‘Youth’ Star Aran Murphy Breaks Down Ruari’s Tense Bond With Mom Alex

Meaghan Darwish October 5, 2026, 10:17 am

Sharon Horgan and Aran Murphy in 'Youth' Season 1 — HBO

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Youth star Aran Murphy discusses Ruari’s mother-son relationship with Sharon Horgan’s Alex.
He teases whether a breakthrough is on the horizon for the duo after his university woes.

Youth continues to explore the intricacies of the mother-son relationship through the lens of Alex (Sharon Horgan) and Ruari (Aran Murphy), who are still experiencing growing pains after he dropped out of university. Warning: Spoilers for Youth Season 1 Episode 4 ahead!

In the latest episode, “Michael Man,” Ruari works to put the events of university behind him, taking up a job at Frank’s (Robbie Gee) bar and attempting to understand some personal issues he’s working through.

After the previous episode’s eventful business trip with his mom, Ruari tries to seek some male advice from her brief boyfriend, Michael (Tim McInnerny), speaking about pains he’s been having. While Alex tries addressing the situation with Ruari directly, he’s still not ready to discuss certain matters with his mother.

When old school pals enter the bar he’s working at, though, Ruari attempts to start a conversation and ends up in a fist fight, which leads to a more genuine heart-to-heart moment between him and Alex. Still, there are plenty of kinks to work out.

Aran Murphy and Harrison Dadswell in 'Youth' Season 1

HBO

Regarding Ruari’s exit from university and the events surrounding the choice, Murphy tells TV Insider, “I think he already has some stuff that’s kind of boiling under the surface with his girlfriend that he hasn’t already told his mum. So when he goes to university, he’s trying to get away and meet new people and leave that in the past.”

While Murphy says Ruari tries to “bury that under the carpet,” it’s “once everything happens at university, there’s more stuff on his mind he’s trying to deal with.” So in a way, going away to school and coming back distanced Ruari even more from his mother, Alex.

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In a path towards rebuilding trust, Murphy admits, “I think it closes him off even more from his mum because he didn’t share the first thing, and he kind of just digs. There’s a deeper hole now that he’s in, and it makes it hard for him to connect and harder to share.”

Will an upcoming trip to Ibiza prove fruitful for their bond? Stay tuned to find out.

Youth, Sundays, 10/9c, HBO and HBO Max