Leslie has found out through Jules that Rue has been using again, leading her to go on a violent breakdown in which she attacks both her and Gia, then in a panic trying to find the suitcase with the stash Laurie instructed her to sell, only to find out that Jules and Elliot are at the house and they flushed it down the toilet. Rue throws a tirade to both of them, but especially Jules for loving to be loved and sucking the lives out of other people and breaks up with her. Elliot beats himself up for the incident and before he leaves, says that he liked Rue before she relapsed.
Escaping Leslie's car when she tries to get her to the hospital, Rue attempts to find numerous ways to make up the $10,000 she owes Laurie, going to the Howards' and turning to Lexi for help, right before she is caught on her lie by Suze, who contacts Leslie for an impromptu intervention alongside Maddy, Kat and Cassie. To deviate attention, Rue takes this opportunity to escape by revealing Cassie and Nate's sexual relationship to Maddy, greatly infuriating her as she starts chasing Cassie around the house, with Kat following suit. Rue later turns to Fez, who forcibly throws her out of his house when he catches her stealing from his sick grandmother, then narrowly avoids the police after breaking into a rich couple's home.
As she starts feeling the effects of withdrawal, Rue eventually reaches Laurie's apartment. Although she is sympathethic with Rue's plight, Laurie is still disappointed that Rue didn't make good on her promise and intends to make her a sex slave as a way to pay her debts. Rue then blacks out after being given a dose of morphine. The next morning, Rue wakes up to find the doors and windows locked, but she manages to escape through a bathroom window, knowing that she has no choice but to return home given the danger of the situation. Rue then opens the front door to find Leslie waiting for her.
Tropes
- Alone with the Psycho: Rue stays with her drug dealer Laurie for the night. We know Laurie's up to no good, even hinting that she will get Rue addicted to morphine and working as a Sex Slave, but since Rue is in a state of hysteria, she doesn't realize this until the following morning.
- Armor-Piercing Question: When Rue's mom tries to stage an intervention for her with the help of Lexi, Cassie, Maddy, Kat and Suze, Rue ends up getting the attention off of herself with one question.Rue: Hey, Cass?
Cassie: Yeah?
Rue: I have a quick question for you.
Cassie: What?
Rue: :...How long have you been fucking Nate Jacobs? - Bitch Slap: Rue gets one from her mother when she provokes her by blaming the former's drug addiction on her.
- Blatant Lies: Cassie laughingly tries to dismiss Rue's confession about her relationship with Nate with the cheap excuse that she's a drug addict. No one buys it, though.
- Call-Back: Cassie getting called out by Maddy for crying when she finds out that she's been sleeping with Nate, is similar to Daniel doing exactly the same after he criticized Cassie for being a hypocrite in flirting with and kissing him but refusing to have sex with Daniel just because she didn't want to cheat on McKay.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Rue being forced to return home after Laurie threatens her to a Fate Worse than Death and get the proper help she needs from her family.
- I'll Kill You!: Now that she knows about Cassie and Nate, Maddy becomes furious and downright yells at Cassie with this threat, starting to chase her around the Howards' house.Maddy: You dumb fucking bitch! I'M GONNA FUCK YOU UP! ...DON'T FUCKING RUN AWAY FROM ME, YOU STUPID FUCKING BITCH!
- Internal Reveal: Maddy, Lexi, Kat and Suze are finally made aware of Cassie and Nate's relationship from Rue, who randomly went past them in the night, although this was only a diversion to avoid the arranged intervention.
- Out of Focus: Since this episode is mostly about Rue attempting to get away with her drug addiction, the rest of the main characters have lesser screentime. Justified, as Rue rejects Jules for telling on her to her mother and is abandoned/rejected by others whom she tries to pester into giving her drugs, Fez included, while Nate is absent since he rightfully doesn't give a damn about Rue's wellbeing, but is still mentioned when it comes to Maddy and Cassie's friendship being permanently broken after the shocking reveal.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After finding out that Jules was the one sold her out to her mother about her relapse, Rue furiously tears into Jules for not loving her, only loving that Rue and other people love her, even going as far as to blame her for her relapse after she left on the train without her, even though Rue was the one who chose not to go with her. She finalizes the speech by demanding that Jules stay out of her life for good.Rue: You are fucking dead to me.Jules: You don't mean that.Rue: I fucking mean every fucking word. [Beat] You're dead to me, Jules.Jules: I don't believe you.Rue: You and me, we're fucking done. There's nothing fucking there anymore. Nothing... fucking... There. You know, I have a lot of regrets... in my life. But I gotta tell you, Jules, meeting you, has got to be at the top of my fucking list. Oh, now you wanna fucking cry? Now you wanna fucking cry? Yeah, you're a fucking vampire. You just go around fucking SUCKING THE FUCKING SPIRIT OUT OF EVERYONE! You like that shit...makes you feel good.Jules: You know that's not true.Rue: It is fucking true. It's all about fucking Jules, right? And you don't know what the fuck you're doing. You just act all fucking innocent, like you're this fucking sweet little angel, this innocent, sweet, little fucking angel who doesn't know what the fuck they're doing. You know what the fuck you're doing!Jules: I love you.Rue: No the fuck you don't. You love being loved! You're a fucking greedy whore who just likes sucking the life out of people. And it fucking hurts, Jules!Jules: I love you.Rue: No, you don't. Stop saying that! You don't love me! You fucking left me...when I fucking needed you. You fucking left me...when I was at my fucking lo...[Rue breathes heavily] You fucking left me at my fucking lowest! And a real fucking friend, someone who fucking loves you, wouldn't do some shit like that, Jules!Jules: I love you and I want to help you.Rue: If you wanna help me, uh, you can honestly, you can just stay out of my fucking life...forever. That would be great because, honestly, looking at you makes me physically fucking ill!
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Rue ends up being this. Her exposing of Cassie's affair with Nate results in Cassie's unstable and volatile nature getting worse for the rest of the season.
