[This post contains spoilers for Euphoria season 1, episode 4.]

Raise your hand if your heart rate was abnormally high throughout the entire hour of the most recent episode of Euphoria. So that’s...all of us? Great, glad we’re on the same page. Although there were approximately one million stressful moments in this one (shout-out to Maddy and that chili dump!), the worst by far was that scene with Nate and Jules. You were probably too busy trying to make sure he wasn’t going to push her into that pond to fully follow every detail of his evil plan. Let’s unpack that. P.S. This is your last chance to hop out of this article before I come in hot with the spoilers, okay?

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It’s probably been safe to assume that Nate has had something awful planned for Jules from the moment it was revealed that he was catfishing her. At first, it kind of seemed as though he was going to attack her physically, but it turns out that he’s much more calculated and conniving than that. Instead, he’s created an intricate takedown in which he plans to have Jules arrested on charges of child pornography. Here’s exactly what he said:



“Over the last three weeks, you have knowingly seen and produced child pornography, including obscene images that were taken on school property. I’ve compiled all of these photos, along with an IP address and an account that’s linked to your name. I don’t know if you’re familiar with child pornography laws in this state, but they apply to minors just as they apply to adults.

“Here’s what would definitely happen. You’d end up on a sex offender list, which means no more college. It’s going to be very fucking difficult to find a job, and everywhere you go for the rest of your life, you’ll be harassed and spat at and treated like a fucking animal. You deserve better than that, because I know you. You’re kind, you’re smart, you’re generous, you’ve got a big heart. You deserve whatever the fuck it is in this world that you want. So keep your head down, keep your mouth shut. Don’t try to ruin my life, and I won’t have to ruin yours.”

First things first, it’s important to note that Euphoria does not take place in a real state. If you don’t believe me, here’s a screen grab from the first episode. The license plate literally says “drive safely.” Well played, HBO.

HBO

This means that it’s technically impossible to know if Nate is right about the child pornography laws. It’s hard to believe his plan is foolproof and Jules could actually get in trouble for being catfished, but who knows? Besides, if this situation were to turn into a lawsuit...wouldn’t Nate get in trouble too? Maddy knows his phone is filled with other guys’ dick pics!

Anyway, it’s not even clear if the scenario will ever escalate to legal action. If we’re taking his word (I literally have no idea why we’d ever do that), Nate did say he won’t act on his threat if Jules keeps quiet about Cal. So...what does he have up his sleeve? Here are a few theories.

Nate’s trying to protect his family by scaring Jules.

Nate doesn’t actually intend to turn Jules in for child pornography. Reddit user Slayerkj thinks that Nate knew Jules would be “a liability” when he saw the video of Jules in his dad’s stash and he’s just threatening her so she stays quiet.

Nate’s clearly obsessed with feeling like he can protect people (uh...remember when he beat the daylights out of that guy who hooked up with Maddy?!), and that might be what he’s doing again now, in a very sick way.

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Nate has very complicated feelings for Jules and can’t even figure them out himself.

Reddit user Discgolfjohnny thinks Nate has some seriously complicated feelings for Jules and wrote, “We’re just as confused as Nate, which is the point. He both has romantic feelings and hates her at the same time. People that are trying to decide if it’s one or the other are missing the point completely. The ambiguity of the storytelling is by design. One of the themes of the show is that sexuality is a spectrum, and we’re forgetting that if we’re trying to determine if Nate wants her or hates her. It’s both. He’s torn.”

This theory definitely holds up when you think about what he said to Jules before he threatened her. Nate literally said, “I’ve spent every moment of every day getting to know you. At night, I fall asleep to you, and in the morning, I wake up to you. I kind of feel closer to you than I do to anyone in the whole world.” My dude, that is literally straight out of a Nicholas Sparks novel. (But obviously, insanely creepy given the current context.)

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Nate just does this to everyone he sees in Cal’s tapes.

Uh...what if Nate has all those dick pics in his phone because he’s been pulling this shit forever? That’s what Reddit user Southamc thinks.

“This isn’t the first time he’s catfished somebody. He’s gotta be doing it on the regular. It’s assumed he still watches his dad’s tapes, right? So, I think Nate tracks down each person his dad hooks up with, baits them, and then gives the same threat he gives to Jules. It would explain why there are so many dicks in his phone, so that everybody who uses the app wouldn’t figure out which pictures were his bait."

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By the way, we know that Nate has seen the tape of Jules and his father, Cal, because he says, “Open your mouth. Wider.” Which is exactly what Cal said to Jules that night, so we can rule out any possibility that this was all a coincidence that got out of hand. Nate is definitely up to something sinister, and I’m already sweating just thinking about what that could be.

Hannah Chambers Hannah Chambers is an entertainment editor at Cosmopolitan.

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