The third episode of the new season of Euphoria aired on HBO Max in the US on Sunday night.
The series, which features a stellar cast, follows a group of high school students as they try to navigate their experiences of identity, trauma, drugs, friendship, love, and sex.
The latest episode focused on Cal Jacobs’ background story.
Cal, played by Eric Dane, is the father of Nate (played by Jacob Elordi).
In the show’s first season, viewers saw the family man secretly hook up with young gay men and trans-woman, including Jules (played by Hunter Schafer).
Last night’s episode began with scenes of Cal as a teenager, and focused on his close friendship with his high school pal Derek, who he was secretly in love with.
Cal and Derek kept their feelings for each other hidden and continued dating girls, but one night after graduation, Derek took Cal to a gay bar and they shared a kiss.
Cal wakes up the next morning finally feeling happy, until he gets a call from his girlfriend Marsha, who tells him she is pregnant.
The episode then cuts to the present day Cal, who is married to Marsha and is the father of two sons, but is still struggling to come to terms with his sexuality.
After watching the latest episode of Euphoria, fans spotted a “reference” to hit medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.
Eric Dane played Mark Sloan in the series, who was best friends with Patrick Dempsey’s character Derek Shepard.
One fan tweeted: “I need to know if the #euphoria writers named Cal’s best friend Derek because of Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, and Grey’s Anatomy”, while another wrote: “cal’s bestfriend’s name being derek though?! sam levinson knew what he was doing.”
I need to know if the #euphoria writers named Cal’s best friend Derek because of Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, and Grey’s Anatomy pic.twitter.com/pCIa8ip9cA
— Nora Dominick (@noradominick) January 24, 2022
cal’s bestfriend’s name being derek though?! sam levinson knew what he was doing #Euphoria #EuphoriaHBOMax pic.twitter.com/Pn10tiitg7
— 🧸 (@rulesrue) January 24, 2022
ur telling me this euphoria episode is about young eric dane (cal) and his best friend ✨derek✨…. okay… #Euphoria pic.twitter.com/1hw9ZwYICv
— morgan (@Morgankgrace) January 24, 2022
Derek and Cal #Euphoria #EuphoriaHBOMax pic.twitter.com/JNRMfog5oF
— Jamie she/her (@iasgsh1997) January 24, 2022
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Eric said he is happy Grey’s Anatomy fans get to see him as another character.
“You know, I certainly don’t want to offend any of the Grey’s fans, but as an actor, you want to be able to experience different characters. And I hope they come on the journey with me,” he added.
You can watch the latest episode of Euphoria on NOW TV and Sky Atlantic.
