Euphoria: Nate's Biggest Crush Is Neither Maddy Nor Cassie - CBR

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Euphoria Season 2, Episode 6, "A Thousand Little Trees of Blood," which aired Sunday, Feb. 13, on HBO.

When Euphoria first premiered, Nate Jacobs was one of the characters who made a big impression on viewers, for all the wrong reasons. Nate serves as an antagonist on the show, making the lives of all the other characters a living hell. However, besides his various nefarious plots and the other horrible things he does, the show has also been covering his complicated love life. Season 2 of the series features a love triangle between Nate, his on-and-off girlfriend, Maddy, and her best friend, Cassie. However, the latest episode of the HBO drama hints that Nate might have feelings for someone completely different.

Early in the show, it is established that from a very young age Nate has been struggling with emotional turmoil sourced back to his father's double life, causing him to develop severe anger issues. Nate's father, Cal, is a closeted gay man, who frequently cheats on his wife and films himself having sex with other people. An eight-year old Nate discovered the truth about his dad, when he found his sex tapes in his office. Since then, he has been watching every one of them, keeping tabs on Cal's various affairs. It has been suggested that Nate's discovery has deeply affected him, influencing the way he views himself, and his relationship with his masculinity and his sexuality. So when Jules Vaughn unknowingly enters his life, he sees her as challenging everything he stands for.

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Nate is portrayed as a very controlling young man, fixating on Maddy and trying to shape her into his idealistic image of a "good girl," which leads to their relationship becoming toxic and eventually abusive. In Season 2, Nate turns his focus on Cassie, Maddy's best friend, whom he thinks will more easily become his "good girl." However, it seems Cassie might not be who Nate wants either. Back in Season 1, Nate started catfishing Jules on a dating app, when he found out that she slept with his dad. He initially cons Jules into sending him nude photos of herself so he can use them against her in the future and protect his father. Eventually, he develops romantic feelings for her during their long conversations, but he still proceeds to blackmail her.

After their encounter, Jules keeps her distance from Nate, but he still seems to be interested in her, watching her house at night and secretly following her. When Nate gets to the hospital after Fezco beats him up, he starts hallucinating intimate moments with Maddy and Cassie, but also with Jules, indicating she's still on his mind. In Euphoria's latest episode, Nate asks Jules to meet with him and decides to give her the tape of her and Cal, finally apologizing for everything he had ever done to her. He tells her that he wants her to be able to protect herself and that she did not deserve what he did to her. He also confesses to Jules that everything he ever told her in their texts was true, admitting that he did have feelings for her. For Nate, apologizing and opening up about his feelings is quite unusual, meaning his true self might be closer to the person he was "pretending" to be while talking with Jules.

Euphoria has showcased that Nate has been traumatized by his father. He tries to overcompensate by adopting a very intimidating persona. He also tries to look for women based on an unrealistic perception he has, which is why his relationships ultimately fail. When Nate first revealed to Jules that he conned her, he kissed her and he tried to mirror the way Cal treated Jules the night they slept together. Cal's shadow looms over Nate, affecting his sense of identity. Jules, a queer trans girl, who seems to be free and proud of herself, attracts Nate but who she is goes against Nate's illogical ideology, creating a huge conflict within him. Euporia's remaining episodes are expected to explore more of this complicated character, so it's only a matter of time until viewers learn what Nate truly wants.

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To see what's next for Nate and Jules, watch Euphoria Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO, and streaming on HBO Max the same day.

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