informed his work in “Euphoria,” his collaboration with series creator Sam Levinson over the years, and how it felt to say goodbye to Rue and Ali.

It felt incredible and purposeful and clear. It felt honest to Ali’s journey. I loved it. I saw a cut of it with Sam a couple months ago, and I was floored. I thought it followed what Sam said in the very beginning, when he was just casually talking to me about what he wanted to do with Season 3. He said, “I’m going old school. I’m going to the Old Testament. Because this is where we are in our society, in our world.” Even the landscape and his idea of shooting it in a Western form, it’s very clear it’s an American story, and it’s about right and wrong. The characters have such size now. They’re outsized, but they’re still nuanced. You know who the villains are, and you know who the good people are, and you know the people in the middle who are just trying to navigate all of this.

It unleashed another version of Ali that I thought was really useful. Like, that’s underneath him as well. He told you he was built this way. He told you what troubles he had, what dark side he had. One of my favorite things I created with Sam for this episode was, at some point, I was like, “What is he wearing when he does this?” So we went back to our brain trust from Season 1, saying that Ali was a former firefighter and in the military. I said, “What branch? Let’s decide.” We said Army. I said, “What if he’s in his Army dress?” And Sam said, “Oh my gosh, I was going to pitch that to you!” I said, “Because he’s ultimately trying to be in service, so he’s going back to the service. That’s important to him.” All those little bits were important and strategic.

I made a very conscious choice. I’m very expressive, naturally. I’m very emotional. Ali is a bit more sober, no pun intended, about his emotions. Going through the pandemic and losing a lot of people, and a lot of people losing faith and hope, and being someone who also performed military service, Ali’s a person who has to be a bit more pragmatic about death. When we filmed that, I wanted to be as quiet as possible. It’s almost like he knew just by looking at her body language [from across the room]. He assessed it very quickly, and then went over to her. You can barely see her, but I was able to see what makeup had done to her face, or whatever was coming out of her mouth. It was very private. Then he saw the pills. This loss is deep, but he’s still activated to find out what happened. Who are these people? What’s behind this?

What I love is that we jump to him two months later in that meeting, and there’s all these subtle cues. He’s not wearing a kufi anymore. He looks like an ordinary guy, and he tells you he has to do something different, that there’s good guys and bad guys, and the good guys are gonna have to take out the bad guys, but I’m gonna have to arm myself the way the bad guys arm themselves. It’s about him being very measured about it all. The sawed off shotgun, putting on his army dress, saying goodbye to his old life: “I’m gonna have to right some wrongs, and it’s life or death, and I’m willing to die for it, because I’m not tethered to anything else.” I think he believed that Rue was his last chance. If he could help her, he would feel redeemed for his own tragedies and faults and addiction. If he could do good with Rue, he felt like a better person.

Original report

Variety

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