Are Maddy and Cassie Gay in the Euphoria Finale? Sam Levinson’s Pride Month Twist, Explained
After tonight’s Euphoria series finale, Sam Levinson’s post-credit commentary was pure team MadCassie:
Cassie and Maddie, the love story in a way this season is between the two of them. They’ve been through so much together. And there they are in the end. All they really got is each other and a whole bunch of debt.
He hedged it with “in a way”, but he didn’t call it a friendship. He called it a love story. And those are the only two words that matter.
The season has been building up to this moment. The romantic soundtracks to all of their scenes. The way they look at each other. The way Cassie said Maddy was the other love of her life when they saw each other for the first time in years. It culminates in the diner booth the episode previews teased. With Maddy’s mask fully slipping to reveal just how lost and helpless she is after the nightmare she and Cassie just lived through.
She asks, “What will I do?” and while at first, Cassie seems preoccupied with her pancakes (they’re giving pure Beyoncé and Gaga in the ‘Telephone’ music video), she gets up to sit next to Maddy in her booth, holds her hand and tells her, “We’ll figure it out together.”
We need to talk about the interlaced fingers. As a gay woman, I can confidently say that’s not something I do with my platonic female friends. I’m not stroking their hands with my thumb, or kissing them on the head the way Maddy kisses Cassie. But I have done all of those things in my romantic relationships.
The scene ends on the shot of that head kiss through the diner window. We as the audience are supposed to feel like we’re peering in on their private moment, because it’s intimate. The same way the scenes from Lexi’s play of her MadCassie stand-ins “Marta” and “Hallie” in bed together were intimate.
In a show known for its hyper-sexualization of women through the male gaze, people have not given Levinson enough credit for his portrayal of these quiet, subtle, emotionally charged moments. The exploitation and objectification is there. But what if it was always supposed to be compared and contrasted to the female gaze?
The way Cassie fawns over Maddy. The way Maddy scrolls through Cassie’s instagram feed. The picture of the two of them on Maddy’s ofrenda. All of the tension and yearning and pining that never gets a line of dialogue, like Maddy’s departure from Cassie and Nate’s wedding. That’s where the real romance is, and it looks nothing like Cassie’s relationship with Nate.
Cassie didn’t wire a penny to Naz for Nate. Maddy literally 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 part of the housewife sending Maddy off to work. Make no mistake—she’s not kissing that envelope of cash for Alamo. She’s kissing it for Maddy.
“Don’t wait up for me. I’ll be late”, Maddy tells her, like a husband heading to a demanding day job. Cassie responds, “It’ll be easier if you pretend to like him”, and there’s nothing gayer than verbalizing your disinterest in sleeping with a man.
It’s how we know just how ridiculous Alamo’s American Dream speech to Maddy is. She’s never going to be barefoot and pregnant for him. She’s got a housewife at home, and it’s Cassie. He’s smart enough to call Maddy a CEO, but doesn’t understand the gender roles at play.
Then something innocuous happens that most fans will completely miss. Maddy spies Lexi watching them in the mirror. They wave to each other without saying a word. Cassie lies to Lexi about Nate’s death, and then cries looking at his photos when she leaves. Maddy and Cassie have already concocted a lie about Nate’s death for the world. They may have another about the true nature of their relationship.
Would Maddy have kissed Cassie goodbye if no one was watching? The same way she kissed her head in the diner when it was just us, the audience, watching through the window?
Levinson didn’t give us a final answer, but the clues are there. They always have been. Pride Month just kicked off, and MadCassie stans have plenty to celebrate.
