When Nate was nine he discovered his father's "video collection," deeply traumatizing him and making him become the aggressive person he is. He is uncomfortable with masculine bodies, and is only interested with hyper feminine traits in girls.
On the first day of school, Rue is overjoyed to meet Jules again. The band of girls congratulate Kat for loosing her virginity. Later, Kat meets a student named Ethan, who seems to be attracted by her.
After the party, Maddy told Nate she has no memory of sleeping with Tyler in the pool, and told him she blacked out. At the end of school Nate takes Maddy home and offer asks her out on a date.
Rue is called up to talk about her summer, leading her to remember a series of painful memories, she leaves the room panicking and try take drugs in the bathroom, but at the last minute Lexie comes to check on her causing Rue to flush the drugs down the toilet. She then rudely rejects Lexi.
While going to a NA meeting she notices a former addict named Ali. Rue recounts taking her first Oxycotone while her father was ill. She manages to fool her mother about going to NA meetings.
At home, Jules starts discussing with a guy on a gay dating app.
Kat discovers that the boy she slept with leaked a videotape of their act. Ashamed, she blackmails one of the McKay twins to remove the video under the threat of child pornography, and gets him to buy her beauty products. Despite the video being deleted she finds another upload. She also discovers that people find her beautiful leading her to create an account on a porn site.
McKay and Cassie meet for the weekend. McKay tells her about his frustrations with his coach in college and Cassie tries to comfort him with sex but McKay rejects it saying she makes everything sexual. After leaving, he asks for nude pictures of her.
Rue goes to see Fezco to buy drugs. Two drug dealers come, leaving Rue blocked at Fezco’s. One of them forces her to take fentanyl and threatens to rape her if he doesn’t pay. Later Fezco calls Jules to ask her to come help him taking Rue home.
Nate stalks Tyler, the boy who slept with Maddie, enters in his apartment and then brutally beats him up to force her to admit that he raped her. He then shower and prepares for his date. He and Maddy go out bowling and make up. Later while coming back from the date, it is revealed that the boy who is talking with Jules is Nate, while presenting as Tyler.
Tropes
- Drugs Are Bad: Several examples in this episode: the flashback to Rue's overdose, Rue being cruel to her family and friends because she can't have access to the immediate satisfaction of drugs, and when she's forced to take fentanyl, she prays to survive it.
- Drugs Are Good: Deliberately invoked, while Jules and Rue are having a good time while high, then Rue says that it's in fact a very narrow window of cool.
- Freudian Excuse: Nate's is outlined in the opening, with the implication that he's afraid of retracing it back to the root.
- Hypocrite: McKay says Cassie makes everything sexual, and is uncomfortable with her supposed promiscuity but later asks for nude pictures of her.
- Kick the Dog:
- Rue rudely rebukes Lexi when she tries to check on her, because she stopped her from taking drugs.
- Tyler is cruelly beaten up by Nate.
- The Reveal: The guy Jules is talking to is revealed to be Nate.
