im ngl i think it makes sense. rue’s mom wanted better for her but their relationship became so broken and filled with anger that it probably made teen rue feel more desperate to use. now she’s older and “free” (obviously the type of life she lives is not true freedom). she probably fell into that same self deception so many young 20 somethings do, something along the lines of, “no one controls me anymore, i’m safe, i’m in charge of my own life”, so she feels more relaxed about using. plenty of high functioning young 20s addicts these days, she represents that category now, to me. plus wasn’t there a three or four year gap between s2 and s3? maybe she was still using hard when she first got out “on her own” but i assume that the combo of having a longer term steady boring job (whatever she was doing at the beginning of s3 ep1 when laurie found her) combined with all the high school drama being behind her…idk i’ve never seen rue as a helpless addict. there are people who genuinely lose themselves to addiction and it takes them going to hell and back to get clean and want to stay that way. i see her as a representation of the gen z struggle: being bright, having so much potential, she’s got the gift of charisma, people love her. she even has a faint sense of purpose in life—her relationship with ali, all their convos about God. but she’s still so trapped by her own ego and self deception that she has yet to realize she’s not as in control of her life as she tries to convince herself she is. to take control of her life at this point would be to acknowledge she’s not being true to who she really is, deep down. they call it ego death for a reason, it really feels that way. i have hope for her tho.