Over the summer, while talking about the second season of her hit HBO series Euphoria being delayed by the coronavirus, Zendaya teased that the premium cable network was considering a “bridge episode” that could be filmed with a limited group of people in a “safer environment” than a regular full production and would—hence the name—bridge the gap between season one and season two. Then, once Zendaya won an Emmy for her work on the show, HBO quickly confirmed that, yeah, it’s going to do a bridge episode.
Now, HBO has officially confirmed that the bridge episode is happening and that it’ll premiere on December 9, with a press release explaining that it will follow Rue (Zendaya’s character) “as she celebrates Christmas.” That sounds a little vague and straightforward for a show that ended its first season with Rue relapsing at a train station, but at least we don’t have to wait too long to see what this all means. It’s also worth noting that previous talk about the bridge episode implied that it might involve COVID in some way, so the virus could be a factor in this as well. Either way, the special—titled “Trouble Don’t Last Always”—was directed by series creator Sam Levinson and will also star Colman Domingo in addition to Zendaya.
Also, HBO says this will be the first of two special Euphoria episodes, though no premiere date (or seasonal theme) has been announced for the second one.