Euphoria season 2 episode 3 spoilers follow.
Euphoria is not your nan's teen show, not by any stretch. In just two episodes alone, season two has brought us brutal violence, a piss-soaked towel, and a lusty Game of Thrones parody, not to mention the startling amount of penii on display throughout. So, business as usual then.
But it wasn't always like this. Although controversy and shock value has been integral to this show since day one, season one managed to reconcile this with an emotional authenticity that grounded the absurdity of Euphoria in something real.
That's not to say season two is soulless, not by any means. The first two episodes still contained moving character beats, particularly when it comes to pretty much any moment that Sydney Sweeney is on screen. But the balance has felt a bit off, fuelling detractors who argue that Euphoria baits controversy for controversy's sake.
Enter episode three, a season highlight that captures the very best of what makes this show so special. Between Cassie's bathroom outburst, Lexi's break from reality and Rue's drug-fuelled dance number, 'Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys' hits that sweet spot between excess and pain that Euphoria navigates so well.
But what moved us more than anything here was that quietly devastating cold open which somehow did the unthinkable and actually made us reconsider our feelings towards Cal.
Up to this point, his behaviour has been utterly deplorable. When he's not bullying Nate, his own son, Cal is either threatening teenagers or cheating on his wife with them. And the way he treated Jules in season one was just grotesque.
But as Eric Dane recently pointed out to EW, "Everybody starts out sweet at some point in their life, right?" And that's true, even for someone as rigid and unloving as Cal.
We learn this firsthand when episode three kicks things off with an extended flashback set in the '80s. Here, we meet a young Cal (Elias Kacavas) and his best friend, Derek (Henry Eikenberry), who are inseparable in that unique way only teenagers can be.
But sweaty and extremely physical wrestling montages hint that there might be more to their camaraderie than mere friendship. You can practically see their affection bulge out of those singlets. And it's not long before this is confirmed when Cal's gaze lingers on Derek's crotch at a stoplight.
San Junipero could never.
But societal pressure soon does its thing and before long Cal learns to hide his feelings, just like he has to hide that awkward boner from his father right after Derek leaves. In this scene, the judgemental gaze of Cal's dad burns itself into his memories, and you can practically see the cycle of paternal abuse and neglect form here right before your eyes.
To fit in, Cal pushes his feelings aside and focuses his attention on a woman instead, just like so many other young queer men have done in the past. That's not to say he isn't enjoying himself. One of Euphoria's patented sex montages goes out of its way to show Cal lose himself in the company of his future wife, Nate's mother Marsha.
But the intensity of his love for Derek never truly goes away, no matter how many times he forces those feelings down deep inside. Eventually, right before the pair are destined to leave each other — and adolescence — behind for good, they decide to spend one last night together as best friends following graduation.
Derek leads Cal to a remote gay bar because this is one of the only places that will serve them underage drinks. But is that the only reason they're there? Fuelled by one too many tequila shots, the pair suddenly get close on the dance floor, acting out their confused feelings to the soundtrack of INXS's 'Never Tear Us Apart'.
Inevitably, years of sexual tension and the pain of imminent loss coalesce into one heartfelt, intimate burst of passion. Despite all of the uncertainty — and so much denial — the true nature of their feelings for each other are made tangible. Finally, Cal is able to act on his love for Derek. It's raw, and it's beautiful, and it's easily going to be looked back on as one of this show's most tender moments...
Which is what makes the following scene so hard to bear.
Following that unforgettable night, Cal wakes up to a call from Marsha. She's pregnant, and yes, she has taken multiple tests to make sure. And most importantly of all, the baby is his. So with that, Cal's dream of a new life with Derek, or at least one where he can live his true self, is shattered. While we don't see what comes next, baby Nate's arrival seems to signify the end of Cal's happiness from this point on — especially if his behaviour in the present is anything to go by.
And so continues the cycle of hate from father to son, both inward- and outward-facing. Because not only does Cal resent Nate for existing, he's also jealous too. Nate seems freer than his father, on the surface at least. But that's bullshit, because in reality, Nate is also suppressed, and that's where the violence is born, under the hateful gaze of his own deep-rooted resentment towards himself.
Does this mean we should now feel sorry for Cal, and by extension, Nate? And if so, is it irresponsible to make us feel this way about someone so awful? That's not an easy judgement call to make, and not necessarily one we should make either.
Life isn't exclusively full of morally righteous people, and that should also be true of the art that reflects it. But no matter how you feel about Cal right now, and no matter what the future might hold for him either, this devastating origin story is already a standout precisely because of how it curbs Euphoria's worst impulses.
Creator Sam Levinson could have easily gone harder with this episode. Out of all the adult back stories we're inevitably going to explore, we would have expected Cal's origin to be the most brutal. Yet it's anything but that. Yes, there is pain and sadness there, but instead of resorting to excess and shock value, Euphoria hits harder than ever with a far more simple tale of queer pain and loss.
"There had to be some sort of cause or condition that was placed on Cal for him to turn out the way he turned out," Eric Dane told EW. "Which is this horribly complicated, terrifically conflicted and confused person who's trying to figure out his journey, at however old he is, and start living his truth. He's been living a lie his entire life. The only thing you can say really bad about [young] Cal is his timing was a little bad."
That's not the case with Adult Cal though, of course. While things aren't so black and white in Levinson's world, Dane's character will always lean close to becoming the villain of the piece. Yet now that we understand where he's coming from, he's more relatable, and therefore more unsettling now than he's ever been.
Euphoria airs Sunday nights on HBO and Monday nights on NOW and Sky Atlantic in the UK.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
